Pentecost: The friend that accompanies, guides and encourages

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came suddenly a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit caused them to speak.
Acts 2:1-4

Pentecost or shebuot

For the Jews, it was one of the three great feasts. At the beginning, thanksgiving for the harvesting of grain (first fruits), but this was joined by the feast for the giving of the Torah, the "instruction manual" of the world and of man, which granted wisdom to Israel. Pentecost was the feast of the Covenant to live always according to God's will as manifested in his Law.

The feast of Sinai

The images that St. Luke uses to indicate the irruption of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost-the wind and the fire-allude to Sinai, where God had revealed himself to the people of Israel and granted them his covenant (cf. Ex 19:3 ff). The feast of Sinai, which Israel celebrated fifty days after Passover, was the feast of the covenant. In speaking of tongues of fire (cf. Acts 2:3), St. Luke wants to present the Cenacle as a new Sinai, as the feast of the Covenant that God makes with his Church, which he will never abandon.

Palabras del Papa Francisco en Pentecostes, accion del espíritu santo, 2021 Roma

The Holy Father asks all the pastors and faithful of the Catholic Church to unite, this Pentecost 2023, in prayer together with the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, to invoke the Holy Spirit, "so that Israelis and Palestinians may find the path of dialogue and forgiveness".

The day of Pentecost

With the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost they make themselves understood by all, whatever their origin and mentality: The day of Pentecost There dwelt at Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when the noise was heard, the multitude came together and were perplexed, for each one heard them speaking in his own language.

They were astonished and wondered, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it, then, that we hear them each in our own mother tongue? "Parthians, Medes, Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, of Judea and Cappadocia, of Pontus and Asia, of Phrygia and Pamphylia, of Egypt and the part of Libya near Cyrene, Roman strangers, as well as Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the great things of God (Acts 2:5-11).

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The action of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost

What happens that day, with the action of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, is the antithesis of the Bible's account of the origins of mankind: At that time the whole earth spoke one language and with the same words. Moving from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

Then they said to each other: -Let's make bricks and bake them in the fire! In this way, the bricks served them as stones and the asphalt as mortar. Then they said: -Let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches to heaven! So shall we make a name for ourselves, that we may not be scattered over the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men were building, and the Lord said, "They are one people, with one language for all, and this is only the beginning of their work; now nothing they try to do will be impossible for them.

Let us go down and confuse their language right there, so that they will no longer understand one another! So from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth, and they ceased to build the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth (Gen 11:1-9).

Francis said during the celebration of Pentecost this year 2021 in Rome that the Holy Spirit consoles "especially in difficult moments like the one we are going through", and in a very personal way because "only the one who makes us feel loved as we are gives peace of heart". In fact, "it is the very tenderness of God, who does not leave us alone, because to be with those who are alone is already to console.

Pentecost: Active communication

When the people in the biblical story began to work as if God did not exist, they found that they themselves had become dehumanized, because they had lost a fundamental element of human beings, which is the ability to agree, to understand each other and to act together. This text contains a perennial truth. In such a technified society, with so many means of communication and information, as the contemporary one, we speak less and less and we understand each other less and less, we lose the real capacity to communicate in an open and sincere dialogue. We need something to help us recover this capacity to be open to others.

The action of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost

What human pride broke, the action of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost put back together again. Today too, docility to the Holy Spirit is what gives us the help we need to build a more humane world, in which no one feels alone, deprived of the attention and affection of others. Jesus promised this to the apostles and to each one of us: I will pray the Father and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you always. (Jn 14:16). Use a Greek word para-kletós which means "the one who speaks next to": is the friend who accompanies us, encourages us and guides us along the way. 

Now that we are talking to God in this time of prayer, we ask ourselves in his presence: do I strive to build my professional and family life, my friendships, the society in which I live, as a world built by my own efforts without caring about God? Or do I want to listen and be docile to the loving voice of the Holy Spirit, that inseparable companion that Jesus has placed at my side to guide and encourage me?

We can invoke the Holy Spirit with an ancient and beautiful prayer of the Church at Pentecost: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your Love. And we ask the Blessed Virgin, Spouse of God the Holy Spirit, that, like her, we may allow her to do great things in our souls, so that we may know how to love God and others, and build a better world with her help.

Mr. Francisco Varo Pineda
Research Director
University of Navarra
Faculty of Theology
Professor of Sacred Scripture

Recommended book: Una mitra humeante by Vicente Escrivá Salvador

A smoking mitre: Bernardino Nozaleda, Archbishop of Valencia, casus belli for Spanish Republicanism.

The Spain of the Restoration, projected and piloted by Antonio Cánovas, tried to establish a framework of cordial coexistence that would satisfactorily and definitively solve the so-called "religious question". That laudable purpose was not achieved, largely because of the bitter political confrontation and the division in the Catholic ranks.

The "disaster of '98" shocked the country, plunging it into a political, moral and cultural pessimism that would mark and give its name to a whole generation of intellectuals and writers of the time.

The Republicans, through a well "armed" press characterized by its Jacobin anticlericalism, mobilizations and rallies held throughout the Peninsula, attacked the constitutional regime and all that it represented, in particular the monarchy and the Catholic Church.

During the so-called "Short Government" (1903-1904) of the conservative Antonio Maura, an event took place that polarized Spanish society to the point of paroxysm: the frustrated appointment of the Dominican Bernardino Nozaleda, the last archbishop of Manila under Spanish rule, as archbishop of Valencia.

Republicans and liberals lit their torches and, shouting "Death to Maura, death to Nozaleda! they inflamed their hosts so that the prelate would neither set foot on Valencian soil nor take possession of his mitre and crosier. And they succeeded.

Vicente Escrivá Salvador

Law Degree from the University of Valencia, Diploma in Human Resources from the School of Business Administration and Management (ESADE), Master in Modern History from the University of Valencia with Extraordinary Award and PhD in History from the Catholic University San Vicente Mártir of Valencia (UCV) with the qualification of outstanding "cum laude". His professional experience is backed by thirty years of legal practice, being a member of the Bar Association of Valencia (ICAV). He is a member of the teaching staff of the Lluís Vives Business School in Valencia. He has also participated as a researcher in national projects. His current lines of research focus on the disciplines of History of Law, Contemporary History, History of the Church, Geopolitics and International Relations. In addition, he is a collaborator and correspondent in Valencia of the CARF Foundation.

Buy now "A smoking mitre: Bernardino Nozaleda, Archbishop of Valencia, casus belli for Spanish Republicanism".

How much does the formation of a seminarian cost?

The cost involved in the formation of seminarians and diocesan priests should be a collective effort of all Christians. Dioceses, foundations, faithful and even the brotherhoods and confraternities collaborate ingeniously so that we sow the world with priestly vocations.

The CARF Foundation and the challenge of seminarian formation

Since its foundation in 1989, the CARF Foundation has acted as a link between thousands of benefactors willing to contribute financially with study grants and scholarships so that priests and seminarians from all over the world can receive a solid theological, human and spiritual preparation.

More than 800 bishops from 131 countries want some of their priests and seminarians to study at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome or at the Faculties of Ecclesiastical Studies of the University of Navarra in Pamplona. In turn, they complete their human and spiritual formation at the Sapientiae (Rome) and Bidasoa (Pamplona) International Ecclesiastical Colleges. In order to carry out this training also apply for study grants for their candidates.

Thanks to benefactors and donors like you, the CARF Foundation meets most of the requests, but the needs are growing and we want all requests to be met.

Donate now to form diocesan seminarians from all over the world.

seminaristas-formación-sacerdotes

How much does a full formation grant for a seminarian cost?

18,000 euros is the amount necessary for a candidate to live, study and train for a year at the universities of Rome or Pamplona. The neediest dioceses in the world request a full scholarship for their candidates. In all cases, the diocese covers a small part of the cost of training a seminarian in his country of origin, as a sign of its commitment to maximize the future use of the aid.

Approximately every academic year the CARF Foundation assists with direct and indirect scholarships approximately: 400 seminarians, 1,120 diocesan priests and about 80 members of religious institutions. Each full scholarship, awarded by the foundation, can be broken down as follows: €12,000, room and board. 8,000 €, tuition and academic fees, supplements for academic, human and spiritual formation. Personal expenses are always paid by the student or the diocese.

How much has the number of seminarians in the world grown?

The Central Statistical Office of the Church has been in charge of the edition of The Pontifical Yearbook 2022 and the Ecclesial Statistical Yearbook 2020 published in recent days.

They gather the data on the 2019-2020 biennium which gives us an overview of the numerical reality of the Catholic Church in the different countries and on the different continents allowing us to extract some news related to the life of the Church in today's world.

The presence of Catholics does not change at the level of the entire planet, but it does if we analyze the number of Catholics in the different continents. There is a maximum increase on the African continent and a relative increase in Asia. On the other hand, in Europe there has been a continuous decline in recent years. America and Oceania remain stable in relation to the world total.

The data analyzed on priests in all ecclesiastical districts of the Catholic world, both diocesan and religious, reveal a decline in the number of priests. At the close of 2020 there were 410,219 priests in the world, 4,117 fewer priests than the previous year. Only in Africa and Asia were there significant increases in the number of priests, which together contributed a total of + 1,782 priests to the world during the biennium under analysis.

We can observe a clear imbalance between the number of Catholics and priests in the world, which translates into a very high overall pastoral burden.

seminaristas-formación-sacerdotes

Regarding seminarians

Candidates for the priesthood went from 114,058 seminarians in the world in 2019 to 111,855 in 2020. The trend in major seminarians observed in the world total, between 2019 and 2020, affects all continents, with the exception of Africa, where seminarians increased by 2.8%. From 32,721 to 33,628 seminarians.

The decreases in priestly vocations are significant especially in Europe (-4.3%,) although they can also be seen in the Americas (-4.2%) and Asia (-3.5%.)

The percentage distribution of seminarians by continent shows slight changes over the two-year period. Africa and Asia contributed 58.3% of the world total in 2019 and in 2020 their share rises to 59.3%. Oceania reveals some negative adjustment. America and Europe as a whole see their share decrease. American and European seminarians accounted for almost 41% of the total, while one year later they drop to 39.9%.

The birth of priestly vocations in Africa and Asia is a constant fact recorded in recent years. These future priests will support and strengthen the European and American Churches. This data helps us to get a real idea of the responsibility we have as Catholics to take care of each new vocation with the utmost care. Supporting the dioceses in the formation of seminarians, even more so in the most disadvantaged continents.

Bibliography:

- Annuario Pontificio 2022 and Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2020

Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and its relationship with the CARF Foundation

Universidad Pontificia Santa Cruz and its relationship with the CARF Foundation

Academic activities at the PUSC began in 1984, with the name of Centro Accademico Romano della Santa CroceThe germ of today's University, which was erected as "Pontifical" by the Holy Father. John Paul II January 9, 1990.

The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross It currently consists of the Faculties of Theology, Canon Law, Philosophy and Institutional Social Communication; the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of the Apollinare is also an essential part of it.

The CARF Foundation and its commitment to training

Hundreds of bishops from all over the world request study grants from the University and the CARF Foundation is in charge of obtaining the funds to send diocesan priests, seminarians and religious to study in its classrooms. The objective of the CARF Foundationsince 1989 is to provide these young people with a deep scientific and spiritual formation at the PSUC.

Fundación CARF

Donate now to form diocesan priests, seminarians and religious from all over the world.

The specific mission of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross is to deepen the intellectual content and anthropological richness of the faith, while establishing a dialogue with contemporary culture.

The Pontifical University of Santa Cruz an education open to the world

The Santa Croce is characterized on the one hand by being open to the world, in dialogue with secular culture. Both in teaching and in research there is an attentive look at the problems of the world, being aware that from the sacred sciences one can contribute to the search for truth.

Topics such as anthropology, social doctrine and the defense of life are the object of study. In addition, the vast majority of the professors at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross have obtained civil academic degrees in the various fields of knowledge, which facilitates this dialogue.

Following the wish of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, the academic activities are open to scholars and intellectuals in the scientific, philosophical, economic and social fields, providing the necessary elements for a true dialogue of faith with the world.

Among the greatest spiritual inheritances received by St. Josemaría Escrivá is undoubtedly the exhortation to cultivate a profound unity of life. This is manifested not only in a due coherence between words and deeds, but also through the harmony that must exist between professional and intellectual formation, on the one hand, and spiritual and theological formation on the other.

"Santa Croce is characterized by being open to the world, in dialogue with secular culture."

Luis Navarro, rector of the PUSC since 2016.

Donate now to form diocesan priests, seminarians and religious from all over the world.

Because it is important for the CARF Foundation that seminarians and priests have access to a formation at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce.

First of all, because Rome is the cradle of Christianity! A few years ago, Pope Benedict XVI, Addressing the students of Roman universities, he told them that "the possibility of studying in Rome, seat of the successor of Peter and therefore of the Petrine ministry, helps you to strengthen your sense of belonging to the Church and your commitment to fidelity to the Pope's universal magisterium".

Also relevant during formation in Rome is the sense of union with the whole Church that is strengthened in the eternal city. Walking through the streets where so many holy women and men have walked is impressive and a spur for each one of us. To this is added another factor: in Rome you touch the universality of the Church. You see, talk and live with Catholics from all over the world: people of very different cultures, traditions and races, but at the same time very close because they believe in, proclaim and love Jesus Christ. When you discover this, a great horizon opens up in your interior life: belonging to the great family of God.

For this reason, the Pontifical University of Santa Cruz is an institution open to the world, and it carries out a training where the aim is to enable students to help the men and women of their country to encounter God precisely in temporal realities. The majority of the faithful are citizens who need to receive a formation that will enable them to be saints in their daily lives.

universidad PUSC

The annual visit of benefactors of the CARF Foundation to the PUSC in Rome

Every year the foundation organizes a day of meetings and training in Rome, during which benefactors and friends have the opportunity to meet some of the students they support and to chat and have lunch with them. They can also visit the PUSC and participate in some conferences given by teachers or personalities involved in the academic, cultural or communication fields.

The participants carry out a real pilgrimage to Rome The students were able to visit the Sedes Sapientiae International Seminary, the Tiberino Priestly College, the excavations of the Vatican Necropolis, together with some students of the university, and to participate in the Audience and the Angelus with Pope Francis.

During the trip, benefactors can see why the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross is unique among all other Pontifical Universities. In addition to the three main faculties, the PUSC promotes the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences and several research centers. A challenge, difficult in our times, but in which it puts all its efforts so that through formation it also contributes to evangelization and the spread of the message of Christ.

"Thanks to my benefactors at the CARF Foundation. Sometimes it may be normal for a young European to have the opportunity to be trained in such a prestigious university as the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, but I can assure you that it is not so for the people of my country: your help has allowed me to have the opportunity to study in Rome and to share my life and my faith with other young seminarians from all over the world. So, truly, my wish is that God bless you in your daily work and keep in you that wonderful heart".

Mathias Msonganzila, a seminarian of the Archdiocese of Mwanza, Tanzania.

Donate now to form diocesan priests, seminarians and religious from all over the world.

Bibliography

- Interview with Mr. Luis NavarroGerardo Ferrara.
- Interview with Mª Dolores Cuadrado, correspondent of the CARF Foundation in Valladolid.
- Interview with Mr. Mariano Fazio on the occasion of his book number 28: "Libertad para amar, a través de los clásicos", Marta Santín.

Poems for grateful wonder

I got to know this work in a somewhat unusual way: a courier agency delivered it to my home by mistake. I confirmed that it was a mistake when I had already opened it, leafed through it, liked it and was given it as a gift. And every gift deserves a thank you, which I intend to convey in these lines.

Alumbramientos

It is a book of religious poetry, a polished and well-seasoned work by a writer who has several poetic awards to his credit, although he has also cultivated narrative.

It is a synthesis of poetic forms, in which there is no lack of combinations of traditional stanzas with others of more recent cut. However, I do not agree that it is not a mystical book, as it is said in the presentation, because supposedly the author would have his feet firmly planted on the ground.

But the great mystics, like the saints of Carmel, have also had them and have known the trials and joys of daily life, even if their vocation was not that of contemplative souls in their cells.

To have one's feet firmly on the ground is the occasion to contemplate Beauty with a capital letter after looking at the wonders of nature, traces of divine existence. It is astonishment, a grateful astonishment, that makes the poet discover Beauty.

Daniel Cotta - Poemas y poesía. Alumbramiento Poesía Antonio Rubio Plo

Daniel Cotta Lobato (Málaga, 1974) is a Spanish poet and novelist. 

The author and wonder in poems and poetry.

Cotta goes back first to the God of the Universe, who is not only Father, but also Motherto lead us little by little to Christ, God incarnate.

Alumbramientos is a continuous thanksgiving. To give thanks, one must first let oneself be carried away by amazement.This is something that our world does not appreciate too much, because its rationalism wants to control all processes, the explainable and the inexplicable.

However, as Cotta says, God is all wonder and possesses infinite joy. Amazement is proper to children, and surely from this perspective we can understand Christ's command to become like children in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven (Mt 18:3).The same Gospel passage reminds us that this spiritual childhood is only possible through personal conversion.

The poet calls God Creator, Father and My Redeemer. A prayer from the Christian tradition leads him to emphasize that God has not disengaged from the world. God came once to live among men and continues to come, particularly in the Eucharist.

For this reason, according to Cotta, the earth is the tabernacle that guards God. We have been visited by the Sun that rises from on high, the writer recalls with the words of the canticle of Zechariah (Lk 1:67-69), and the author once again allows himself to be carried away by this infinite wonder, present in his poetry, to recall that the Father has entrusted Christ: "And you will be his guardian angel"..

But the astonishment does not cease in other parts of the book, especially for what God has done for this man, "little lower than the angels" (Ps 8:5), and has made him in his own image and likeness. As Cotta says, "to make me, Lord, you drew inspiration from yourself. You looked inward and took out of me the God and clothed him in me". The poet believes in good deification: "I, Lord, am made of You. Let us make the Universe together!"

Many socio-political systems have tried, and continue to try, to create the "new man". They are destined to fail, as history shows. On the contrary, Daniel Cotta speaks to us in Alumbramientos del hombre nuevo, del hombre eterno (The New Man, the Eternal Man)in the expression of G. K. Chesterton, which is the image of Christ.

Antonio R. Rubio PloGraduate in History and Law. Writer and international analyst.
@blogculturayfe / @arubioplo

Prayer to the Holy Spirit to thank Him or ask for favors

Pope Francis explains faith in the Holy Spirit.
Imagen del Espíritu Santo interpretado por una paloma blanca con las alas abiertas

Pentecost Sequence

The oldest prayer to the Holy Spirit to ask for a favor is the Pentecost sequence or Veni Sancte Spiritus is a prayer written in Latin, with which to invoke the Holy Spirit. This is one of the four sequences that remained after the liturgical reform carried out by the Council of Trent.

It recalls the first coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost, narrated in chapter 2 of the Acts of the Apostles.

The original text of this prayer to the Holy Spirit is attributed to Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (ca. 1150-1228), although both King Robert II the Pious (970-1031) of France and Pope Innocent III (ca. 1161-1216) were also considered its authors.

Come, Holy Spirit,
and sends down from Heaven
a ray of your light.

Come, father of the poor,
come, giver of graces,
see the light of hearts.

Magnificent dildo,
sweet guest of the soul,
its sweet refreshment.

Rest in fatigue,
breeze in the summer,
consolation in crying.

O most holy light!
fills the most intimate
of the hearts of your faithful.

Without your help,
there is nothing in man,
nothing that is good.

Wash what is stained,
water what is arid,
heals what is wounded.

Bend what is stiff,
heats what is cold,
straightens what is astray.

Grant to your faithful ones,
who trust in You
your seven sacred gifts.

Give them the merit of virtue,
give them the port of salvation,
give them eternal happiness.

Amen.

Juan Pablo II de rodilla con las manos juntas rezando
John Paul II on his knees with hands together praying

Come Creator Spirit: Prayer to the Holy Spirit prayed daily by John Paul II

In January 1980, in his first meeting with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Saint John Paul II He confided to his listeners that he prayed this prayer to the Holy Spirit to ask for a favor.

"I learned to pray to the Holy Spirit from an early age. When I was 11 years old, I was sad because I had a hard time with mathematics. My father showed me in a little book the hymn "The Holy Spirit.Come Creator SpiritHe said to me: "Pray it and you will see that He helps you to understand. I have been praying this hymn every day for more than 40 years and I have known how much the Divine Spirit helps."

"I remain obedient to this commandment that my father gave me," noted the Polish saint who until the end of his life prayed daily the prayer suggested by his father, the hymn Come Holy Spirit Creator. "This was my own spiritual initiation," he added.

Come, Creator Spirit,
visit the souls of your faithful
and fills hearts with divine grace,
which Thou Thyself hast created.

You are our Comforter,
gift of God Most High,
living fountain, fire, charity
and spiritual anointing.

You pour out upon us the seven gifts;
You, the finger of God's hand;
You, the promised one of the Father;
You who put on our lips the treasures of your word.

Enkindle our senses with your light;
infuse your love in our hearts;
and, with your perpetual help,
strengthens our weak flesh.

Keep the enemy away from us,
give us peace soon,
be yourself our guide,
and placed under your guidance, we will avoid all that is harmful.

Through you let us know the Father,
and also to the Son;
and that in You, Spirit of both of us,
we create at all times.

Glory to God the Father,
and the Son who rose again,
and the Comforting Spirit,
for ever and ever. Amen.

V. Send your Spirit and they will be created.
R. And thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray: O God, you have enlightened the hearts of your children with the light of the Holy Spirit; make us docile to your Spirit so that we may always taste the good and enjoy its consolation. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit by St. Josemaria

St. Josemaría had a special devotion to the Paraclete, perhaps because he was the least invoked Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Every year, St. Josemaría made the Decenary to the Holy Spirit, using the book by Francisca Javiera del Valle. In April 1934 he composed a prayer to the Paraclete, which he gave, in manuscript, to Ricardo Fernández Vallespín, then director of the first Opus Dei Residence.

Come, Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit,
Fill the hearts of your faithful
and ignites in them
the fire of your love.
Send, Lord, your Spirit.
May it renew the face of the Earth.

Prayer:

Oh my,
that you filled the hearts of your
faithful with the light of the Spirit
Holy One; grant that,
guided by the same Spirit,
and we feel righteously and
may we always enjoy your consolation.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Decennial to the Holy Spirit, 10 days of preparation for Pentecost

The Decennial to the Holy Spirit is a beautiful and ancient custom with which the Church encourages its faithful to prepare in the best possible way for the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

It begins 10 days before the feast, that is, on the day of Jesus' Ascension to heaven. On that day Jesus Christ promised his disciples that he would send them the Paraclete. The disciples remained in Jerusalem in continuous prayer to the Holy Spirit together with Mary.

These are, therefore, the days of Lent are a propitious occasion to remember that first prayer together and to prepare ourselves to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit.

"On the eve of beginning this Decade, which is the eve of the glorious Ascension of our Divine Redeemer, we must prepare ourselves, with firm resolutions, to undertake the interior life, and having undertaken this life, never to abandon it."    (Francisca Javiera del Valle)

The following is a proposal for a simple decennialbased on the requests of Pope Francis for the Year of Faith. Designed to prepare for the feast of Pentecost, pray a prayer to the Holy Spirit, read a text of St. Josemaría and propose a mission for each of the ten days.

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