Among all of the lessons we can learn from St. Teresa of Avila, reliance on the Holy Spirit might be the most important. As a Catholic, I call on the Holy Spirit in the sign of the cross every time I pray. But I think most of us run through that at the start and end of each prayer without really reflecting on what we’re saying. It occurred to me recently that I rarely think about praying to the Holy Spirit. I usually address God the Father or God the Son. But when Teresa was struggling with prayer, a Jesuit priest counseled her to turn to the Holy Spirit. (see this source)
So we know that Teresa experienced times when her prayer life just wasn’t working for her. That fact by itself can be comforting to us since she went on to be named a Doctor of the Church based primarily on her insights and writings about prayer. So if someone who was such a master of prayer had rough patches, maybe there is hope for all of us! (I mean, obviously there is hope for us, since everything is possible with God, but you get my point.)
But how can we turn to the Holy Spirit for guidance? It’s really a different way of thinking about prayer. I suppose it’s harder for me because I don’t have a parallel relationship in my life. When I think of praying, I can imagine I am talking to the Father because I understand what a father-relationship is supposed to be. So I can imagine God the Father being the most idealized version of that.
When I talk to Jesus, I can picture Him in his human form. I can imagine the relationships he had with the Apostles, and especially with Mary Magdalene and Mary, His Mother. I can relate to that and think about having a conversation with Him like they might have had.
But I don’t have a frame of reference for the Holy Spirit. Honestly, the Trinity is a mysterious enough concept as it is, one that we accept but can never fully grasp. So the Holy Spirit has always been in that realm for me. I suppose I just assumed that praying to any one of the Divine Persons in One God of the Trinity automatically connected me with all three.
But St. Teresa gained great support and help when she turned to the Holy Spirit, specifically. So I would like to contemplate that idea a little more and see how it might impact my prayer life. I did move in that direction, a little bit, when I recently found and saved a prayer to the Holy Spirit from a post at Blessed is She. Evidently they were quoting from loyolapress.com. This is a prayer from St. Augustine:
“Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,
That my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit,
That my work, too, may be holy.
Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit,
That I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit,
To defend all that is holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit,
That I always may be holy. Amen.”
I saved this prayer in my journal next to the list where I save prayer requests. So that every day when I pray for those intentions I see it and remember to say it. I am sincere in that prayer, but it’s probably the only time I mention the Holy Spirit in my own private reflection. I haven’t just talked to him, like I try to do with the Father and with Jesus.
So that’s my new resolution. I am going to try talking directly to God the Holy Spirit to ask for guidance. After all, that’s what Jesus called us to do. “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name – he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” (John 14:26) What do you think? Do you already pray to the Holy Spirit?
Dear Holy Spirit, who comes to us on the breath of God, teach us to pray. Guide us to the paths that were chosen for us, and give us strength in our trials.