Monday in the Sixth Week of Easter

We pray through the Sixth Week of Easter and hear Didymus of Alexandria describe how the Holy Spirit renews us in baptism and restores our original beauty. We reflect on being born twice, cleansed by water and strengthened by spiritual fire, then close with devotions and a concrete invitation to keep growing in faith. 
• opening prayers that anchor the day in the Trinity 
• morning offering of prayers, works, joys, and sufferings in union with the Mass 
• the Holy Spirit’s divinity and shared Godhead with the Father and the Son 
• baptism as restoration from deformity to original beauty through grace 
• freedom from sin and death and adoption as children and heirs of God 
• being conceived twice through human birth and birth of water and the Spirit 
• visible signs at the font and the Spirit’s invisible work of new birth 
• water and fire as images of cleansing, recasting, and spiritual strength 
• Scripture promises of God pouring out water and the Spirit on the thirsty 
If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications, now available on Amazon.com. The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org.

Transcript

Morning Offering Through Mary

Didymus On The Spirit In Baptism

Conceived Twice And Made God’s Children

Water And Fire That Purify

Paschal Closing Prayer And Dismissal

Devotions And Faith Resources

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Monday, in the sixth week of Easter, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the remission of my sins, for the intentions of my family and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen. From the Treatise on the Trinity by Didymus of Alexandria. The Holy Spirit renews us in baptism through his Godhead, which he shares with the Father and the Son. Finding us in a state of deformity, the Spirit restores our original beauty and fills us with his grace, leaving no room for anything unworthy of our love. The Spirit frees us from sin and death and changes us from the earthly men we were, men of dust and ashes, into spiritual men, sharers in the divine glory, sons and heirs of God the Father, who bear a likeness to the Son, and are his co-heirs and brothers, destined to reign with him and to share his glory. In place of earth, the Spirit reopens heaven to us and gladly admits us into paradise, giving us even now greater honor than the angels, and by the holy waters of baptism extinguishing the unquenchable fires of hell. We men are conceived twice. To the human body we owe our first conception, to the divine spirit our second. John says, to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. These were born not by human generation, not by the desire of the flesh, not by the will of man, but of God. All who believed in Christ, he says, received power to become children of God, that is, of the Holy Spirit, and to gain kinship with God, to show that their parent was God the Holy Spirit. He adds these words of Christ: I give you this solemn warning, that without being born of water and the Spirit, no one can enter the kingdom of God. Visibly, through the ministry of priests, the font gives symbolic birth to our visible bodies. Invisibly, through the ministry of angels, the Spirit of God, whom even the mind's eye cannot see, baptizes into Himself both our souls and bodies, giving them a new birth. Speaking quite literally, and also in harmony with the words of water and the Spirit, John the Baptist says of Christ, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Since we are only vessels of clay, we must first be cleansed in water, and then hardened by spiritual fire, for God is a consuming fire. We need the Holy Spirit to perfect and renew us, for spiritual fire can cleanse us, and spiritual water can recast us as in a furnace and make us into new men. I will pour out water upon the thirsty land and streams upon the dry ground. I will pour out my spirit upon your offspring, and they shall grow like willows by flowing streams. Alleluia. The water I give shall become a fountain within him, dwelling up to eternal life. I will pour out my spirit upon your offspring, and they shall grow like willows by flowing streams. Alleluia. Grant, O merciful God, that we may experience at all times the fruit produced by the paschal observances. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen. Let us praise the Lord and give him thanks. All that I have and all that I am, I give to your hands, Jesus, through the heart of Mary, your blessed mother. Amen. Sacred heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications, now available on Amazon.com. The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org.