Choose a topic from Part 1:
1. The Third Person of the Blessed Trinity is the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit. These two names mean the same thing. They are names proper to the Third Person; thus they are personal names, not essential names. Since the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son as from a common principle, it is fitting that his name should be something that is common to Father and Son. St. Augustine says (De Trin. xv 17),"The Father is a spirit; the Son is a spirit. The Father is holy; the Son is holy." Therefore, Holy Spirit or HolyGhost is a name suitably applied to the Third Person of the Trinity.
2. The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son,not from the Father alone. If the Holy Ghost were not from the Father and Son, there would be no relative opposition in the relation of Son and Holy Ghost, and these two would really be only one Person. Now, this is in conflict with the truth of the Trinity.Hence it is certain that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Fatherand the Son.
3. The Son, eternally begotten of the Father, constituteswith the Father the principle whence proceeds the Holy Ghost. It istherefore permissible to say that the Holy Ghost proceeds from theFather through the Son.
4. The Father and the Son are one principle whenceproceeds the Holy Ghost. The divine Persons are one in everythingthat is not relatively opposite (i.e., consisting in contrastedreal relation). Now, in spirating the Holy Ghost, the Father andthe Son act together as one and not as relatively opposed.Therefore Father and Son are one principle from which the HolyGhost proceeds.
"The more you know and the better you understand, the more severely will you be judged, unless your life is also the more holy. Do not be proud, therefore, because of your learning or skill. Rather, fear because of the talent given you."
Thomas á Kempis
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"Lord, here burn, here cut, and dry up in me all that hinders me from going to You, that You may spare me in eternity."
St Louis Bertrand
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"What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed it is not learning that makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to God. "
Thomas á Kempis
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