Today - the day after the great Christian holiday of Pentecost, we celebrate the third Person of the Holy Trinity - the Holy Spirit, BNR reported.
Thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, a radical spiritual change occurred in the apostles.
The Christian doctrine of the Holy Spirit is revealed in the word of God and was formulated at the Second Ecumenical Council, held in Constantinople in 381. It states: "I believe and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Whom we worship and glorify together with the Father and the Son, and Who spoke through the prophets". The Holy Spirit, according to the teaching of the Church, is true God, consubstantial and equal in honor to the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit is “life-giving” – a vital divine principle. At the very beginning of creation, He hovered over the primordial waters and gave them life (Gen. 1:2). Through Him, as the Holy Church sings, every soul receives life and rises to spiritual purity.
The Holy Spirit enlightens our minds in the knowledge of the truth. He spoke through the prophets. St. Apostle Peter assures that the holy men of God – apostles and prophets – spoke, being enlightened by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21). The same Holy Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit cleanses us from all sinful impurity and sanctifies us. He supports us in our weaknesses (Rom. 8:26) and helps us in the fight against evil.
He is also our Comforter (John 15:26) in sorrows and sufferings and brings joy to our souls. The joy in the Holy Spirit is a quiet, pure, bright, blissful joy, such as no one else and nothing else can give us.
The Holy Spirit works in us and on us with His gracious powers and gifts, which are manifested in the holy Sacraments of the Church.
Through the Holy Spirit we achieve holiness and become a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). And the presence of the grace of the Holy Spirit in the human soul is recognized by the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:22, 23).
Honoring the Holy Spirit today, we can turn to Him with the prayer: “Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of truth, Who art everywhere and fillest all things! Treasure of good things and Giver of life, come and dwell in us and cleanse us from all defilement and save, O Good One, our souls!”
Today we also commemorate St. Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria. His ardent zeal for the purity of Christian doctrine and his unwavering firmness in defending the faith were especially manifested in the fight against the heresy of Nestorius. Saint Cyril wrote an exhortation to Nestorius and letters to Emperor Theodosius the Younger, Pope Celestine I, and various monasteries, refuting Nestorius' claims and expounding the true Christian doctrine of the incarnation of the Son of God. Saint Cyril presided over the Third Ecumenical Council convened in 431 in the city of Ephesus against the Nestorian heresy. He died in 444.