In English-speaking countries the Church has been at a
disadvantage in the way in which she has had to expound her
doctrine, for she has been forced for many years to limit her
attention just to those parts of her teaching wherein the
Protestant bodies parted company from her. Without any desire to
stir up barren controversy, she has naturally in self-defence been
at pains most precisely to define those portions of her gospel
most likely to be misunderstood. This has resulted, unfortunately,
in her leaving in the background the other mysteries of faith,
often richer in themselves, more helpful to her children. Now,
however, that she is becoming more able to realize herself to the
modern world, an opportunity opens for explaining hidden
doctrines, of which the value to the Catholic in the development
of his inner life is considerable.
It is to further this development that these meditations have been
drawn up, since hardly anything can render us more sensible of our
worth and Christian dignity than does the teaching of Our Lord on
the indwelling of the Spirit of God. Cardinal Manning has indeed
made this the subject of two volumes, _The Internal Working of the
Holy Ghost_ and _The Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost_, which
are still obtainable, and there are also such books as _Sermons on
the Holy Ghost_ (Cathedral Library Association).
But as yet in English there is no such direct exposition of
Catholic teaching as Pere Barthelemy Froget, O. P., has attempted
in his _De l'Inhabitation du S. Esprit dans les ames justes_
(Lethielleux, Paris, 1890). Like nearly all the doctrinal works of
French origin, this treatise seems at times to suppose among the
laity a deeper knowledge of the rudiments of scholastic philosophy
than usually obtains among us, though the author has endeavored to
help this out by occasional notes or explanations. To avoid this
difficulty (which a mere translation would not lessen, but
increase), the material of the book has been rearranged in a
series of meditations which will, it is hoped, bring out in an
easier form what might otherwise be too abstruse to be of general
interest.
The wonderful beauty of the Church's teaching on this abiding
presence of the Holy Ghost, while it deepens our acquaintance with
His mysterious governance of the universe and discovers to us the
hidden beauties of our soul's life, should bring also its measure
of comfort, for whatever makes us conscious of the intimacy of
God's dealing with us lessens life's greatest trouble, its
loneliness.