Divinum illud munus

Divinum illud munus
Encyclical letter of Pope Leo XIII
Date 15 May 1897
Argument On the Holy Spirit
Encyclical number 61 of 85 of the pontificate
Text

Divinum illud munus (English title: On the Holy Spirit) is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 15, 1897.[1] In the encyclical, Leo addresses "the indwelling and miraculous power of the Holy Ghost; and the extent and efficiency of His action, both in the whole body of the Church and in the individual souls of its members, through the glorious abundance of His divine graces."[2] As such it serves as one of the precursors to the Catholic pneumatological renaissance of the twentieth century.

Content

In discussing Catholic doctrine on the Blessed Trinity, Leo noted that "The Church is accustomed most fittingly to attribute to the Father those works of the Divinity in which power excels, to the Son those in which wisdom excels, and those in which love excels to the Holy Ghost."[3] He emphasized however the unity of the three Divine Persons, who are not to be honored separately in divine worship, nor to be considered as acting separately in the work of sanctification.

“We ought to pray to and invoke the Holy Spirit, for each one of us greatly needs His protection and His help. The more a man is deficient in wisdom, weak in strength, borne down with trouble, prone to sin, so ought he the more to fly to Him who is the never-ceasing fount of light, strength, consolation, and holiness.”[4]

The encyclical has the following parts:

  1. The Holy Ghost and Incarnation
  2. The Holy Ghost in the souls of the just
  3. On devotion to the Holy Ghost
  4. An annual novena decreed

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Pope Leo XIII, Divinum illud munus, May 15, 1897, Libreria Editrice Vaticana
  2. ↑ Divinum illud munus, §2.
  3. ↑ Divinum illud munus, §3.
  4. ↑ Divinum illud munus, §11.


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