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Easter is the beginning of a new season of grace and a time of joy and thanksgiving, for Easter is not one day or one solemnity—it is a fifty day celebration, and the fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday together comprise what the General Instruction terms "the great Sunday".

Easter, Ascension and Pentecost

• Easter is the high point of the Christian mystery. On Easter, we celebrate the victory of Christ over sin and death.  On Easter we sing Alleluia (Praise God) once again, "not only with our voices, but with our life and deeds." (St. Augustine)
  
• Following the ancient tradition, the Church regards the Eight Days (an octave) from the Pascal Feast (Easter) to the Second Sunday of Easter as a single unit of celebration.
  
• Through his ascension to the right hand of God, Christ promised to send the Holy Spirit to empower the Church.
  
• The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost is called the birthday of the universal Church. Through the Spirit the Church realizes her call to preach the Gospel of Christ to the whole world. The Feast of Pentecost brings the Easter Season to a close.

NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

INVOCATION
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hears of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love.

READING: ROMANS 8:9-11
But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
On my knees, before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer myself, soul and body to you, Eternal Spirit of God. You are the strength and light of my soul and I desire never to grieve you by unfaithfulness. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for your light, and listen to your voice, and follow your gracious inspirations. I cling to you and give myself to you and ask you, by your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds, and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart, I implore you Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, to keep me in your grace that I may never sin against you. Give me grace O Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to you always and everywhere, "Speak Lord for your servant listens." Amen.

PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
O Lord Jesus Christ, before ascending into heaven you did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish your work in the souls of your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul, the work of your grace and your love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of your divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with you and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in imitation of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, and the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord with the sign of your true disciples, and animate me in all things with your Spirit. Amen.