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Summary of comments of this office by Dom Schuster, in his work L'année liturgique.
On this day, by means of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, Jesus, risen from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father, communicates to the members of His mystical body His divine life.
The Introït, borrowed from the Book of Wisdom (I:7) demands to be relished in the melody both majestic and joyous, with which the venerable Gregorian musical genius adorned it. "The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world, and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice." A versicle from the beautiful Psalm 67 follows the antiphon: "Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered: and let them that hate Him flee from before His face." This battle hymn perfectly suits the occasion of the coming of the Paraclete on earth.
The first Alleluia is taken from Psalm 103, the same as the Offertory of the Vigil: "Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth."
The second Alleluia is, by both its text and its melody, among the most inspired of all the Gregorian Antiphonary. It is repeated in the liturgy on the occasion of the consecration of new altars, when, on the table that is still moistened with holy chrism, five little candles arranged in the form of a cross and each placed atop a grain of incense, are burned: "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful: and kindle in them the fire of Thy love."
The sequence in usage in the Missal today is attributed by some to Innocent III; in any case, it replaces another that was quite lovely: Sancti Spiritus adsit nobis gratia, mentioned in the Ordines Romani of the 15th century, whose author was the famous monk Notker (840-912). The pious sequence now in usage was adopted into the Roman Missal by the reform of Pope St. Pius V. This sequence is repeated throughout the octave.
The antiphon for the Offertory is taken from Psalm 67: "Confirm, O God, what Thou hast wrought in us; from Thy temple, which is in Jerusalem, kings shall offer presents to Thee."
The antiphon for the Communion comes from the reading of the Acts of the Apostles: "Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming (and it filled the house) where they were sitting; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking the wonderful works of God."
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