“The Holy Spirit is thus the inspiration of the inner life of the regenerate man, and in that life is his Superior and Director.  That His guidance may become more and more immediate in an interior life, and the soul’s obedience more and more instinctive, is the object of the whole external order of the Church, including the sacramental system.

“Says Father Lallemant (Spiritual Doctrine, 3d principle, chap. i. art. 1):  ’All creatures that are in the world, the whole order of nature as well as that of grace, and all the leadings of Providence, have been so disposed as to remove from our souls whatever is contrary to God.’”

What follows has been culled from notes and memoranda: 

“When authority and liberty are intelligently understood, when both aim at the same end, then the universal reign of God’s authority in the Church will be near and the kingdom of God be established universally.”

“The whole future of the human race depends on bringing the individual soul more completely and perfectly under the sway of the Holy Spirit.”

“What society most needs to-day is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.”

“That soul is perfect which is guided habitually by the instinct of the Holy Spirit.”

“The aim of Christian perfection is the guidance of the soul by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  This is attained, ordinarily, first by bringing whatever is inordinate in our animal propensities under the control of the dictates of reason by the practice of mortification and self-denial; for it is a self-evident principle that a rational being ought to be master of his animal appetites.  And second, by bringing the dictates of reason under the control and inspiration of the Holy Spirit by recollection, and by fidelity and docility to its movements.”

“To attain to the spiritual estate of the conscious guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit, the practice of asceticism and of the natural and Christian moral virtues are the preparatory means.

“To rise before the light appears, is vain; to hinder the soul from rising when it does appear, is oppression.  In the first place, the soul is exposed to delusions; in the second, it is subjected to arbitrary human authority.  The former opens the door to all sorts of extravagances and heresies; the latter breeds a spirit of servility and bondage.”

“To reach that stage of the spiritual life which is the consciousness of the indwelling and guidance of the Holy Spirit some souls need the practice of asceticism more than others, these latter being more advanced by the practice of the Christian virtues.  Others, again, need the strenuous practice of both of these means of advancement until the close of their lives.  And there is another class which reaches this degree of spiritual growth sooner and with less difficulty than the generality of souls.”

“Whenever the guidance of the Holy Spirit is sufficiently recognized, then the practice of the virtues immediately related to this action and proper to increase it in the soul are to be recommended, such as recollection, purity of heart, docility and fidelity to the inner voice, and the like.”