Blessed James Alberione

Opera Omnia

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INTRODUCTION

Before beginning our reflections on the Sacred Scriptures, it is a must that we pray to the Divine Master so that after having promised us the Holy Spirit - Ego rogabo Patrem et alium Paraclitum dabit vobis - he may send him to us in great measure; and new creatures be created in us: - Emitte Spiritum tuum, et creabuntur - and thus we become capable of understanding and spreading the divine truths that we are about to reflect on: - Et renovabis faciem terrae.
The Holy Spirit's work concerning the Sacred Scriptures is threefold: first of all He moved, enlightened, and assisted the sacred writers so that they might write without any error. In the second place, He enlightened the Church founded by Jesus Christ [so that], in virtue of the same Spirit, she may keep them intact and genuine, [while] she infallibly interprets them and communicates them to her children.
But that is not all: it is also necessary that the Holy Spirit move men to read, incline their hearts to love the sacred book, open their minds to understand it according to the teachings of the Catholic faith, and give them the grace to practice what they shall have read in it.
Let us therefore pray to the Holy Spirit by reciting the Veni, Creator Spiritus and let us ask to understand that the Bible is not an ordinary book, but a divine book and that in order to read it, neither the light of the sun nor that of an electric bulb are enough; neither the light of reason, but only a supernatural light. Furthermore, let us ask pardon from the Divine Master, here solemnly
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