179 Adam Boniecki, MIC In the Service of the Church Ways of the Marian Apostolate—Inspirations and Trends It is worthwhile to recall, echoing Father General, that when we say „the Church” we speak about the reality understood in three aspects. 1. In its fi rst sense, the Church is the reality derived from the Spirit, the constitutional principles of which are: Faith (the revealed doctrine); The Sacraments of the faith; The Apostolic power derived from Christ the King, Priest and Prophet and regarding the faith; Charisms. Those gifts reach man through other people; however, the Holy Spirit is in them. For this reason, they do not grow old and it is impossible to accuse them of being narrow-minded or incompatible. They do not need and won’t ever need reforms. Sometimes, those in a rush to “reform”, especially those from outside of the Church, are not aware of this fact. The matters of faith, the basic moral commandments will always be “signs of rebellion.” The Church does not stand on the text, by its external letter, even though it may be the texts of the Holy Scriptures. She came into being though the gift of the Holy Spirit as a living reality: “the Advocate, the holy spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you” (Jn 14:26). This understanding of the Church with her betrothed union with the Holy Spirit is the object of faith: “credo in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivifi cantem, and right after that: et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.” 2. In another sense, the Church is the Christian people—the assembly of the faithful. And these are not only the gifts of God, which are pure and perfect, • • • •
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