Theological Foundations new file

103 The Role of the Holy Spirit in his conference on prayer. He discusses this role precisely in this con- text because prayer is something very important for every Christian as it leads to the recognition of God and our dependence on Him. It helps us to worship Him in spirit and truth and to surrender to His will. Prayer is a means of obtaining God’s grace and an aid in acquiring virtues, i.e., in attaining holiness. Through prayer we become worthy of heaven and prepare ourselves for the future life. The Holy Spirit is a Teacher and the originator of the spiritual life and, thus, of prayer which fulfills such an important role. At this point Blessed George recalls the words of St. Paul: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words” (Rom 8, 26). “No one can say: ‘Jesus is Lord’, except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12, 3). The Holy Spirit inspires us to prayer, enlightens us, teaches us about its nobleness and effectiveness. It is a proof of tremendous grace when a person becomes convinced of the importance of prayer in the spiritual life. 20 The Holy Spirit helps us to pray well because He teaches us how to pray and what to pray for. He knows what we need, so He teaches us because He wants us to obtain salvation. He does all of this first by working from within — He awakens in us a desire, childlike trust, per- severance and tenderness. In this manner, as St. Paul teaches, the Holy Spirit prays in us and gives us wisdom, knowledge, piety and the fear of God. He also supports our actions and our prayers from without. He helps us in our private and public prayer, in the oral prayer as well as in meditation and contemplation. The liturgical year of the Church, the feasts of our Savior, of the Blessed Mother and the saints provide us with a great variety of prayer opportunities, and all of this is also the work of the Holy Spirit. 21 The Holy Spirit will come to man if he removes all obstacles and starts to call upon Him. This plea to the Holy Spirit is to be made with deepest humility, with a feeling of powerlessness, with regret for the evil that we have committed, with trust and perseverance. Such a plea will