Who Is the Holy Spirit?

The Forgotten Person

Most Catholics find it fairly easy to think about God the Father and about Jesus. The Holy Spirit is harder. We make the Sign of the Cross in His name, and we hear about Him at Confirmation and Pentecost. But many people would struggle to say who He actually is.

Part of the difficulty is that the Holy Spirit does not draw attention to Himself. His work is to point us to Christ and to the Father. Yet the Church teaches that He is just as much God as they are, and that He is at work in every Christian life (CCC 683–747).

He Is a Person, Not a Force

The first thing to grasp is that the Holy Spirit is a Person, not an impersonal power or energy.

Scripture speaks of Him as someone who acts as a person does. He teaches (John 14:26), He speaks (Acts 13:2), He intercedes for us (Romans 8:26), and He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). You cannot grieve electricity. You can grieve a person who loves you.

So when we pray “Come, Holy Spirit,” we are not switching on a power supply. We are speaking to Someone.

He Is God

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. He is not a lesser being created by God, nor a messenger like an angel. He is fully and equally God with the Father and the Son.

The Church made this clear at the Council of Constantinople in 381, when some were teaching that the Spirit was a creature. The Council added to the Creed the words we still say at Sunday Mass: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified” (CCC 685).

Each phrase matters. He is Lord, the title given to God. He is the giver of life, which only God can be. And He is adored and glorified together with the Father and the Son, which would be idolatry if He were not God.

His Names and Titles

The Bible gives the Holy Spirit several names, each of which tells us something about Him (CCC 691–693).

The Paraclete. Jesus calls Him this at the Last Supper (John 14:16). The Greek word means one who is called to your side: an advocate, a helper, a consoler.

The Spirit of Truth. He leads the Church into all truth (John 16:13). This is why the Church trusts that, under His guidance, she will not fall into error in her solemn teaching.

The Spirit of Christ. He is sent by Jesus and makes Jesus present to us.

His Symbols

Because the Spirit cannot be seen, Scripture uses images to describe Him (CCC 694–701). The most familiar are:

Water, which gives life and cleanses, as in Baptism.
Anointing with oil, which is why we are anointed at Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders.
Fire, which transforms whatever it touches. The Spirit came on the apostles at Pentecost as tongues of fire.
Wind and breath. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for “spirit” also means breath or wind.
The dove, which came down on Jesus at His baptism in the Jordan.

What the Holy Spirit Does

The Holy Spirit has been at work from the very beginning. He hovered over the waters at creation (Genesis 1:2). He spoke through the prophets. By His power the Son of God became man in the womb of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:35).

At Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, He came down on the apostles and the Church went out into the world (Acts 2; CCC 731). Frightened men hiding in a locked room became bold preachers ready to die for Christ.

He continues that work today in three main ways.

He gives life to the Church. The Church has been called the Body of Christ, and the Holy Spirit is often called its soul. He keeps her united, makes her holy, and guides her teaching.

He works through the sacraments. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that water washes away sin in Baptism, and that bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ at Mass.

He lives in each Christian. St Paul asks the Corinthians, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). Through Baptism and grace, God Himself dwells in the soul. This is called the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

How the Spirit Works in Your Life

The Holy Spirit is rarely dramatic. More often He works quietly. He is there when you feel drawn to pray, when your conscience warns you away from sin, when you find strength you did not know you had, or when you understand a truth of the Faith more deeply than before.

He also gives us His seven gifts, which make us responsive to His guidance, and produces in us His fruits, the signs of a life lived in Him. These are explained in a separate article.

Getting to Know Him

Because the Holy Spirit is a Person, we can come to know Him, and that happens through prayer. A simple way to start is to say the traditional prayer to the Holy Spirit each morning:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth.

Ask Him for light before reading Scripture, before making a decision, and before Confession. The saints are unanimous that He loves to be asked.

The Gift of God

The Church sometimes calls the Holy Spirit simply “the Gift,” because He is the love of the Father and the Son given to us. Every good thing in the Christian life, from the first stirring of faith to the final perseverance of the saints, is His work.

He is not far away. If you are baptised and in a state of grace, He is already within you, waiting to be welcomed.