Veni Creator!
Come Holy Spirit!

Without the Holy Spirit nothing that exists, visible or invisible, could be created: because in every creation, that is, in every external operation of God, the three divine persons must necessarily concur: God the Father creates through the Word by the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit no rational creature can glorify God and obtain merits. Without the Holy Spirit no one can believe, nor hope, nor love, nor repent. Without the Holy Spirit no one can recognize all the deceptions coming from our human nature, from the world and from Satan. Without the Holy Spirit no one can observe the divine law or discern the Spirit of God. Without the Holy Spirit the rational creation is in the state of God's misfortune. Finally, Saint Paul writes in the letter to Corinthians, that “no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (12:3). Since man has such a need for the Holy Spirit, he invokes him often: he invokes him for help during temptation, he invokes him for light in the examination of conscience, he invokes him before hearing the Word of God, he invokes him in state of tribulation, invokes him before meditation, invokes him before speaking, invokes him in sickness, invokes him in doubt or in obscure things, invokes him in the time of fear, invokes him in the time of trial , he invokes him during desolation, he invokes him to discern his calling, he invokes him for direction in the spiritual life, he invokes him for forgiveness and for the remission of sins, he invokes him in adversity, he invokes him in the time of anxiety, and the Holy Spirit listens to him firstly because he seeks his glory, secondly because Jesus Christ merited us his grace and finally because he who humbles himself and who trusts in God should not expect confusion. If God himself tells us to invoke him, isn’t it clear that he wants to bestow him on us? Veni, Sancte Spiritus!

At a time when, for many Catholics, the Holy Spirit was considered as the person in the third tier of the Holy Trinity, St George Preca promoted the worship of the Holy Spirit which He truly deserves. The Founder of the Society of Christian Doctrine (MUSEUM) delved deeply into the theology on the Holy Spirit, and he explained, both in talks and in writing, the doctrine of the Church on the Holy spirit, invoking Him with a variety of prayers that are so dear to us. St George Preca may have based his teaching on the nature of the Holy Spirit upon the 'Symbol' (or Creed) attributed to Saint Athanasius. Saint George maintained that the role of the Holy Spirit is as essential as the roles of the Father and the Son. Power is attributed to the Father, Wisdom to the Son and Goodness to the Holy Spirit. St George Preca also explains in a clear way the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, as revealed in Isaiah (11, 2-3). The gift of wisdom brings joy mostly in heavenly things, not in worldly ones, which are nothing but vanity; understanding brings clarity to the truths  in our faith; counsel brings light to the soul in choosing the necessary means for holiness; fortitude gives courage and ability against all fear caused by evil; knowledge helps learning, that esteems all things according to their real value; piety brings delight in the soul during religious practices and in completing works of mercy with our neighbour in need; the fear of the Lord places in the soul a healthy reverence that surpasses any other fear that we may feel. He also explains the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, mentioned by St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians (5, 22-23). Love is the root of all kinds of good, because charity does not consist in words only; joy is a companion that is never separated from a good conscience; peace always follows restraint of passion; patience helps one to suffer trials without anxiety; mercy sustains patience so that it is never lacking; with gentleness, (or meekness), one quietly endures rudeness, faults and injuries that may be caused by others; goodness entices one towards doing what is good; righteousness perfects goodness by combining it with affability and gentleness; faith strengthens one in fulfilling promises in time, abhorring all kinds of lies and deception; self-control restrains all impure acts, thoughts and desires. St George Preca concludes his thoughts on the Fruits of the Holy Spirit with a question: "Who is does not see the indispensability of the Holy Spirit?" He further says that without the Holy Spirit nothing would even exist, because the three divine Persons concur together in all creation. Since man is so much in need of the Holy Spirit, St George Preca invites all to invoke Him often, paricularly in certain situations when his help is most needed: during temptation, during the examination of conscience, before hearing the Word of God, when in tribulation, before meditation, before speaking, in sickness, in doubt, in time of desolation and in the choice of one’s vocation. Saint George Preca assures us: the Holy Spirit will certainly listen to our prayers and grant us help.

A wise, intelligent, and devout young man listened to a sermon about holy surrender and was deeply impressed when he learned about the spiritual and bodily benefits enjoyed by those who practice it. He reflected a lot and finally decided to seek out his spiritual director, a very honest, wise, and well-prepared man in matters of faith. So he did, and he asked him to be patient with him and explain everything he knew about holy surrender. His spiritual director was a very kind and courteous man; he received him with much affection, and when he heard his request, he said he was willing to explain everything he had read, heard, and learned about this topic. The directee was very happy and asked for his permission to write down everything he told him, so as not to forget such a valuable teaching. The director agreed, and they decided to start meeting; the director dictating and the directee writing. L-Abbandun Totali (Total Surrender) by St George Preca is a good read for those eager to deepen their relationship with God and entrust themselves to his guidance. Reflection number 36 from L-Abbandun Totali (Total Surrender): The Lord's Prayer and Holy Abandonment Godson, when our Lord Jesus Christ taught us to pray to God, our true Father, he understood that we must seek His glory and the peace of our hearts. Do you believe that if we did not say to God "thy will be done," what He wants would not be fulfilled, since He is the owner and absolute Lord of heaven and earth? We can always resist the will of God, but only with our own will, because not even a leaf moves without His physical help. So when we ask Him "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," we are begging for the help of His grace so that, through perfect obedience to His commandments, we may fulfill His will; and also so that in the events He arranges for us in His providence, we may unite more perfectly with what He wants. In short, Jesus Christ has shown us that He wants us to practice holy abandonment in the lap of our blessed God so that we may enjoy true peace of heart, keeping within us a good will united to the will of God. Let us remember that the angels sang at His birth: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:14). Jesus Christ also wanted to show us that we must give glory to God, especially in spirit and in truth. In fact, when we fulfill the will of God, we recognize Him as our absolute Lord, and at the same time we thank Him for all the good He grants us every day. Undoubtedly, with this attitude we please Him; as a consequence, He will always be with us and will never abandon us, because we are fulfilling His will, submissive to His Divine Majesty with a spirit of true worship. There is no true worship when there is resistance to His divine will. In fact, whoever resists does not recognize God's authority, but rather places their own will above His, and in doing so, despises their Lord. Saint Augustine affirmed: "Do you want to know who your God is? Look at what you love: that which you love, is your God." Whoever resists would be hating Him. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." How is the will of God fulfilled in heaven? It is fulfilled with perfect love on the part of the angels, His ministers. Whoever fulfills the will of God, moved by holy fear, would be giving Him true glory; but whoever is moved by love would be fulfilling the will of God perfectly, because perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18). So you would be fulfilling the divine will on earth and expressing the desire to see it fulfilled by all in the same way that the angels fulfill it in heaven. We read in the Gospel that the devil promised Christ all the kingdoms of the world if He would kneel before him and worship him. Faced with such a proposal, Jesus immediately dismissed him and said, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" (Matthew 4:8-9). Therefore, when we say to God in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," we would truly be pleasing Him. However, it is only during the trial and in the moment of temptation that we manifest whether we have sincerely desired to perform this worship with true spirit. This is enough for today, and in the next meeting, if the Lord God wills, I will dictate to you and show you that love is the only step that leads to holy abandonment.

Have you ever asked yourself the question, ‘What was St George Preca’s main wish?’  As any other human being, Fr George - as he would have liked to be addressed - had his own wishes too.  It is evident from his writings that one of the main wishes was that of becoming more like our Lord Jesus Christ.  This wasn’t just a wish he had for himself but he wanted that everyone strives to achieve this objective. In the Scriptures we read, ‘Have the same mindset as Jesus Christ’ (Phil 2:5).  Fr George would have said to us:  Embrace the Spirit of Christ as such Spirit includes each and every virtue, every good power.  As the potter gives shape to an object from clay, we need to allow God to continue to mould us and form us in the image of Jesus Christ.  We start changing in a way that our thoughts, our decisions, our sentiments, our dreams and our desires will become increasingly similar to those of Jesus Christ himself.  Every human being is invited to embark on this transformational process through which, from a ‘natural’ human being, he starts resembling Jesus more closely in order to become the new human, a spiritual human being. Fr George therefore recommends that we cast our look on Christ Jesus and always seek to imitate him in everything.  Look at him and be silent, let him speak to you and do all that you see him doing and hear him saying to you.  Let him enkindle your heart so that you can imitate him in everything.  Generate in you the desire that your heart resembles that of Christ himself and with a completely patient attitude, let him gradually change you in order that you become like him. Fr George often used to suggest that we do the exercise promoted by St Vincent de Paule.  In this exercise one has to ask himself:  ‘Had Jesus been in my position, what would he have thought, or what would he have said or done?’  Thus, your decisions and your actions will always be enlightened by Jesus himself who assured us that he is the only way that leads to the Father. One of the key ways which without any doubt, helps a person to become more like Christ is good instruction - the source of all good things. The main aim of the Society Fr George set up, the Society of Christian Doctrine, is precisely that the members within it become saints and that they teach others in order that others too succeed in becoming saints through what they learn.  The desire for sainthood is the desire that we become ever more like Christ, the same wish Fr George had; would that the whole world follows the teachings of Christ! Let us pray and ask God that through the intercession of St George Preca, he grants us the grace that we always continue to change to become more like Christ so that we too, together with St Paul would be able to say, ‘ Do I live?  It is no longer me; Christ lives within me (Gal 2:20).

Il-Ktieb il-Kbir (The Great Book) is one of some 140 books written by St George Preca, Founder of the Society of Christian Doctrine. It was originally written in Maltese in the 1920s when Fr Preca was in his forties. Its contents reveal a dedicated priest already advanced in holiness. The book was specifically written for the meditation by the SDC Members, but in 1967 it was published for public use. Following in the long tradition of Thomas à Kempis and other classical spiritual masters, Fr Preca regarded “Christ crucified” as an indivisible and indispensible manual in his spirituality, as can clearly be seen from Preca’s first written Rule of 1909. The underlying reason is well put in his much later and more mature work, The Sanctuary of Christ’s Spirit: “How can one open that Great Book, Jesus Christ crucified,and fail to be imbued with his spirit? For those who really gaze at him, Christ crucified proves to be the source giving forth the spirit of eternal life… You will also then be filled with horror for sin and with love for God who, through the death of his Son, cleansed our soul in his divine blood, transforming us from children of wrath to children of grace”. Indeed, this is why Fr Preca emphatically believed that Christ crucified “is the Book that the saints followed.” He presents him to every Christian as “the surest way for eternal glory.” He invites everyone to fix their gaze at the Crucified Lord all the days of their earthly life. The style of the book is typical of Fr Preca’s: deep thoughts, which are highly biblical, are condensed in short sentences which the leader needs to meditate slowly in order to elicit and savour all the practical conclusions for one’s Christian life. For, again typically, Fr Preca’s writings are directly meant for practice and not just for the pleasure of reading them. Indeed, they resulted from his own spiritual wrestling to put on Christ. The basic invitation contained in every page of Il-Ktieb il-Kbir (The Great Book) is that which St Paul made to the Galatians: undergo the process of spiritual birth and death “until Christ is formed in you” (Gal 4,19).   The following is Page Forty-one from Il-Ktieb il-Kbir (The Great Book): Dearly beloved, look attentively at your Divine Master and reflect about: Trust in God Proof: The very enemies of Jesus Christ testified to his full trust in God. Looking at Jesus on the cross, they said, “He puts his trust in God; now let God rescue him if He wants him” (Mt 27,43). And before He expired, Jesus cried in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk 2,46). How could it be that He had no trust in God when He himself taught us not to call anyone “Father” on this earth, but have trust only in God? (Mt 23,9). Reflections from this Page: The uncertainty of the future renders us incapable of resting assured upon our own self, even if we are rich, wise or strong. The emotions and fickleness of human beings do not allow us to depend on any person for all are subject to death at any time. In the book of the prophet Daniel it is àwritten that God will save those who trust in him (Dan 13,60). Our repose in only in God. We were made for him. No one but him has all the means of consolation. He alone is not subject to no change whatsoever. Resolution: We resolve to put our trust in God’s power and, in all our spiritual and material needs, to unload all our cares on to the Lord. Thus, undoubtedly, we will be giving him glory with sincere gratitude.

St Michael School, run by the Society of Christian Doctrine (MUSEUM), celebrated its 75th anniversary in November 2021. For this occasion, Preca Publications published a book researched by the author titled L-Iskola St Michael – L-Għaxqa ta’ San Ġorġ Preca (St Michael School – The Pride and Joy of St George Preca). The book has a lot of new information, which should interest all those who care about education and the teachings of St George Preca. ‘My Pride and Joy’ By the end of World War II, Toni Agius (1907-1989), a MUSEUM member and engine fitter, had left his secure job at the shipyard to open a new school. He was joined by three other members of the MUSEUM, apprentices at the shipyard, and sacrificed everything to embark on this beautiful but challenging adventure. Like the founder of the MUSEUM, Agius found people who did not understand him and others who had reasonable fears. But St George Preca blessed Agius and his new project. St George later called St Michael School “my pride and joy” and he always visited the school with great happiness, talked to the students and teachers and celebrated mass there. ‘Special school’ Agius used to call St Michael School a “special school” because he didn’t want the school to be just an ordinary school like all the others. There were already several schools and colleges in Malta at that time. Agius had witnessed how many young people were seeing examples of bad conduct at the workplace and rea­lised that schools were not doing enough in this respect. The generous and missionary spirit inspired by St George Preca as a member of the MUSEUM could not leave him indifferent to such difficulties. Fruit of sacrifice Archbishop Charles Scicluna personally sent a message to the author after seeing a copy of the book. He said: “As a young priest, I had the opportunity to celebrate the Holy Eucharist with the students of St Michael School. It was a wonderful experience to meet so many students and teachers in an educative environment enriched with strong Christian values. “St Michael School is a monu­ment to the dedication of the members of the Christian Doctrine Society but it is also the fruit of the sacrifices of many dedicated parents, families and lay people. Over time, I have seen the happy development of the school: from a modest environment to a more modern environment and adapted to today’s demands. “I wish St Michael School to continue to serve our country in the field of education and instil in students and teachers the persuasion of the words that St George Preca loved to repeat: ‘Teaching is the source of all good.’” Contribution to Maltese Society In an introduction to the book, Raymond D’Amato, who has been head of school for more than 30 years, thanked the author “not only for the thorough research he has done to give us the history of our dear school but also for his commitment to giving us the vision, love and dedication of the work of the members of the staff of our school through all these years”. He added: “I appreciate the school’s contribution to Maltese society, especially during difficult times. If you have been lucky enough to be a part of our school in the last 75 years, share with others what you have received. I wish St Michael School a bright future so that, in the words of St George Preca, it ‘rises with your blessing and brings out spiritual and temporal good, to all who enter it will be the object of your mercy’.” Virtuous spirit Agius and Superior Carmelo Callus wanted the school, like the SDC centres, to be a “forge in which sin burns”. It is no wonder that the school is named for the archangel St Michael, who cast the devil into hell according to the Holy Scriptures. We pray to this saint to bless the staff and students of the past, present and future and their families to grow in virtue and, thus,  live a genuinely humane life. This book keeps Agius’s memories alive and write a historical account of the events that led to St Michael School’s establishment and the tremendous virtuous spirit that animated the first teachers. It also helps us not to forget the origins, to keep the past in mind and help us visualise the school’s future. A school is not a business meant to make profit but, instead, to serve as an extended family for children and adolescents where they should be educated in the values of goodness. This is what Agius and St George Preca desired. May this book serve to rediscover the values that shaped our predecessors and, above all, their commitment to doing good to others and, by doing so, glorifying God.