Justin Appel

Dear Friends in Christ, 

Today’s New Testament reading from Acts recounts Saint Paul’s visit to Ephesus. He discovered that the people there had been baptized “in the name of John,” which was a “baptism of repentance.” However, Paul discovered that they had not heard of the Holy Spirit, and so he baptized them “in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Saint Athanasius the Great, in his book On the Incarnation also taught that this union with Jesus is necessary. He taught that only Jesus, as the incarnate Son of God, could change the corruption of sin we experience, restore the image of God in us, restore our immortality, and teach us about the Father.

Repentance in and of itself is not enough. We need to be united to Christ to experience the salvation he has wrought for us. We become united to Christ through baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit through chrismation. When we do this, “the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). This is the “Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out ‘Abba, Father’’’ (verse 15).

I’ll include here the glorious Pentecost hymn Veni Creator Spiritus by the Carolingian monk and abbot, Rabanus Maurus (c. 776-856), translated by John Cosin (1627), and a beautiful rendition with a Welsh translation of the inner verses from King Charles’s coronation service. The tune for this hymn is associated with Kempten Abbey around the year 1000.

Yours in Christ,

—Justin 

Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with celestial fire.
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
Who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart. 

Thy blessed unction from above
Is comfort, life, and fire of love.
Enable with perpetual light
The dullness of our blinded sight. 

Anoint and cheer our soiled face
With the abundance of thy grace.
Keep far our foes, give peace at home:
Where thou art guide, no ill can come.

Teach us to know the Father, Son,
And thee of both to be but One,
That, through the ages all along,
This may be our endless song:

Praise to thy eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.