This article is a simple attempt to study the official teaching of the Church and to deepen the knowledge of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the divine essence equal to the Father and the Son. The Council of Constantinopole of the universal Church that took place in AD 381, declared the divinity of the Holy Spirit in unmistakeable terms. The same Council taught that it is the Holy Spirit who gives divine life to the believers. The Council that met in Rome in 382 described the Holy Spirit as the divine power united with the Father and the Son. Pope Leo XIII, shed more light on the mystery of the Holy Spirit as taught hitherto and preserved by the various Council Fathers, through the encyclical Divinum Illud Munus, (The Holy Spirit, May 9,1897). Christ has fully given the Holy Spirit to the world he redeemed. The Holy Spirit bestows the salvation that Jesus merited for men. Pope Leo calls the Holy Spirit, "Life-giving Love," "Gift of God Most High", "The Sweetness of the Father and the Son", "Divine Goodness" and "Mutual love of the Father and the Son" . It is the Holy Spirit who gives the believer the truth and goodness revealed in Christ. He completed the work of man’s eternal salvation and perfected it. The awareness of the Holy Spirit that had its beginnings in the early Church, has been deepened by Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, Dominum Et Vivificantem (On the Holy Spirit). The Pope has, through the terms "person-love" and "person-gift", made the personal characteristics of the Holy Spirit very clear. That is, the Pope has unmistakeably declared that the Holy Spirit is not just a power but a Person.
 
 

According to the teaching of Pope Leo, it is the Holy Spirit of Pentecost who revealed and showed forth the Church that Christ founded in the world. The Holy Spirit gives the Church his life and power and protects and nourishes it. Pope Leo describes the relationship between the Church and the Holy Spirit thus: "Just as Christ is the head of the Church, the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church. That is, just as the human body and soul are intrinsically connected, the Holy Spirit and the Church are closely united. The Holy Spirit is fully revealed and the Church shines forth fully in the world in the Holy Spirit. By the inspiration of the same Spirit, the Apostolic succession and activity are continued. The Spirit fills the believers with the ‘Abba love’ and makes them children of God the Father (cf Rom 8:15-16) and members of the mystical body of Christ.

Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi (Mystical Body of Christ, 1943) taught that God enriched the Church by giving the Holy Spirit in all his fullness. God has thus poured out his Spirit in order to make the whole body of the Church like unto Christ so that the faithful may fulfil the natural and supernatural mandate in the Church and in the world. The Council fathers of Vatican II viewed the Holy Spirit as the pulse of life in the Church. He daily builds up the Church (LG 7:1;8:1; 14:2). The Holy Spirit pitches his tent in the hearts of the faithful and inspires them to love God and love all mankind (AA 3:3; 29:3; CD 11:3, LG 21:2). He constantly makes the Church action-oriented. In other words, the Holy Spirit gives life to the faithful (LG 7:7;9:3). It is the Spirit who cleanses the faithful from all the impurities that they may have incurred and sanctifies them (AA 3:4). "He sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in order to purify them constantly" (LG 4). The Holy Spirit sanctifies the body of the Church and makes it grow daily in the fellowship of the Trinity (UR 2:2). This life of union is expressed in the Church through the Apostolic encyclical and the sacramental life of the Church (LG 13:1).

In the opinion of Pope John Paul II, the Holy Spirit guides and develops the Church as the sacrament of fellowship through the word of God and the Sacraments in which there is a concentration of the word of God.
 
 

According to the teaching of Pope Leo XIII, the Holy Spirit, banishes the evil spirit from the faithful through Baptism and makes them his dwelling place and like unto himself. At Confirmation, the Holy Spirit strengthens and confirms the ecclesial life of the believer. He now revitalises the life of faith still more. At the same time, he adorns and develops the soul of the faithful through his divine gifts. Thus the Holy Spirit makes the community of the Church heaven-oriented even while on earth. In the papal encyclical, Mediator Dei, (On the Sacred Liturgy, 1947), Pope Pius XII made it clear that the signs and rites of the liturgy have been formulated by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The II Vatican Council teaches that it is through the Holy Spirit that the Eucharist, which is the source centre and peak of worship, became possible in the early Church.

He is the "vital and vitalizing principle" (P O 5) of the Eucharist. Likewise, every Sacrament of the Church is inundated by the Holy Spirit.
 
 

Christ dwells and works in the faithful through the Holy Spirit. Pope Pius XII speaks thus about the mystical body of the Church, "Through the Holy Spirit whom Christ sent, he dwells within the faithful and continues the work of salvation. All the activity of the Holy Spirit in the faithful, can, therefore, be said to be Christ’s also" (Rom 8:9-10). There is similarity between Christ and the Holy Spirit in their activity (Functional Identity). The activities of the Holy Spirit and of Christ are complementary. By the indwelling of Christ in the faithful through the Holy Spirit, each of the faithful becomes the image of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit. For the same reason, those who see them see Christ and experience the Holy Spirit. The divine gifts and graces that filled Christ, and his nature are also bestowed on the faithful through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Thus the faithful become bearers of Christ, that is, each believer puts on Christ and worships him in the Holy Spirit. In short, whatever each believer is, is achieved through the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
 
 

The Holy Spirit, who is the quintessence of the Father and the Son, has his own unique Personality and exists for the glory of the Father and the Son and their will. At the same time the Holy Spirit effects his own healing and purifying ministry and orders all things. Moreover, as the soul of the Church, the Holy Spirit guides and protects the universal, human and divine activities of the Church and controls it according to the needs of the time. The activity of the Holy Spirit is experienced in depth in the liturgy of the Church. Through the liturgy a perennial Pentecost is brought into being. The believer thus becomes Christ-oriented.