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Reply. The reply is affirmative according to St.
Augustine, for this mission takes place through
sanctifying grace.
Reply to first objection. The Holy Trinity dwelt in
the Fathers of the Old Testament by the fact that they
were in the state of grace, and the Son and the Holy
Ghost were invisibly sent to them. But the Holy Ghost
was not sent visibly except at our Lord's baptism and on
Pentecost.
Reply to second objection. It is noted that "the
invisible mission takes place even in the progress of
virtue or in the increase of grace. . . especially when
anyone progresses to some new act or new state of grace.
For example, when a person offers himself in martyrdom
out of the fervor of charity, or renounces his
possessions, or undertakes some arduous work."
An invisible mission also takes place after the passive
purification of the senses, which is a kind of second
conversion, in the transition from the state of the
beginner to the age of spiritual proficiency or to the
illuminative way. The Holy Ghost is sent invisibly a
fortiori after the passive purification of the soul, when
a profound transformation of the soul takes place at the
moment when the soul enters into the perfect life of
union, as occurred to the apostles on Pentecost.
Reply to third objection. The Holy Ghost is sent to
the blessed in the exact instant when the beatific vision
begins; then the three divine persons are present in the
just soul as in a living temple, no longer shrouded by the
shadows of faith, but appearing in a bright vision, which
is called the splendor of the saints. Then the soul is
perfectly assimilated not only to the Holy Ghost but also
to the Word, by whom the soul is assimilated to the
Father, inasmuch as the Word is the figure of His
substance. The reader is referred to this third reply.
Reply to fourth objection. A mission of a divine person
is not made to the sacraments, because the missions do not
take place except with regard to a terminus, that is, to
those who receive grace through the sacraments.
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