sion, they went back into Jerusalem with great joy. They knew that at Adam's fall hostilities had been declared between earth and heaven, and that the war then begun could never be amicably settled until man had been justly punished for his rebellion, until he had conquered God's enemies with whom he had allied himself, and sent to heaven a man as hostage and messenger of peace. All this Christ accomplished, satisfying for man's sin by His Passion and death, leading captivity captive by His victory over sin and death at His Resurrection, and carrying with Him, in His Ascension, Humanity to the Father from whom it had been estranged so long. Then, and only then, was the Spirit of God, the Paraclete, sent down and diffused in the hearts of men. As the moisture must first ascend heavenward before the refreshing showers descend, so, not until after the Ascension of Our Lord, could the Holy Ghost come to renew the face of the earth. This promise to send the Holy Spirit was that final proof of Christ's paternal solicitude for His little family — " When I go to the Father," He says, " I will not leave you orphans, but I will send the Paraclete to comfort and strengthen, to guide and protect you, until My second coming." As on a previous occasion Christ reserved the better wine for the end of the feast, so now, His final gift to man, the Holy Ghost, is the most precious of all. At creation He gave the world and the fulness thereof; by His incarnation He gave Himself, but only for a time; but now He gives the Holy Ghost to be ours for all time. Nay, the mission of the Holy
