“ ….in the seven appearances [of the Lord] that we read took place after the resurrection we can find the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Take the first the spirit of fear: an angel came down from heaven as the holy women were coming to the tomb, and the earth shook, so that they were stricken with fear and had to be comforted by the angel. In the spirit of godliness he appeared to Simon. It was truly great kindness and worthy of the Lord Jesus to want to appear privately, ahead of the others, to the one who more than all the others was conscience-stricken over the denial. Thus, where transgression increased, grace would increase too. In the spirit of knowledge he explained the Scriptures to the two travelers to Emmaus, beginning from Moses and the Prophets. In the spirit of might he entered through closed doors, and he showed his hands and his side as the holes in a shield used to be shown as signs of courage. In the spirit of counsel he counseled those who were laboring in vain at fishing to let down their nets on the right side. In the spirit of understanding he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. In the spirit of wisdom he appeared to them on the fortieth day and, as they were watching he was lifted up, and they saw the Son of Man ascending to where he was before. Until that day he was saving those who believed as though through the foolishness of preaching, but after he ascended to the Father in their sight, he began to be proclaimed with wisdom.”
Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for Lent and the Easter Season, On the Resurrection of the Lord – Sermon Three, v. 6 (CF 52, p. 174)
George Alexa says
Great Sermon for this day!