When Christians speak of the work of the "Holy Spirit", they are speaking about the operations of the Spirit of God in the material world we live in, and within us. But God the Holy Spirit isn't here just to hang out, or to do a miracle or two for sport.
The Spirit is there to cause things to happen in peoples' lives that bring them more in tune with God's purposes on earth (and beyond). When the Spirit starts changing someone, it shows as a growth in character, a change in their way of life that is good for the people they live among. This change in character is called a 'fruit of the Spirit', like the fruit grown by a tree can feed people and wildlife.
From ancient times to today, abundant fruit from an orchard is seen as cause for hope and celebration. Abundant spiritual fruit also breeds hope and is well worth celebrating.
Seems the fruits of the Spirit are present with this group of consecrated women. So much that they seem to be coming out of the woodwork. Check out these Franciscan nuns in Spain:
A 43 year-old prioresses has revolutionized an old Poor Clares convent in Spain, turning it onto a magnet for dozens of young professional women. . . .Sr. Veronica joined the convent which had not seen a new vocation in nearly 23 years.
. . .
The Spanish daily newspaper could not resist publishing an extensive report on Sr. Veronica. According to the newspaper, she “has become the biggest phenomenon in the Church since Teresa of Calcutta,” as “she has made the old convent of Lerma into an attractive recruiting banner for female vocations, with 135 professional women with a median age of 35 and 100 more on a waiting list.” The paper adds that Sr. Vernoica has also “opened a house in the town of La Aguilera, 24 miles from Lerma, at a huge monastery donated by her Franciscan brothers.”
A joyful 21 year old postulant said, “…I asked Our Lady to teach me to love her son like she does.” Such perfect Mariology; Our Lady is not the object of our worship, but she points to that object, teaches us about Him, guides and prays, precisely as Pope Benedict described.
