[Aquinasfan]

I looked up the Trinity in Ott's "Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma." There isn't a lot of De fide teaching regarding the relationships between the Divine Persons.

1)In God there are two Internal Divine Processions.
2) The Divine Persons, not the Divine Nature, are the subject of the Internal Divine processions (in the active and in the passive sense).
3) The Second Divine Person proceeds from the First Divine Person by Generation, and therefore is related to Him as Son to a Father.
4) The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son as from a Single Principle through a Single Spiration.

These points follow logically from Scripture. Scripture tells us that Jesus is the Son of the Father. The essence of Fatherhood is generation. Therefore, the Son proceeds from the Father by way of generation, in a logical sense. Similarly, Scripture tells us that the Spirit was "sent" by the Father and Son, so in this logical sense we say that the Spirit proceeds by way of Spiration from the Father and Son.

The next section in Ott's book regards speculative explanations for the dogma of the Trinity. The main speculative explanation for the spiration of the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the will or from the mutual love of the Father and the Son. Ott cites many Scriptural verses for this explanation.

Personally, I find this explanation compelling because it provides a great insight into the mystery of the family. The family somehow reflects the "image of God," just as the human person does.

(Ott's book is a must for every Catholic).

[AlguyA]

HarleyD: "But the Holy Spirit is far more than just "love"."

From Ott via Aquinasfan:"The main speculative explanation for the spiration of the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the will or from the mutual love of the Father and the Son. Ott cites many Scriptural verses for this explanation."

Thanks, Aquinasfan. The explanation from Ott clarifies my own crude thinking on the matter. To wit: the love which exists between the Father and the Son is of such infinite nature it gives rise(spirates) the Third Person, the Holy Spirit.

Harley, this is why I think the Holy Spirit is, in essence, love. But not "just love," but rather the perfect and infinite love which exists between the Father and the Son.