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Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
Speaking a language without having learned it
When the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles they received the gift of tongues; that is, though they spoke in Hebrew, the men of all nations among their hearers each heard the gospel preached in his own tongue. The same miracle has been repeated several times since, for example, in the case of St. Vincent Ferrar, St. Anthony of Padua, and St. Francis Xavier. One day St. Dominic, on his way to Paris, received many kindnesses at the hands of some Germans, and wishing to give them in return the only thing in his possession, viz. The glad tidings of the Gospel, he prayed fervently to God to enable him to address them in their own language, and immediately he received that gift, and for four days while in their company he spoke fluent German, a language he had never learned.
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