The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, courage, knowledge, reverence, and wonder or awe.
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| Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Folio from Walters manuscript W.171 (15th century) |
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, these gifts "complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them."
- Wisdom is
considered the first and the greatest of the gifts. It acts upon both the
intellect and the will. According to St. Bernard, it both illumines the mind
and instills an attraction to the divine. Adolphe Tanquerey OP explained
the difference between the gift of wisdom and that of understanding:
"The latter is a view taken by the mind, while the former is an
experience undergone by the heart; one is light, the other love, and so
they unite and complete one another." A wise and loving heart is
the perfection of the theological virtue of charity.
- Understanding helps one
relate all truths to one's supernatural purpose; it further illuminates
one's understanding of Sacred Scripture; and it assists us to understand
the significance of religious ritual. This all gives us a profound
appreciation for God’s providence.
- Counsel functions
as a sort of supernatural intuition, to enable a person to judge promptly
and rightly, especially in difficult situations. It perfects the cardinal virtue of prudence.
While prudence operates in accord with reason as enlightened by faith, the
gift of counsel operates under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to
illuminate the will of God.
- Fortitude or courage: Aquinas takes its meaning to also encompass
endurance. Joseph J. Rickaby describes it as a
willingness to stand up for what is right in the sight of God, even if it
means accepting rejection, verbal abuse, or physical harm. The gift of
fortitude allows people the firmness of mind that is required both in
doing good and in enduring evil. It is the perfection of the cardinal
virtue of the same name.
- Knowledge: The gift of
knowledge allows one, as far as is humanly possible, to see things from
God's perspective. It “allows us to perceive the greatness of God and his
love for his creatures” through creation.
- Piety or reverence: A person with reverence recognizes his total reliance on
God and comes before God with humility, trust, and love. Thomas
Aquinas says that piety perfects the virtue of religion, which is
an aspect of the virtue of justice, in that it accords to God that which
is due to God. In a series of talks on the Gifts of the Holy
Spirit, Pope Francis said that piety is a
recognition of "...our belonging to God, our deep bond with him, a
relationship that gives meaning to our whole life and keeps us resolute,
in communion with him, even during the most difficult and troubled moments”.
Francis goes on: "Piety is not mere outward religiosity; it is that
genuine religious spirit which makes us turn to the Father as his children
and to grow in our love for others, seeing them as our brothers and
sisters."
- Fear of the Lord or wonder (or awe): With the gift of fear of the Lord, one is made aware of the glory and majesty of God. At a June 2014 general audience Pope Francis said that it “is no servile fear, but rather a joyful awareness of God’s grandeur and a grateful realization that only in him do our hearts find true peace”. A person with wonder and awe knows that God is the perfection of all one desires. This gift is described by Aquinas as a fear of separating oneself from God. He describes the gift as a "filial fear," like a child's fear of offending his father, rather than a "servile fear," that is, a fear of punishment. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is the perfection of the theological virtue of hope.
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