The gifts of the Holy Spirit

They are connected with the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the Messiah upon whom "the Spirit rests, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight will be the fear of the Lord. There are "spirits", i.e. some blows coming from the Holy Spirit, some mild, delicate, perseverant and attractive motions that the Spirit of love, by his presence spreads like a perfume in the soul.

Thanks to these gifts, the Holy Spirit makes the soul flexible and open to his inspirations. These gifts are not a human realisation, because "what God has prepared for those who loves him cannot enter the human heart" (1 Co 2, 9). They are based on the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, and they allow those virtues to develop into a new perception of the mystery of God and his works. They are a maturity of charity so that we can taste how good is the Lord and savour what comes from Him. They give us a kind of instinct for divine life. They are an entrance-door into mystical life, the supernatural life of the soul united to God, not a life of extraordinary manifestations.

In order to understand better what are those gifts, and to appreciate the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we are going to expound each one of them in the light of the spiritual tradition, especially in the teaching of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

The gift of filial fear of the Lord

It is not the fear of God, but rather an experience of our littleness in front of His might. This gift helps us not to rely on ourselves, but to trust our Good God. It is the gift of the Spirit of childhood of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. He does inspire us a fear, but a fear of whatever could turn us away from the love of God and his ways. This gift is a respect full of love to avoid what may displease Him because of His holy, beautiful and loving Majesty. The Scriptures say that this fear "is the beginning of knowledge". (Pr 1, 7), and that she gives "glory and joy" (Si 1, 11).

The gift of piety

Piety, said Saint Francis of Sales, fears only not to love enough the One that is so worthy to be loved that no one can love Him as He deserves. By this gift, the Spirit reveals us with a great tenderness how God is our Abba. This filial tenderness will fall upon all the children of God, first on those who are close to us thanks to the design of Providence, and also on all man to love and serve them.

The gift of knowledge

By this gift, the Holy Spirit gives us an instinct to discern truly between evil and good, and to reject sin. It puts a light in our heart so that we may be able to understand that all the creatures are in God’s hand. The Holy Spirit makes us understand and taste the fragility, the littleness, but also the dignity of the creatures who, little as they may be, comes from God. We understand clearly how much they are loved and cared for by God. The gift of knowledge, often associated with the grace of tears, comes and feeds a genuine compassion.

The gift of fortitude

The Spirit is a spirit of strength, not in a human way of constraining power or stoic courage. He is the fortitude that we may contemplate in the silent and vulnerable tenderness of Jesus in His passion. The gift of fortitude imparts to us something of the mildness of the slain and victorious Lamb.

The gift of counsel

"The counsel is the love that makes us attentive, careful and clever to chose the right means to serve God in holiness". (St Frances of Sales). By this gift, the Holy Spirit inspires us the way to behave in all our life like the Sons of light do. He gives us an inner docility, a listening to His inspirations, but also of what the Church, or the others expect us to do. The opposite of the Spirit of counsel is the own will of the one who trusts only his judgement and personal inspirations. The Spirit of counsel is a spirit of docility who enables us to appreciate correctly what is just, what is convenient to do. We will thus not rely on ourselves, and the Spirit will peacefully lead us into the ways of God.

The gift of understanding

By his inner instinct, this gift enlightens us and helps us to understand the realities of faith, especially of the Redemption and the Eucharist. In spite of their mystery, He gives us a loving insurance and a sense to taste of their beauty. We may be very learned about the mysteries of faith, but still remain ignorant if these truths are not received in the light of this gift. It is the "anointing of the Holy Spirit that teaches us about everything" (1Jn 2, 27), that makes us understand in our inner intelligence. This intelligence of the heart penetrates far beyond what the human intelligence is able to seize of the too luminous mysteries of faith.

The gift of wisdom

It is the gift of the wisdom of love, which makes us taste and see how good is the Lord. This gift fills our soul with all kind of goods. The soul then becomes more and more sensitive to the love of God which communicates Himself and attracts everything with strength and mildness. Love which is the source of all what is created, in which everything finds its achievement. This spirit of wisdom allows us to surrender to this love fervently, peacefully and joyfully. It is the gift of the union with God.