The Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Beatitudes and Fruits

32. Whether there are gifts and how many. Besides the theological and moral virtues infused by God, seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are conferred upon the just man. The gifts are commonly defined as certain qualities by which the soul is disposed to works of the virtues, and especially to the more sublime and extraordinary works of the Christian life. Therefore the gifts are habits which, like the virtues, permanently inhere in the powers of the soul.

a. The holy Fathers and theologians confirm this doctrine by several arguments:

a. The gifts of the Holy Spirit in the just man are a participation in the gifts of Christ. Concerning the Messiah it is said in Sacred Scripture: "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of piety; and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill Him."² These words are also applied by the holy Fathers of the Church to the just man, since God has predestined him to become conformed to the image of His Son.³ Moreover, the gifts of the head overflow also into the living members of the mystical body, such as just men are. b. By the communication of the gifts, the promise made by Christ to His disciples is fulfilled: "You shall know Him, the Spirit of truth, because He shall remain with you and shall be in you."⁴ c. Holy Church testifies to the communication of the gifts, in that in the liturgy of the feast of Pentecost she gives thanks to God for the gifts of the Holy Spirit and implores them more abundantly for the faithful.

b. The Holy Spirit is accustomed to move the just man by supernatural illuminations and inspirations not only to the ordinary virtues of the Christian life, but sometimes also, by divine instinct, to inspire and stir him to more perfect and more sublime works. Therefore the gifts of the Holy Spirit are granted to him and render him apt promptly to obey not only the ordinary but also the extraordinary motions of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the gifts of the Holy Spirit are an internal supernatural principle by which even the more sublime and extraordinary works of the Christian life are connaturally done.

Others are of this opinion: that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are the complement of the infused virtues, refer only to the more sublime and heroic acts of the virtues, while on the contrary infused virtues refer to ordinary Christian life and dispose the just man promptly and perfectly to obey the motions of the Holy Spirit by which he is stirred to exercise the infused virtues.

c. Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are numbered: the gift of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. For since these gifts are conferred for perfecting the virtues, and since there are seven principal virtues, it was fitting that seven gifts also should be infused. Hence the Holy Spirit, to whom these gifts are attributed as to their author by appropriation, is called by the Church "sevenfold in His gift," and He is asked to give to His faithful the sacred sevenfold gift.

Therefore the gifts are infused into all the just, which St. Thomas signifies in these words: "The Holy Spirit is not in men without His gifts."⁵ From their names it appears that four pertain to the cognitive power: understanding, knowledge, wisdom, counsel; but three to the will: fear, piety, fortitude.

d. Although the gifts agree with the virtues in the nature of habit, nevertheless they differ from the virtues in two ways: a. by reason of the impelling cause: for to acts of virtues man is stirred both by his own reason, whether natural or supernatural, and also by the Holy Spirit, and by the habits of the virtues he is disposed to obey promptly; but to the more sublime works he is moved by the Holy Spirit alone, and by the habits of the gifts he is disposed promptly to obey this inspiration. b. By reason of the object or acts to which they dispose: for the virtues dispose man to works which are done according to the common order of Christian life; but the gifts dispose man also to works which exceed the common order of virtue.

¹ St. Thomas I-II, q. 68. Suarez, De gratia l. 2, c. 17 f.; l. 6, c. 10. Weiss, De septem donis Spiritus Sancti (Vienna, 1895). Bodewig, Die Gaben des hl. Geistes (Zeitschrift fur kath. Theol., 1882, 1883). Gopfert, Moraltheologie^3 I, n. 262 f. Meschler, Die Gabe des hl. Pfingstfestes^3 (Freiburg: Herder, 1900), chap. 7-14. Tepe, loc. cit., p. 275 ff.

² Isa. 11:2-3.

³ Rom. 8:29.

⁴ John 14:17.

⁵ I-II, q. 68, a. 2.

33. The nature of the gifts. Concerning the nature of the individual gifts theologians do not agree; nevertheless, from their more probable doctrine, these things seem to have to be said.

1. The gift of understanding disposes man, by divine inspiration, to perceive revealed truths, whether practical or theoretical, more clearly and profoundly, both as to their meaning and as to their connection. With this knowledge is joined an aptitude and facility for understanding the meaning of Sacred Scripture.

2. The gift of knowledge, with faith in revealed truths supposed, disposes man to judge rightly concerning the Christian religion, insofar as under the influence of the Holy Spirit, though from natural reasons, he understands that these truths are manifestly credible, especially consonant with sound reason, and that Christian virtue is of such excellence that it must be preferred to all earthly goods.

3. The gift of wisdom, likewise with faith supposed, disposes man to judge rightly concerning the truths of the Christian religion, insofar as not from natural reasons, but from supernatural and divine reasons, namely insofar as they are from God, the supreme principle and end, he contemplates their beauty and delights in them.

4. The gift of counsel disposes man, from the motion of the Holy Spirit, to choose the means which are apt for progressing in the way of perfection. But because the Holy Spirit chooses things higher than human prudence does, it happens that He impels the just man to those things which appear foolish to men, and which are more to be admired than indiscriminately imitated.¹

5. The gift of fortitude disposes man to overcome extraordinary difficulties which stand in the way of the exercise of virtues. The gift of fortitude differs in two ways from the virtue of fortitude, which inclines to overcoming the same difficulties: a. the motive of the virtue is natural uprightness, which is discerned in overcoming difficulties; the motive of the gift is confidence in the motion and assistance of the Holy Spirit. b. The virtue regards the measure of the powers of nature; the gift exceeds the powers of nature and dares those things which appear rash to natural reason.²

6. The gift of fear disposes man to follow the motion of the Holy Spirit for exhibiting reverence to God: for fear is understood as reverential toward the divine majesty, to which Christ the Lord also exhibited reverence, and before which, as Sacred Scripture testifies, the angels fall upon their faces.³

7. The gift of piety disposes man to follow the Holy Spirit moving him to honor God as our Father.⁴ Just as piety in the natural order refers to parents, so in the supernatural order it refers to God, our Father in a higher sense; therefore piety disposes to whatever acts by which, from a special motion of the Holy Spirit, we exhibit reverence to God as our Father and to all others, such as the saints, the Church, and neighbors, insofar as they are referred to God as Father.

Although the gifts differ from the virtues, nevertheless to individual gifts there corresponds a special virtue, which the gift surpasses in dignity and excellence: a. the gift of understanding corresponds to faith; b. the gift of knowledge likewise corresponds to faith; c. the gift of fear corresponds to hope; d. the gift of wisdom corresponds to charity; e. the gift of counsel corresponds to prudence; f. the gift of fortitude corresponds to the virtue of fortitude; g. the gift of piety corresponds to the virtue of justice.

¹ Cf. Judg. 11:30; 16:29; 1 Macc. 6:46.

² Cf. 1 Kings 17:32 ff.; 2 Macc. 6:18 ff.

³ Cf. Apoc. 7:11.

⁴ Rom. 8:15.

34. The supreme principle. The ultimate supernatural end, or the destination of man to beatitude, which consists in the vision and love of God, is the supreme principle of moral theology. For from this truth are determined and understood all things which have been instituted by God and are to be performed by men for the sanctification of men. And indeed, in order that Christian life may be proportioned to the end of eternal beatitude, sanctifying grace is infused, by which man is elevated to the supernatural order, is constituted just, holy, an adoptive son of God, and by which he receives the principle of supernatural life, such as is worthy of a son of God and heir of eternal beatitude. Together with sanctifying grace the theological virtues are infused, by which the powers of the soul, intellect and will, are supernaturally perfected and rendered apt for exercising virtues altogether supernatural as to object and proportioned to eternal life. The moral virtues indeed do not differ from natural virtues as to object; nevertheless, through infused habits and through the influence which supernatural charity exercises upon their acts, they are elevated to supernatural perfection, such as is fitting to the dignity of a son of God destined to the beatific vision. To beget, nourish, perfect, preserve, and, if it has been lost, to repair again this supernatural life, Christ the Lord instituted the sacraments, or so many sources and supports of supernatural life. Finally, to the same end He added to all these things the precepts of the theological virtues and the precepts which refer to the sacraments, which indeed are precepts of the supernatural order.

We shall speak first of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in general; then of the same gifts in particular.

The Beatitude and the Fruits that Correspond to Wisdom.—The Gifts of the Holy Ghost, by supplying for what is imperfect in the habits of virtue (e.g., by protecting faith against dullness of perception, hope against presumption, charity against distaste for divine things), give to these virtues a perfectionment like to that which they will have in the state of beatitude, and to their exercise a corresponding enjoyment. Hence, to the Gifts, which are most excellent habits, correspond those most perfect or most delightful acts of virtue known as Beatitudes and Fruits (see 159 sqq.).

(a) There appears a special correspondence of the seventh beatitude (“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God,” Matt., v. 9) with Wisdom, both as regards their merit, and as regards their reward. The work of Wisdom is to reduce all things to unity, to see life and the world as a whole, to look upon creatures as parts of one great divine plan. Similarly, the work of the peacemakers is to put an end to dissension and division and to reconcile the warring powers of the soul, or to introduce harmony between those that are at enmity: “The Wisdom that is from above is peaceable” (James, iii. 17). Again, the reward promised the peacemakers is that they shall be called the sons of God, and of Wisdom it may be said that it makes one the image of the Son of God, who is Eternal Wisdom.

(b) The Fruits of the Holy Ghost that are assigned to Wisdom are, with regard to God: charity, or a tender love of God (“The charity of God is poured out in our hearts,” Rom., v. 5.), joy, or delight at union with God (“Rejoice in the Lord always,” Phillip., iv. 4), peace, or security in the enjoyment of God (“There is much peace to them that love Thy law,” Ps. cxviii. 165). The Fruits that have reference to the love of neighbor are: goodness, or an internal benevolence characterized by sweetness (“The fruit of the light is in all goodness,” Eph., v. 9), and kindness, or a beneficence accompanied by cheerfulness (“The Lord loves the cheerful giver,” II Cor., ix. 7).

St. James (iii. 17, 18) describes the direction which Wisdom gives to human actions (see 1612, 1613) and the fruit of peace to which it conducts them, as follows: “The Wisdom that is from above, first indeed is chaste, then peaceable; modest, easy to be persuaded; consenting to the good, full of mercy and good fruits, without judging, without dissimulation. And the fruit of justice is sown in peace to them that make peace.”

(a) Thus, first, Wisdom directs one to be free from sin (“chaste”), for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom (Ps. cx. 110).

(b) Next, Wisdom directs one to work for peace within one’s own soul, by following moderation where one can decide for oneself (“modest”), by seeking advice where one is in doubt (“easy to be persuaded”).

(c) Further, Wisdom directs one to be peaceful towards others, to be well disposed towards their good or benefit (“consenting to the good”), compassionate and helpful in their distress (“full of mercy and good fruits”), not partial or hypocritical in criticizing their defects (“without judging, without dissimulation”).

(d) Finally, Wisdom, having sown in peace, reaps the peace of righteousness. False wisdom leads to wrangling and disorder, true Wisdom to concord and harmony.

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural habits by which the just man is well disposed toward more excellent acts of the virtues. Hence it is clear how they are distinguished from the virtues which they assist and perfect.⁹

Seven are numbered by Isaiah:¹⁰ of which we hand down here a brief notion.

By the Gift of Wisdom the intellect is assisted and perfected, so that it may consider and as it were taste God, whether in Himself or in His works, as supremely lovable and to be loved. It pertains to Charity.¹¹

By the Gift of Science the intellect is illumined for judging rightly and certainly concerning those things which are required and conduce to attaining eternal beatitude, and according to St. Bonaventure it assists Hope; according to St. Thomas, Faith.

By the Gift of Understanding the mind is illumined for penetrating the truths of Faith, and, as is clear, it subserves Faith.

By the Gift of Counsel we are directed "as if by counsel received from God."¹ It assists and perfects prudence.

By the Gift of Piety, from a certain filial affection, we exhibit worship to God as Father. It pertains to justice.

By the Gift of Fortitude we are strengthened against the dangers and difficulties to which our eternal salvation is exposed. It pertains to fortitude.

The Gift of Fear of the Lord effects that we venerate God most profoundly. It assists temperance, according to Psalm 118, 120: Pierce my flesh with thy fear.

The Fruits of the same Holy Spirit differ from the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in this, that the former are good works (not habits, as the gifts are) done through grace, having a peculiar reason of spiritual delight. Twelve are enumerated by the Apostle at Gal. c. 5, 22. - Cf. Muller, Th. Mor. T. I, § 120; St. Th. 1, 2, q. 68; L. 3 Sent. D. 34, q. 1, a. 4.

St. Thomas, I-II, q. 68, a. 1-4; q. 69 and 70; II-II, q. 8, a. 6.

630. Thesis I. The gifts of the Holy Spirit differ from infused moral virtues:¹ we need the latter so that we may be disposed to obeying right reason promptly; therefore a fortiori we need the former so that we may be disposed to obeying promptly the motion or inspiration of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us through charity (as proper mover). "For the higher the mover is, the more necessary it is that the movable thing be proportioned to him by a more perfect disposition, just as we see that a disciple must be more perfectly disposed in order that he may receive higher doctrine from a teacher." And therefore, just as for obeying reason the appetite needs habits, so a fortiori it seems that the gifts by which we obey the Holy Spirit must be called habits, not transitory dispositions, so that we may be moved connaturally, promptly, easily, and sweetly, and not as if violently, but as instruments adapted and proportioned to Him.

¹ Peter Lombard, William of Auxerre, William of Paris, and among recent authors De Bellevue held only a distinction of reason from the virtues; likewise Scotus, Gabriel Biel, Ockham, and the Nominalists, which we are not able to understand, since they do not even admit infused moral virtues; others are found uncertain, such as Durandus and Vasquez. Alexander of Hales, St. Bonaventure, St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas, Suarez, and Billot teach a real distinction. Other antiquated opinions are noted in St. Thomas, a. 1.

Therefore the gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural habits by which we are disposed to obeying promptly the motion or inspiration of the Holy Spirit Himself dwelling in us through charity as proper mover. They are called gifts not only because they are given by God, but because they dispose one to following the instinct of the giving (that is, infusing) Holy Spirit, and render man promptly movable by divine inspiration, which is a special gift of actual grace; they can also simply be called spirits.²

² Concerning these, cf. John of St. Thomas, in the commentary on the Summa; Meschler, Die Gabe des Pfingsfestes (translated into French); Dr. Walter, Der H. Geist in seinen Gnaden und Gaben; Regler, Die sieben Gaben des H. Geistes nach Lehre H. Thomas; Weiss, S. Thomae Aq. de septem donis Spiritus sancti doctrina; Friaque, Le Saint-Esprit, sa grace, ses figures, ses fruits, ses dons; Msgr. Perriot, in the periodical Ami du Clerge, 1892 and 1898; Froget, L'Habitation du Saint-Esprit dans les ames justes; De Bellevue, L'oeuvre du Saint-Esprit ou la sanctification de l'ame; Touzard, in Rev. Biblique, VIII (1899); Raymond, in Rev. Thomiste, 1913-1914; Gardeil, in Dict. de Th. cath., art. Dons; Les dons du Saint-Esprit dans les Saints Dominicains; Schrijvers, Les Principes de la Vie Spirituelle; Meynard, Traite de la Vie interieure; Billot, De Virtutibus infusis; Garrigou-Lagrange, Perfection et Contemplation; - Oeuvres de Ruysbroeck, trans. of the Benedictines of St. Paul de Wisques, vol. II.

631. Thesis II. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are necessary for salvation. - For not only do those who exercise extraordinary and more excellent works (for which their powers are not sufficient) need the motion of the Holy Spirit,³ or the special help of actual grace, but each person needs it in order to persevere and progress in the grace received, as is proved in the treatise on grace. The fundamental reason for this matter is assigned by St. Thomas: through grace and the theological virtues we possess divine nature, life, and powers only in an imperfect mode; but he who imperfectly has some nature or form or power cannot always and as to all things operate per se, unless, at least sometimes, he is moved by Him who perfectly possesses that nature: just as little children in life, who must be led lest they fall, and also so that they may progress. Therefore, imperfect in divine life, we need to be moved and led by God Himself, so that we may so live always that we arrive at eternal life.

³ The motion of the Holy Spirit is special; otherwise it is simply called divine motion. The distinction between each motion occurs in St. Thomas, q. 109, a. 9. Cf. Garrigou-Lagrange, in the work Xenia Thomistica, II, p. 212.

Whence the gifts of the Holy Spirit are necessary for salvation for every just man, and although especially for extraordinary and more excellent works, nevertheless they dispose not only to these but also to common works, when and insofar as they are done by the just under the motion of the Spirit of God. Hence those gifts are granted to all the just (Rom. VIII, 14) and are connected with charity, by which we are united to the Holy Spirit as mover.

632. What those gifts are. - Those gifts are enumerated in Isaiah XI, 2, where they are attributed to Christ, the exemplar of the just and the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. VIII, 9-29; Gal. IV, 6): "The spirit of wisdom and understanding shall rest upon him, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him." But, according to the doctrine of the Fathers from the beginning of the Church, they are also granted to all the just.

Concerning the number of the gifts nothing certain can be established, for in the Greek and Latin text seven are numbered, but in the Hebrew text piety is lacking; moreover the prophet does not seem to intend a complete enumeration, but rather indicates the more outstanding gifts in order to teach that the fullness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit belongs to Christ. Nevertheless the Fathers, theologians, and mystical authors are accustomed to order all the sanctifying effects of the Holy Spirit according to the seven gifts which are enumerated in our text, to which the Liturgy alludes in the hymns.

Four are in the intellect, by which we are disposed so that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and as if experimentally: 1. we may penetrate the truths of faith through the gift of understanding; and we may judge 2. concerning created things through the gift of knowledge, according as they lead to God or lead away from Him; 3. concerning divine things, and human things according to divine reasons, through the gift of wisdom, by which we taste them sweetly (Wis. VII, 8, 11); and 4. concerning individual things to be done or avoided in the spiritual life, and in more difficult and unexpected cases, through the gift of counsel, by which we are directed to operate without hesitation. This is the practical gift; the three prior are principally speculative, secondarily practical.

Three are in the appetite: for, with the Holy Spirit impelling, 5. through piety we lovingly revere God, not as creator but as Father, and all men as His sons (Rom. VIII, 15); 6. through the gift of fortitude we confidently despise whatever dangers and adversities there are on the way of salvation; and 7. through filial reverence we fear to offend God, especially in the delights to which we are most inclined, and this is fear of the Lord.⁴

⁴ Thus in the doctrine of St. Thomas. - St. Albert, St. Bonaventure, and Ruysbroeck hold counsel as the gift leading to perfection and contemplation, but knowledge, on the contrary, as the practical gift of the active life; - likewise St. Albert, St. Bonaventure, and Ruysbroeck place piety in the concupiscible; - St. Bonaventure and Ruysbroeck place wisdom in the will; - Ruysbroeck places fear in the irascible and fortitude in the will. This last fits with his doctrine on the cardinal virtues, according to which prudence directs and governs the irascible, temperance adorns the concupiscible, justice the power of natural reason, and fortitude the free nature of the will.

633. The gifts correspond to virtues. - And indeed 1. immediately⁵ to the seven more principal infused virtues: understanding and knowledge correspond to faith; fear of God to hope, insofar as it makes us avoid offense of God; wisdom to charity; counsel to prudence; piety to justice; the gift of fortitude to fortitude; and fear of God to temperance, insofar as it makes us flee the delights which most allure us to sin. By these gifts respectively we are disposed to exercising both the common and ordinary acts, and the more excellent acts, of these virtues under the impulse of the Holy Spirit. Thus St. Thomas; nevertheless, according to others, while counsel corresponds to hope, knowledge corresponds to prudence; according to others to hope, to which fear then does not correspond; according to others, as Innocent V, to temperance.

⁵ They also correspond mediately3 to the seven chief acquired virtues: to the understanding of principles, knowledge, and wisdom there correspond the three gifts of the same name; to prudence, counsel; to justice, piety; to fortitude, fortitude; to temperance, fear of God.

2. Immediately, because they are given for the exercise of those virtues; nevertheless not exclusively but principally, for mediately all the gifts have influence upon all virtues. Whence it is not absurd that one gift correspond to two virtues, as fear to hope and temperance, or knowledge to faith and hope; and two gifts to one virtue, as understanding and knowledge to faith.

3. Mediately, for the gifts do not move to the exercise of these virtues, but because the supernatural order perfects the natural order, supernatural life is built according to an analogy to natural life. - But no gift corresponds to art, because it has no influence on the interior life.

634. The beatitudes are not habits but certain perfect and excellent works of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which specially lead to beatitude, and specially merit both perfect beatitude in heaven and also the inchoation (firm hope) of beatitude in the present life. Whence on account of their singular perfection they are a pledge, merit, and inchoation of perfect beatitude.

Concerning their fitting enumeration and signification, cf. St. Thomas, q. 69, a. 3 and 4. - According to him, also one beatitude corresponds to each gift, considering in the beatitudes their motives, namely, in this way:

To the gift of fear, the first beatitude: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; - to the gift of piety, the second: Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth; - to the gift of knowledge, the third: Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted; - to the gift of fortitude, the fourth: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied; - to the gift of counsel, the fifth: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy; - to the gift of understanding, the sixth: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God; - to the gift of wisdom, the seventh: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (III Sent., d. 34, q. 1, a. 4). But the eighth beatitude: Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice, is a certain confirmation and manifestation of all the preceding, insofar as on account of them it comes about that one does not depart from these goods on account of any persecution (I-II, q. 69, a. 3, ad 5).

635. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are any works whatever of virtue when they have a special delight and sweetness annexed, whence they are called fruits; they are perfected under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, whence they are called fruits of the Holy Spirit. Since carnal and worldly delights allure us, the Holy Spirit Himself produces in us a much greater and as it were heavenly delight through the works of virtues; hence the fruits are opposed to the works of the flesh.

The chief ones are enumerated by the Apostle, Gal. V, 22, 23.

636. Corollaries. - From the fact that the gifts dispose man so that he is well movable by God, while virtues dispose him so that he is well movable by reason, which is the fundamental distinction, it follows:

1. that virtues are given so that man may actively act well, gifts so that he may be passively acted upon well; and although he also acts freely under the action of the gift, nevertheless he has himself more passively than actively, "because the mind of man does not have itself as moving but rather as moved";

2. that virtues perfect man for acting in a human mode, accommodated to human nature; gifts, for acting in a higher, superhuman, and divine mode according as it is suitable to the Holy Spirit: thus as to the object when someone exercises more excellent and heroic works, or as to the mode alone when he is moved spontaneously, as if instinctively, and acts without discourse and rather is led than leads himself;

3. that we can use virtues when we will, but gifts when the Holy Spirit wills.

637. Observation. - The gifts are not to be confused with graces gratuitously given, although the latter can be founded in a gift, for example, of knowledge or wisdom, which they manifest: for they remain distinct; and they are rather transitory, not habits. Cf. q. 68, a. 5, ad 1 and 2.

St. Thomas, II-II, q. 8 and 9.

730. The gift of understanding, under the interior instinct of the Holy Spirit, serves for penetrating by supernatural light those things which we cannot penetrate by natural light, and which stand in faith as principles from which other things are deduced (q. 8, a. 1).

Moreover, during the state of the way we are not able to penetrate those things in themselves; but we penetrate that other evident truths are not contrary to them (a. 2).

But this happens according to a threefold grade.

"The first grade of the gift of understanding is that through it man knows that one must adhere to the truths of faith as much as is necessary for salvation, by considering some reason of the Christian faith, on account of which he knows himself to believe. For the Holy Spirit shows to everyone having grace at least some reason of faith through the clarity of the gift of understanding, on account of which he knows that one must adhere to faith. For some are moved on account of the testimonies of the prophets concerning Christ and the new law. Some from consideration of the holiness and faith of preceding fathers... Some from consideration of miracles... Some from special inspiration or divine visitation or something similar, which they experience in themselves or which happens to them.

The second grade of the gift of understanding is subtly to contemplate all or certainly the chief truths of faith: and thus to be solidified in the truths of faith so much more robustly, the more diligently one weighs the foundations of faith, to such an extent that one greatly marvels that God has deigned to approve the Catholic faith so abundantly and most evidently. Therefore to this grade of the gift of understanding it pertains clearly and promptly to advert to the origin of faith, how Christ up to the passion and death had few believers... To know sincerely these and infinitely many similar things, I think, belongs to the second grade of the gift of understanding.

To the third grade it belongs that someone by a most purified keenness be able to consider the proper reasons and foundations of the individual articles of faith, and thus be able delightfully to contemplate the individual truths of faith separately with a most subtle and most certain eye of the mind, namely, contemplating that the faith of the most blessed Trinity is reasonable... both on account of evangelical testimonies and apostolic documents, and on account of most beautiful persuasions received from the natures of things. Furthermore, by contemplating the reasons of faith concerning the incarnation of the Son of God, the oracles of the prophets, the testimonies of the apostles, reasonable considerations by which it is proved that this was fitting, and thus concerning the individual articles or particles of faith by considering their proper foundations, and how they assert almost nothing concerning Christ, without its being proved to have been foretold by the holy seers..."¹

¹ Dionysius the Carthusian, De donis, tr. II, a. 34.

To this gift corresponds the sixth beatitude: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. For the gift of understanding cleanses the mind from phantasms and errors by which we would badly receive or understand those things which are proposed concerning God: but the more we are purified from them, the better we see God, as is possible in this life.

"For there is a twofold cleanness: one indeed preamble and dispositive to the vision of God, which is the cleansing of the affection from disordered affections; and this cleanness of heart is made through virtues and gifts which pertain to the appetitive power. But another cleanness of heart is that which is as it were completive with respect to the divine vision, and this indeed is the cleanness of the mind cleansed from phantasms and errors, so that namely those things which are proposed concerning God are not received by way of bodily phantasms, nor according to heretical perversities; and the gift of understanding makes this cleanness. Likewise there is a twofold vision of God: one indeed perfect, by which the essence of God is seen; but another imperfect, by which, although we do not see of God what He is, nevertheless we see what He is not; and so much the more perfectly in this life do we know God, the more we understand Him to exceed whatever is comprehended by the intellect. And each vision of God pertains to the gift of understanding: the first indeed to the consummated gift of understanding, according as it will be in the homeland; but the second to the begun gift of understanding, according as it is had in the way" (a. 7).

To the gift of understanding responds the fruit of the Holy Spirit, faith, that is, the certitude of faith which produces delight in the mind; but in the will there responds the fruit of joy (a. 8).

731. The gift of knowledge, under the interior instinct of the Holy Spirit, serves for judging rightly and certainly according to the truth of faith concerning human and created things, by discerning what concerning these things is to be believed from what is not to be believed (q. 9, a. 1 and 2).

"The gift of knowledge obtains a threefold grade.

The first consists in this, that man know all created things with respect to the divine nature to be passing and vain, and understand that they are neither to be loved on account of themselves, nor to be sought as ultimate end, and that he adhere to them less than to God; and this grade of the gift of knowledge is required for salvation, and is judged common to all having charity.

We ought to advance to the second grade of this knowledge, namely, that concerning individual created things, one by one and through their proper reasons, we know that affection is not to be fixed in them, nor as in final goods is it to be bound in them, but that one intend or use them neither more nor less than is required for interior salvation.

Finally, the third grade of the gift of knowledge is to be so exercised, experienced, and perfect in those things which concern the active life, that in every... doubtful event and perplexed case he knows how to judge most truly, most promptly, and most salubriously, to elicit the causes of sins, to abandon the reasons of a more negligent and sluggish life, to induce contempt of temporal things, to attend to a most serious and indefatigable conversation of spiritual progresses."²

² Dionysius the Carthusian, De donis, tr. III, a. 25.

To the gift of knowledge corresponds the third beatitude: Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be consoled. For he who judges rightly concerning creatures does not find perfect good in them, but rather mourns concerning them, and orders them to the divine good; from which consolation follows (a. 4).

732. Observations. - 1. By faith we adhere simply to revealed truths; by the gift of understanding we penetrate them.

2. The gift of knowledge differs from the gift of understanding: the latter proceeds by way of simple apprehension, "so that those things which are of faith may be penetrated or grasped by understanding"; the former by way of judgment, "so that man may have right judgment concerning them and esteem that one must adhere to these and withdraw from their opposites" (q. 8, a. 6).

The essence of virtue is known still more clearly if attention is given to the difference which exists between virtue and the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit and the beatitudes.

Virtue, therefore, is a permanent habit disposing man so that in his acts he follows reason or faith.

445. But the gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural habits accompanying sanctifying grace, by which the powers of the soul are made well disposed to receive the illuminations or motions of the Holy Spirit.⁵⁰

The higher the mover is, the higher the disposition usually required in the movable subject; this appears by the following example: A pupil who is instructed in primary school does not need so perfect a disposition as a student who wishes to learn science at a university. In both indeed a prior disposition is required, but not an equal one. Thus similarly the disposition which is required for eliciting virtuous acts is much lower than the disposition which is required for performing acts of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.⁵¹ Hence one who has these gifts is said to be anointed by the Holy Spirit.

Hence the gifts of the Holy Spirit differ from the virtues in this way: a) The gifts dispose man so that he may be well movable by God; but the virtues dispose him so that he may be well movable by reason, disposed both by natural and supernatural perfection. b) The gifts move to acting more efficaciously than the virtues; for "the grace of the Holy Spirit knows not slow strivings."⁵² Therefore under the influence of the gifts man is more acted upon than acts, yet he by no means has himself merely passively.⁵³ c) The virtues dispose man for doing works necessary for salvation; but the gifts impel not only to what is necessary for salvation, but also to heroic acts and acts of supererogation.⁵⁴

St. Thomas⁵⁵ teaches that the gifts are necessary for man unto salvation, because man is not sufficiently moved into the ultimate supernatural end, to which reason, in some way but not perfectly informed by the theological virtues, moves him, unless there be present from above the instinct and motion of the Holy Spirit, according to that saying: "Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God ... and heirs";⁵⁶ and it is said: "Thy good Spirit shall lead me into the right land."⁵⁷ Hence Leo XIII, in his Encyclical Divinum illud munus, dated May 9, 1897, treating specially of the Holy Spirit, says: "For the just man, namely one living the life of divine grace and acting through suitable virtues as through faculties, plainly needs those seven things which are properly called the gifts of the Holy Spirit."

The very common opinion teaches with St. Thomas that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are habits adequately distinct from the virtues. The contrary is taught by Hugh of St. Victor,⁵⁸ Scotus,⁵⁹ Peter Lombard,⁶⁰ Vasquez,⁶¹ Christ. Pesch,⁶² and others. The opinion of St. Thomas seems better, because those habits are distinct which, although they agree in the material object, nevertheless differ in the formal object. Now the habits of the virtues and of the gifts indeed agree in the material object, namely in directing human acts, but they differ in the formal object. For the directive and motive cause of the virtues is reason, whether natural or supernaturally assisted by faith. But the directive and motive cause of the gifts is the Holy Spirit himself by means of actual grace. But where there is a diverse directive cause, or a diverse regulating and measuring reason, there is also a diverse formal object, namely the good and the true as regulated and measured not by human reason but by divine illumination and measurement.

⁵⁰ Cf. S. theol. 1, 2, q. 68, a. 1-3; 2, 2, q. 121, a. 1. The Angelic Doctor notes (S. theol. q. 68, a. 4): "In all the powers of man which can be principles of human acts, just as there are virtues, so also there are gifts, namely in reason and in the appetitive power."

⁵¹ Cf. the excellent work Die Gabe des Pfingstfestes, composed by Meschler, ed. 8, 1914.

⁵² St. Ambrose, In Luc. l. 2, c. 1, n. 19 (Migne, Patr. lat. 15, 1640).

⁵³ Cf. S. theol. 1, 2, q. 68, a. 3 ad 2; 2, 2, q. 52, a. 2 ad 1 and 3, and Jos. Regler, Die sieben Gaben des Heiligen Geistes (Regensburg 1899), 32 sqq. If under the influence of the gifts man had himself only merely passively and were merely acted upon, and did not act, then he would not merit by acts of the gifts; which is false.

⁵⁴ St. Bonaventure, In 3, dist. 34, P. 1, a. 1, q. 1 ad 5.

⁵⁵ S. theol. 1, 2, q. 68, a. 2.

⁵⁶ Rom. 8, 14.

⁵⁷ Ps. 142, 10.

⁵⁸ Summa sent. tr. 3, c. 12 (Migne, Patr. lat. 176, 114).

⁵⁹ In 3, disp. 14, c. 2, n. 7.

⁶⁰ 3, dist. 34.

⁶¹ In 3, dist. 34, n. 20.

⁶² Prael. dogm. VIII, n. 114.

446. Number of the gifts. It is established that there are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to the enumeration of Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety; and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him."⁶³ Although these things were said principally of Christ the Messiah, nevertheless it is the constant Catholic doctrine that the same gifts descend through Christ to individual justified men. Wherefore the Church prays: "Come, Holy Spirit.... Give to thy faithful, trusting in thee, the sacred sevenfold gift"; and: "Come, Creator Spirit.... Thou sevenfold in thy gift." - Theological reason also shows the fittingness of the sevenfold number of gifts. For the gifts are conferred for perfecting or assisting the virtues. But there are seven virtues, namely three theological and four moral cardinal virtues. Therefore fittingly there also exist seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.⁶⁴ Concerning the individual gifts of the Holy Spirit, let these things be said briefly:

⁶³ Is. 11, 2-3. The Hebrew text causes some, but not insoluble, difficulty. Cf. Regler, l. c., 138 sq.

⁶⁴ The parallelism between the gifts and the virtues, however, is not perfect; for to the three theological virtues correspond four gifts, namely wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and fear; and to the four moral virtues are referred three gifts, namely counsel, fortitude, and piety. Cf. Salmanticenses, Curs. theol., de virtut., arbor praedic. § 2, ed. Paris 1876, t. VI, 419.

447. 1. The gift of wisdom is the highest, and corresponds to the noblest virtue, namely charity. It can be defined: a divinely infused habit by which the mind is rendered easily movable by the Holy Spirit for contemplating divine things and for judging both about them and about human things according to divine reasons. The gift of wisdom considers not only speculative but also practical truths.⁶⁵ The Angelic Doctor beautifully notes concerning this gift⁶⁶ that wisdom imports a certain rectitude of judgment according to divine reasons. But rectitude of judgment proceeds either from right use of reason or from a certain connaturality with the object of judgment. Thus, for example, a theologian judges rightly about chastity by following acquired moral knowledge; but a simple man having the perfect virtue of chastity also judges rightly about those things which pertain to chastity, not indeed from acquired moral knowledge, but from a certain connaturality. It is similar in wisdom. Wisdom, insofar as it is an intellectual virtue, judges about the highest and divine things by following the right use of reason; but wisdom, insofar as it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, judges about the same divine things because they are as it were connatural to it. But connaturality of this sort with divine things arises from the theological virtue of charity, which intimately unites us with God. Therefore the gift of wisdom is founded upon charity, and the more perfect charity is, the more perfectly the gift of wisdom operates in man.⁶⁷ Hence it is said: "The soul of a holy man sometimes declares true things more than seven watchmen sitting on high to watch";⁶⁸ and: "I have understood above the ancients, because I have sought thy commandments."⁶⁹ In the Imitation of Christ⁷⁰ it is most truly written: "A good life makes a man wise according to God and experienced in many things."

Sacred Scripture extols wisdom with the greatest praises: "I preferred her before kingdoms and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison of her.... Now all good things came to me together with her, and innumerable honor through her hands."⁷¹ Wisdom is the mother and guide of all virtues: "For she teacheth temperance and prudence, and justice, and fortitude, than which nothing is more useful to men in life.... For she is the teacher of the discipline of God and the chooser of his works."⁷²

The first effect of the gift of wisdom is filial fear of God,⁷³ according to that saying: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."⁷⁴

The supreme effect of the gift of wisdom is sweet peace, made both among the diverse faculties of the soul and between man and his neighbors. Hence the beatitude corresponds to the gift of wisdom: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."⁷⁵ For peace is the tranquility of order. But it belongs to wisdom to make the best order both between man and God and among individual men. Add that the gift of wisdom arises from charity, to which it belongs to have peace.⁷⁶

⁶⁵ S. theol. 2, 2, q. 45, a. 3.

⁶⁶ Ib. a. 2.

⁶⁷ Ib. a. 5.

⁶⁸ Eccli. 37, 18.

⁶⁹ Ps. 118, 100.

⁷⁰ L. 1, c. 4.

⁷¹ Wis. 7, 8, 11.

⁷² Wis. 8, 7 and 4.

⁷³ S. theol. 2, 2, q. 19, a. 7.

⁷⁴ Ps. 110, 10; Eccli. 1, 16.

⁷⁵ Matth. 5, 9.

⁷⁶ Cf. S. theol. 2, 2, q. 45, a. 6 c., and ad 1 and 3.

448. 2. The gift of understanding is a supernatural light given to a just man, by which he intimately apprehends those things which have been revealed by God, whether practical or theoretical. If, therefore, a man is furnished with this gift, he has as it were a divine instinct for rightly and intimately perceiving revealed truth. Christ rebukes the Apostles for not grasping the sense of the words: "Are you also yet without understanding?"⁷⁷ St. Thomas first explained the gift of understanding differently,⁷⁸ but later retracted this. The gift of understanding is a certain complement of the virtue of faith, and to it corresponds the beatitude:⁷⁹ "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God."⁸⁰ Moreover, the gift of understanding produces two fruits of the Holy Spirit, namely faith, that is, a certain certitude of faith intimately perceived, and then the joy arising from this.⁸¹ Faith indeed was neither in Christ nor is in the blessed in heaven; but the gift of understanding, which gives a special illumination of the mind, both was in Christ and will be in the blessed in heaven.

⁷⁷ Matth. 15, 16.

⁷⁸ Cf. S. theol. 1, 2, q. 68, a. 4.

⁷⁹ Cf. ib. 2, 2, q. 8, a. 6.

⁸⁰ Matth. 5, 8.

⁸¹ Cf. S. theol. 2, 2, q. 8, a. 2 and 8. John of St. Thomas explains very well the difference between the gift of understanding and faith in 1, 2, disp. 18, § 3, n. 4.

449. 3. The gift of knowledge is a supernaturally infused habit by which the just man, from a special instinct of the Holy Spirit, rightly discerns things to be believed from things not to be believed, firmly judges revealed things to agree with sound reason, and generally judges divine and human things in order to the supernatural end. Therefore the gift of knowledge, together with the gift of understanding, corresponds to theological faith, because each disposes to an altogether perfect assent of faith.⁸² The gift of knowledge, which is also called the knowledge of the saints, judges from a certain spiritual taste and affection of charity, and indeed through lower or natural causes, concerning all things insofar as they are ordered to the supernatural end. St. Bonaventure refers the gift of knowledge to the virtue of prudence.⁸³ To the gift of knowledge corresponds the beatitude: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."⁸⁴ For we mourn and are saddened because through knowledge we know how often and efficaciously creatures are causes of falling away from God.⁸⁵ - To the gifts of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge the same fruit of the Holy Spirit corresponds, namely faith, which is a certain certitude concerning supernatural truths.⁸⁶

⁸² Cf. ib. q. 9, a. 1.

⁸³ Breviloq. P. 5, c. 5.

⁸⁴ Matth. 5, 5.

⁸⁵ Cf. S. theol. 2, 2, q. 9, a. 4.

⁸⁶ Ib. q. 8, a. 8 ad 3.

450. 4. The gift of counsel is a supernaturally infused habit by which the just man, moved by the Holy Spirit, rightly judges and commands the individual actions to be done. Therefore man is directed through the gift of counsel as if through counsel received from God himself; and therefore he can confidently say: "The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing."⁸⁷ The gift of counsel assists and greatly perfects the virtue of prudence, especially in extraordinary cases.⁸⁸ To this gift corresponds the fifth beatitude, namely: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."⁸⁹ For counsel must direct us in all things which conduce to eternal life. But mercy often and rightly exercised is the best means, as being an excellent act of charity, for obtaining eternal life.⁹⁰

⁸⁷ Ps. 22, 1.

⁸⁸ Cf. S. theol. 2, 2, q. 52, a. 1 and 2.

⁸⁹ Matth. 5, 7.

⁹⁰ S. theol. 2, 2, q. 52, a. 4.

451. 5. The gift of piety is a habit infused with sanctifying grace, from which the soul is affectioned toward God as a most kindly father and is promptly movable by the Holy Spirit for venerating God the Father and for loving men as sons of God. In this sense it is said: "You have received the Spirit of adoption of the sons of God, in whom we cry: Abba, Father."⁹¹ St. Augustine and St. Thomas⁹² attribute to the gift of piety the second beatitude: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land,"⁹³ because by meekness impediments to the acts of piety are removed. But the gift of piety corresponds to the virtue of justice.⁹⁴ From the fruits of the Holy Spirit, three are especially attributed to the gift of piety, namely goodness, benignity, and meekness.⁹⁵

⁹¹ Rom. 8, 15.

⁹² S. theol. 2, 2, q. 121, a. 2.

⁹³ Matth. 5, 4.

⁹⁴ S. theol. l. c. a. 1.

⁹⁵ Ib. 1, 2, q. 70, a. 3.

452. 6. The gift of fortitude is a habit infused with sanctifying grace by which the soul is strengthened by a certain singular confidence of escaping any temporal evils whatsoever and of arriving at the end of the combat without detriment.⁹⁶ The virtue of fortitude also, to which the gift of fortitude corresponds, strengthens the soul for sustaining any dangers whatsoever, but it does not give so great a confidence of escaping them as the gift of fortitude provides. To this gift of fortitude corresponds the fourth beatitude, namely: "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill,"⁹⁷ and from the fruits of the Holy Spirit are referred to it: patience and longanimity.⁹⁸

⁹⁶ Ib. 2, 2, q. 139, a. 1.

⁹⁷ Matth. 5, 6.

⁹⁸ Cf. S. theol. l. c. a. 2.

453. 7. The gift of fear is a supernatural habit by which the just man, from the motion of the Holy Spirit, most profoundly reveres the majesty of God. It is therefore a filial, not servile, and reverential fear toward the divine majesty, before which even the angels themselves fall upon their faces.⁹⁹ The gift of fear corresponds to the virtue of hope. "For filial fear and hope cling to one another and perfect one another,"¹⁰⁰ for filial fear raises the mind to hoping in God as a most loving father and thus guards against desperation; but it restrains the soul from presumption, lest, namely, too great confidence be had. - The gift of fear also corresponds to the virtue of temperance, because both these habits efficaciously repress the disordered appetite of delectation and of one's own excellence. The first beatitude, namely, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,"¹⁰¹ is wont to arise from the gift of fear; for he who has a profound reverential fear toward God attributes all things to God and nothing to himself; and this indeed is true humility or poverty of spirit.¹⁰² - To the gift of fear, from the fruits of the Holy Spirit, there correspond those which pertain to the moderate use of temporal things, such as modesty, continence, and chastity.¹⁰³

⁹⁹ Cf. Apoc. 7, 11.

¹⁰⁰ S. theol. 2, 2, q. 19, a. 9.

¹⁰¹ Matth. 5, 3.

¹⁰² Cf. S. theol. l. c. a. 12.

¹⁰³ Ib. ad 3.

454. The fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are enumerated by St. Paul¹⁰⁴ as twelve:¹⁰⁵ "The fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, meekness, faith, modesty, continence, chastity," are human acts which are elicited from the virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit and refresh us with a certain holy and sincere delight. From this definition it appears that the words by which these fruits are denominated do not designate habits, as they could seem at first glance to do, but acts of those habits. Hence, for example, if charity is enumerated as a fruit of the Holy Spirit, the theological virtue of charity is not understood, but the act elicited by that virtue under the special influence of the Holy Spirit. Most beautifully and no less truly the first three fruits are assigned by St. Paul as "charity, joy, peace." For acts of love, whether of God or of neighbor, cause the greatest delights, joys, and imperturbable peace, and indeed not only in eternal life, but already also on this earth. But deservedly after St. Augustine, St. Thomas¹⁰⁶ teaches that St. Paul did not enumerate all the fruits; "hence either more or fewer fruits could have been enumerated." The fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, a certain sweetness joined with virtuous acts, are necessary for man in this valley of tears, just as strengthening Manna was necessary for the Israelite people crossing the desert.

¹⁰⁴ Gal. 5, 22.

¹⁰⁵ In the Greek text of this place only nine fruits are enumerated: Ὁ δὲ καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἀγάπη (love), χαρά (joy), εἰρήνη (peace), μακροθυμία (longanimity), χρηστότης (mildness), ἀγαθωσύνη (uprightness), πίστις (faithfulness), πραΰτης (meekness), ἐγκράτεια (purity).

¹⁰⁶ S. theol. 1, 2, q. 70, a. 3 ad 4 and a. 4.

455. The beatitudes, which are enumerated by St. Matthew¹⁰⁷ as eight, but by St. Luke¹⁰⁸ as four, are, like the fruits of the Holy Spirit, acts and not habits. But they differ from the fruits in this, that the beatitudes signify outstanding acts of the virtues and especially of the gifts, insofar as in a certain peculiar way they lead a) to obtaining heavenly beatitude and besides this b) to having some inchoate beatitude already on this earth; but the fruits are acts not so excellent, yet bringing with themselves a certain spiritual delight. Hence every beatitude is a fruit, but not conversely is every fruit a beatitude.¹⁰⁹

The Angelic Doctor says briefly:¹¹⁰ "The difference of gifts, beatitudes, virtues, and fruits from one another is taken in this way: For in virtue one must consider habit and act. But the habit of virtue perfects one for acting well; and if indeed it perfects one for operating well according to the human mode, it is called virtue; but if it perfects one for operating above the human mode, it is called a gift.... But the act of virtue is perfecting, and so it is a beatitude; or delighting, and so it is a fruit." - Blessed Albert¹¹¹ seems to have taken both the beatitudes and the fruits of the Holy Spirit as habits, but his mind is not so clear.

¹⁰⁷ Matth. 5, 3 sqq.

¹⁰⁸ Luc. 6, 20 sqq.

¹⁰⁹ S. theol. 1, 2, q. 69, a. 1 c. and ad 1; a. 2.

¹¹⁰ In Gal. 5, lect. 6.

¹¹¹ In Matth. 5, 3.

Faith is followed by understanding, which penetrates those things which, covered with shadows, are proposed to be believed, and, with the help of reason, makes the things believed in a certain way seen; hence the Holy Doctor quaest. 3. ad 1. says that Understanding is related to Faith as Wisdom to charity; for the latter deals about eternal things according to eternal reasons in order to the vision of truth; the former is occupied about the same things, according to the same reasons too, but in order to the taste of love; science differs from those because it is occupied about creatures through created reasons, as I shall say below.

But since it is clear that Understanding is implied together with faith, since faith only simply assents, and captivates the mind into its service: but Understanding proceeds further, and is as it were a knowledge by vision, as the Seraphic Doctor says in Diaeta, tit. 6. cap. 3. de Dono Intellectus, therefore I shall treat of this by doubts.

I ASSERT. It is proved from St. Bonaventure in the places alleged, especially de Dono intellectus, cap. 2. and St. Thomas art. 1. Understanding imports a certain intimate cognition; for to understand is said as it were to read within, and this is clear to one considering the difference between the cognition of the Intellect and of the senses; for sensitive cognition is occupied about sensible things outside; but intellectual cognition, as nobler and subtler, penetrates even to the interior quiddities of things, because the object of the intellect is whatever is, from Aristotle 3. de anima, text. 37. Whence human cognition begins from sense, nor is it perfected unless it arrives at the Intellect, which truly knows what a thing is. For it is said in the book de spiritu, et anima, cap. 11. that: Whatever the senses perceive outwardly, the imagination represents inwardly, reason investigates, the intellect judges, intelligence comprehends, and leads to contemplation, which memory preserves. But it must be adverted that intellect is sometimes taken as it is the natural power of the soul, and thus the author of the Book de Spiritu, et anima speaks of it, while he says, that the intellect is the power of the soul by which it perceives invisible things, with which Aristotle de anima concurs. And this intellect is for the most part blinded: Whence Psal. 81. They did not know, nor understand. Sometimes the Intellect is taken as the intellectual virtue, or the habit of the first natural principles, which subsist beneath the light of the intellect, as is clear from Aristotle 6. Eth. cap. 6. But neither of these is the Gift of the Holy Spirit, although it is from God, and accordingly even from the Holy Spirit.

Since however man is ordered to beatitude as to a supernatural end, as appears from his image; therefore one must posit an intellect, or some light, as the supernatural habit of supernatural principles, which are the articles of faith, and in consequence the operation of certain [virtues] which are ordered to the end, because: Faith works through love, as the Apostle says Galat. 5. and this supernatural light is called the gift of Understanding, which names a certain excellence of cognition, penetrating supernatural things, which cannot be had by natural light.

But it is DESCRIBED in the book de spiritu, et anima, loc. cit. Intelligence is that power of the soul which is immediately subjoined to God: for it discerns the highest truth itself.

AGAIN it is defined there cap. 37. The Intellect is that power of the soul by which, as far as is possible to man, the Divine things are known, for penetrating the heavenly secrets, which cannot be penetrated except through his spirit, who also searches the deep things of God. Whence the Apostle says 1. Cor. 2. But to us God has revealed by his Spirit, who searches all things, even the deep things of God. This is St. Bonaventure literally, and almost St. Thomas.

The Holy Doctor proves the same thing by the testimonies of the Scriptures, and of the Fathers. Prima Ioan. 2. The anointing of the Spirit teaches us. Ioan. 16. When the Paraclete shall come, he will teach you all truth. He proves the same in Diaeta loc. cit. from 2. Timot. 2. The Lord will give you understanding in all things. He proves the same in 3. dist. 34. p. 1. art. 2. quaest. 2. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom, and of understanding.

St. Bonaventure elegantly discourses on the most noble and delightful cognition which the Gift of understanding communicates, under the metaphor of a banquet, de septem donis, cap. 7. Where he first asserts that by the gift of Understanding celestial dishes are set forth, and he reports St. Gregory lib. 1. Moral. cap. 32. saying: Understanding prepares a banquet in its day: because in that it penetrates what is heard, refreshing the heart, it illuminates its shadows: Therefore in the penetration of the things heard, the truth having been found, the mind is refreshed. The reason is, because it does not suffice the mind to taste the coverings of truths, but the kernel. Since therefore the gift of Understanding, according to Gregory, penetrates all the coverings of divine truth, both in the Scriptures and in doctrine, it reaches even to the intimate truth to be tasted, by a certain intellectual experience, which belongs to the most perfect, as Bernard says in Cantica; therefore the gift of Understanding refreshes the mind most sweetly. Speaking of this taste of experience, Bernard in the book de amore Dei cap. 10. says: The taste of the experience of the Scriptures, and of the Sacraments of God, which is in Christ, gives us sense, that we may understand the Scriptures. Whence the Lord after the resurrection opened the sense of the disciples, that they might understand the Scriptures, at the end of Luke. See the Seraphic Doctor delighting divinely in this bread having all savor of sweetness, Sap. 16. For he feeds them with the bread of life, and understanding. Eccles. 15.

I ASSERT. It is proved from St. Thomas here, and St. Bonaventure de 7. donis, cap. 7. by that of Luke at the end: He opened their sense, that they might understand the Scriptures. I shall prove the same in the following doubt.

It is PROVED from St. Bonaventure loc. cit. by the discourse of the Lincolnian upon the beginning of the Mystical Theology, which he uses as St. Thomas does, because the gift of Understanding raises [the mind] to the senses of the Scriptures, and the understanding of the Mysteries, in a manner proportioned to the way; yet where God does not seem to be [seen] without Symbols, even in the anagogic senses, not to mention the literal, allegorical, and moral; for he still enters with Moses into the cloud, as is said Exodus 24.

THEN he proves it, because this gift raises the mind as much as is necessary for merit; Therefore it is said Luke 10. Moreover one thing is necessary; and accordingly, as much as it does not detract from faith in the way, it raises the mind, as necessary for the ordinary mode of merit.

Which doctrine of St. Thomas solves the objections of those striving [to prove] that the gift of understanding, as clearly showing the object of faith, is repugnant to be shown.

QUAERIT the holy Doctor what the proper act of the gift of Understanding is, and what its object. He supposes, moreover, that knowledge of God can be had in three ways. First, by a simple and immediate assent, and this belongs to faith. Second, by the assistance of reason, namely by perceiving the instinct of the Holy Spirit, whereby one is led to the assent of faith. ¶ Third, by a simple intuition, and this belongs to that beatitude which consists in the cleanness of heart, whose prerogative it is to see God.

Since, therefore, the reasons, or motives, by which one is helped toward understanding the things believed, are taken not only from the conditions of the Creator, but also from the conditions of spiritual creatures, which among creatures hold a closer assimilation to the Creator; hence it is that the gift of Understanding, whose act is to be raised up to the contemplation of the Supreme Truth by a light that not only makes one assent, but also to understand the things believed through fitting reasons, is directed not only to the contemplation of the creative essence, but also of spiritual creatures.

From these considerations he deduces what the act and the object of the gift of Understanding are. Its object, indeed, is the eternal True, insofar as it is intelligible, not only according to its proper conditions, but also according to the properties of creatures that are like God, as the Master says. But its act is to contemplate the very Truth believed, so that it may be believed more devoutly and loved more ardently.

Whence it follows that its act is speculative, because it looks to the assent of faith, but also practical, because it looks to the articles as ordered to Charity; for faith works through love, as the Apostle says, Gal. 5. Therefore the gift of Understanding extends itself to certain things to be done, not indeed so as to be principally occupied with them; but insofar as in our actions we are ruled by the eternal reasons, in the beholding and consulting of which, according to Aug. 12 de Trin. cap. 7., the soul adheres to the superior reason, which is perfected by the gift of understanding, as St. Thomas also teaches. The holy Doctor confirms this with St. Thomas, from that Psalm 110: Intellectus bonus omnibus facientibus eum — a good understanding to all that do it.

He ASSERTS, therefore, that the object of this Gift is the CREATOR, even as He shines forth in spiritual creatures, which are the Images of God.

It is PROVED from the holy Doctor, first, from the Master in littera, saying that Understanding concerns not only eternal things, but also things invisible and spiritual, arisen in time.

SECOND, from St. Dionysius, cap. 1. de coelesti hierarchia, circa medium, where he has: It is impossible that, so long as we are on the way, the divine ray shine forth upon us unveiled; but the creature that is spiritual is that veil showing God in an image: Therefore, if the understanding is directed to the Creator, it must also be directed to the knowledge of the creature.

THIRD. There is no perfect love of God unless God is loved in Himself and in His image: Therefore likewise there is no perfect gift of Understanding unless God is known through it both as to His conditions and as to the conditions of the creatures that are like Him.

FOURTH, Understanding and Faith belong to the same mind, according to St. Gregory 1. Moral. cap. 18., who says that: God gives understanding when He enlightens the mind concerning the things heard; but Faith regards not only the divine essence in itself, but also in its comparison with the creature: Therefore the gift of Understanding is ordered to the contemplation of both. See the holy Doctor in Dicta loc. cit., where he opens the Books in which the CREATOR is read in creatures, which Gulielmus imitates in his discourses, written in Italian.

You will OBJECT first. The gift of Wisdom is concerned with eternal things: but the gift of Science is concerned with created things, according to St. Aug. 12. de Trinitate, cap. 14. Therefore either the gift of Understanding is superfluous, or its act is not concerned with those two.

The holy Doctor ANSWERS that the gifts of Wisdom and of Understanding are concerned with eternal things in different ways: for the gift of Wisdom regards eternal things according to the eternal reasons, insofar as those eternal reasons are the way to the taste and experimental knowledge of divine sweetness; but the gift of Understanding deals with eternal things according to the eternal reasons, which are the way to the knowledge of the truth, whereby it is thus rendered by the Holy Spirit mobile toward perceiving the truths of faith. Hence St. Bernard appropriates the gift of Understanding to faith: but the gift of Wisdom he appropriates to Charity, whose prerogative it is to dispose one to the tasting of God.

SIMILARLY the gift of Science is concerned with created things in a different way; for it regards being according to created reasons, whence it deals also with bodily creatures, which have the character of a vestige: but the gift of Understanding deals only with creatures according to the eternal reasons. And therefore it is concerned only with spiritual creatures, in which the eternal reasons shine forth as in an image.

You will OBJECT secondly. Wisdom and Science differ, because the latter is concerned with temporal things, but the former with eternal things. Therefore the gift of Understanding cannot be concerned with both these opposite characters, which are the objects of diverse good habits.

The holy Doctor ANSWERS by denying the consequence; because Wisdom and Science, as I have said, are concerned with those objects as opposites; but the gift of Understanding regards created things as ordered to the eternal reasons, and the one is on account of the other, and thus they are one object. Hence the holy Doctor deduces that the gift of Understanding is below wisdom and above science, and thus in the middle.

You will OBJECT thirdly. Either the gift of Understanding consists in knowing only, or in knowing and being affected. If the first: Therefore it is not meritorious, because a cognitive act is not meritorious. If the second: Therefore it does not differ from Wisdom.

The holy Doctor ANSWERS that Wisdom and the gift of Understanding are related in different ways; for the former consists in the experience of divine sweetness, the latter in a knowledge extended to practice, as a way to the taste; just as the knowledge of faith is ordered to the delight, or love, of Charity, which indeed paves the way to infused wisdom, since it is founded upon the assent of faith, and moreover orders it to the taste of wisdom. Nevertheless, in the gift of Understanding too there is a certain delight in the truth, which is a kind of beatitude. To this he recalls in Dicta ad Psal. 33. Gustate, et videte quoniam suavis est Dominus — Taste, and see that the Lord is sweet. To taste belongs to wisdom; to see, to understanding; and he cites St. Gregory, homil. 19. in Ezech. The sum of this difference is that the gift of Understanding is properly penetrative; but the gift of Wisdom is properly savoring.

You will OBJECT fourthly. If the gift of Understanding regards creatures, so that from them it may rise to the knowledge of God, it must regard not only spiritual but also bodily creatures; for in these also the Divine Goodness shines forth.

The holy Doctor ANSWERS that in bodily creatures the goodness of God shines forth only obscurely, as in a vestige, but in spiritual things more clearly, as in an image; and because the gift of understanding concerns a contemplation clearer than is the knowledge of faith, hence it is that it regards only those creatures in which God shines forth more clearly; but these are those which have the character of an image.

You will OBJECT fifthly. Gifts that are combined with one another are concerned with the same thing: such is the gift of Understanding, which is combined with the gift of Wisdom: Therefore. But the gift of Wisdom is concerned only with eternal things, therefore also the gift of Understanding.

The holy Doctor ANSWERS that, because the gift of Wisdom consists in taste, but the gift of Understanding in the light of reason, and affection ascends higher than reason, and union than knowledge, as St. Dionysius says, hence it is that the gift of Wisdom has not so much need of the assistance of creatures as the gift of Understanding has. Therefore the latter is concerned also with creatures, as assistances for ascending to God. And so, when it is said that gifts which are combined with one another have the same object, this is true of the principal object, not of the assisting one.

You will object sixthly. The gift of Understanding is concerned with creatures insofar as they lead to the knowledge of the Creator: Therefore it contemplates God through a mirror: Therefore it does not differ from Faith.

The holy Doctor answers that faith and the gift of Understanding contemplate God in a mirror in different ways; for there are various degrees of the cognition of one who contemplates. Faith, therefore, renders one able to assent to the articles of faith immediately, though preceded by the knowledge, through creatures, of that which is signified by such a name. Thus it moves one to assent to the article of the Trinity, though preceded by the knowledge of the number three. But the gift of Understanding further illuminates one to know the motive on account of which the Trinity ought to be posited in the Divinity; namely, because it sees in the rational creature the going forth of the Word from the mind by the way of generation, and of Love from both, by the way of connection. And so the reason is evident why there ought to be diverse habits.

From these considerations you have what the object of the gift of Understanding is, and what its act, and what the difference of this gift from the other habits.

I ASSERT first that Understanding is in all who have sanctifying grace.

It is proved from St. Bonav. in Diaeta from that Psalm 110: Intellectus bonus omnibus facientibus eum — a good understanding to all that do it.

It is proved from the holy Doctor de septem donis, cap. 1. from the progress of our conversion, as assigned by the Council of Trent sess. 6. et 14., from which he also deduces the order of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit; for, as St. Anselm says, lib. de simil. cap. 130.: First the Holy Spirit makes the mind fear through the gift of Fear; and compassionate with itself through the gift of Piety; and He manifests the things that are to be done through the gift of Science, and carries them out firmly through the gift of Fortitude; these three gifts belong to the appetitive power, and in this they differ from the gift of Understanding, which belongs first to the intellective power, according to St. Thomas, art. 6., and concerning those He makes us consult through the gift of Counsel, whereby there is an application of means to individual works, as St. Thomas says. Then the Holy Spirit kindles the mind to understand why this and that should be done, so that the affection of charity may follow: for this follows the perfect discovery of the truth; and this is from the understanding. Therefore even natural understanding itself is called, 3. de anima, text. 18., a Light penetrating to the innermost essences; nor indeed can the will be rightly ordered to the good unless some knowledge of the truth pre-exists, because the object of the will is the good understood, as is said in 3. de anima, text. 34. et 49. From these things it follows that the gift of Understanding is given together with grace, as the ultimate disposition to wisdom, or the Divine Savor. Therefore St. August., lib. 2. de doctrina christiana, cap. 7., speaking of the seven gifts, says of the gift of Understanding: After the fifth step, namely the gift of Counsel, through which the soul is raised up from the appetite for the filth of lower things, it ascends to the sixth step, that is, to the gift of understanding, where it cleanses that very eye by which God can be seen by those who die to this world; who see insofar as they die to the world.

The holy Doctor observes, however, cap. 4., that a threefold truth is irradiated by the gift of Understanding: the truth of cognition, by showing us the faith of Christ to be most true: the truth of operation, by showing the most perfect operation; and the truth of love, by showing us charity. But the Holy Spirit works this revelation through the gift of Understanding, while He raises up, purifies, and inflames the mind from earthly things. For an earthly and animal affection impedes the understanding from understanding spiritual things, because: The animal man perceiveth not those things that are of the Spirit of God, as is said in 1 Corinth. 2. From these things it follows that the gift of Understanding is in the just, who have a right will through charity, which presupposes a right understanding; and that it is given in the ultimate preparation for charity, but not to sinners in the composite sense; for of these (the holy Fathers say), Psalm 81: They have not known nor understood, they walk on in darkness.

And although the actual gift of Understanding is convertible with Faith, which is also in sinners; nevertheless, as it is a habitual gift, it is only in him who has a right cognition and a direction of the will toward the end, as St. Bonav. says, ad 3.