The Seven Gifts in Particular

Of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, four pertain to the intellect: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and counsel; the remaining three, piety, fortitude, and fear of the Lord, to the will. We note certain things here concerning each.

I. The Gift of Wisdom is an infused habit by which the intellect is so disposed that, under the special impulse of the Holy Spirit, from a certain connaturality with God it easily and promptly contemplates God, the highest cause, and judges of all things according to Him. This connaturality with God arises from the theological virtue of charity, which is in the will; hence the gift of wisdom has its cause in the will, but its essence in the intellect, whose act is to judge rightly (St. Thomas, II-II, q. 45, a. 2). It also corresponds to charity, and assists this virtue in its acts, so that it may love God more intimately for God's sake.

II. The Gift of Understanding is an infused habit by which the intellect is so disposed that, under the special impulse of the Holy Spirit, it is easily and promptly moved to penetrate both the credibility and the essence of the truths of faith. Therefore this gift corresponds to the theological virtue of faith; it assists faith, so that it may assent more firmly to revealed truth. But it differs from faith, which assents to the truth because of extrinsic testimony, and does so without penetration of the believed object itself (St. Thomas, II-II, q. 8, a. 2).

III. The Gift of Knowledge is an infused habit by which the intellect is so disposed that, under the special impulse of the Holy Spirit, it easily and promptly knows secondary causes, and judges of all things according to them. It also corresponds to the theological virtue of faith, since it belongs to this gift to judge whether created things are matters of faith or not, what in them is worthy of esteem, how natural truths agree with supernatural truths, and what is the force of the arguments by which dogmas are proved (St. Thomas, II-II, q. 9).

IV. The Gift of Counsel is an infused habit by which the intellect is so disposed that, under the special impulse of the Holy Spirit, it easily and promptly judges what must be done in the more difficult cases of life. This gift corresponds to the cardinal virtue of prudence, which is perfected and assisted insofar as it is ruled and moved by the Holy Spirit (St. Thomas, II-II, q. 52).

V. The Gift of Piety is an infused habit by which the will is so disposed that, under the special impulse of the Holy Spirit, it easily and promptly shows worship and submission to God as Father, and therefore honors the Saints and neighbors for God's sake as brothers. This gift corresponds to the cardinal virtue of justice and perfects it, since it moves man to perform works of justice because of a higher motive and with a more perfect affection of soul (St. Thomas, II-II, q. 121).

VI. The Gift of Fortitude is an infused habit by which the will is so disposed that, under the special impulse of the Holy Spirit, it easily and promptly attacks and sustains whatever difficult things with great confidence, and with security of escaping from whatever imminent dangers. It corresponds to the cardinal virtue of fortitude and perfects it in those things in which it would fail (St. Thomas, II-II, q. 139).

VII. The Gift of Fear of the Lord is an infused habit by which the will is so disposed that, under the special impulse of the Holy Spirit, it easily and promptly conceives a profound reverence toward God, as He is an excellent Father and one powerful to separate us from Himself because of offense, and consequently an intimate fear of sin, as it is the offense of this Father and worthy of separation from Him. From this notion it is clear that the gift of fear of the Lord corresponds both to the theological virtue of hope and to the cardinal virtue of temperance: to hope, insofar as it moves one to filial fear by which we avoid sin, which separates us from the Father, and to filial confidence, by which we expect every good from the Father; to temperance, however, insofar as it restrains concupiscences, and this because of a motive more perfect than the motive of temperance (St. Thomas, II-II, q. 141).

There are seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are divided as follows:

(a) There are the Intellectual Gifts, which make the soul more responsive to the light which the Holy Spirit sheds upon truths held by faith. These Gifts assist the intellect, first, in its apprehension of the mysteries of faith, that it may be made to grasp more clearly what it believes (Gift of Understanding); secondly, in its judgments, that it may be illuminated so as to adhere to the principles of faith and depart from their opposites, whether there be question of judgments about divine things (Gift of Wisdom), or created things (Gift of Knowledge), or human actions (Gift of Counsel);

(b) There are the Appetitive Gifts, which make the soul more ready to follow divine motions and inspirations. These Gifts aid the irascible affections by giving them a confidence of victory over every peril and by assuring safe arrival at the term of life (Gift of Fortitude); they aid the will in its social relations by leading to a filial love and devotion toward God (Gift of Piety); they assist the concupiscible affections by filling them with a reverence of God’s majesty and a horror of offending Him (Gift of Fear of the Lord).

The Gifts of Understanding and Knowledge.—As was said above (see 159), the Gifts of the Holy Ghost are intended as means for perfecting the theological virtues. There are two Gifts that serve the virtue of faith, namely, the Gifts of Understanding and Knowledge.

(a) Faith, being assent, must have a right idea of what is proposed for acceptance; but, as it is obscure (see 799), and as there are things apart from faith that may corrupt our notion of it, the Gift of Understanding is conferred, a simple perception and divine intuition through which one receives a correct notion of the mysteries of faith.

(b) Faith, being the starting point of all supernatural activities, must be the norm by which we judge of what we should think and do in the affairs of life; but, as it is a simple act of assent (see 799) and as the creatures of the world are a temptation and a snare (Wis., xiv. 11), the Gift of Knowledge is given, through which one receives a correct judgment about the things of this world. These then take on a new and fuller significance in the light of the teachings of faith.

(Summa Theologica, II-II, qq. 45, 46.)

Wisdom is the Gift of the Holy Ghost which corresponds with and serves the virtue of charity (see 159 sqq., 808 sqq., 1041 sqq.), and hence it is discussed in this place.

The following points concerning Wisdom will be treated: (a) the Nature of the Gift of Wisdom; (b) the Persons who Possess the Gift of Wisdom; (c) the Beatitude of the Peacemakers, which pertains especially to Wisdom; (d) the Sin of Foolishness, which is opposed to Wisdom.

So far is it from being improper to give some space in Moral Theology to the Gifts of the Holy Ghost (as if they pertained only to higher mysticism), that it is even necessary to emphasize them. The Gifts are essential to salvation, and play a most important part in the daily spiritual life, whether in correcting or reinforcing the virtues, or in giving immediate direction from the Holy Spirit. Man, it is true, does not set them into action, but it is man’s part to value them, to hold himself in readiness for them, and to hearken to their whispered enlightenment and counsel. The Gifts of the Holy Ghost are the very soul of Theology and of the Christian life.

The Nature of the Gift of Wisdom.—Wisdom is defined as “a habit for judging things in the light of their First Cause, the Supreme Good, which is infused into the soul along with sanctifying grace.”

(a) Wisdom is a habit, and so it differs from passing acts. Thus, a man in the state of sin who avoids idolatry, judges in the light of the highest cause that worship is not to be given to creatures; but he lacks the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and therefore does not judge in virtue of that special instinct or power which originates from the abiding presence of the Holy Ghost.

(b) Wisdom judges, and this sets it apart from habits that belong to the will (e.g., the Gifts of Piety, Fortitude, and Fear), as well as from habits whose chief act is assent (e.g., the virtue of Faith) or penetration (e.g., the Gift of Understanding).

(c) The standard by which Wisdom judges things is the First Cause of all, or the Supreme Good, as when our Lord explained that the condition of the man born blind was due to the purpose of God to be glorified through that blindness (John, ix. 3). The wise man is he who goes back to first principles, to the origins of things, to ultimate purposes; but it is not every wisdom that estimates things according to the Supreme Good, and there is a false wisdom (see 1623) whose canon of excellence is the imperfect good opposed to Supreme Good. The Gift of Wisdom, therefore, is distinct from sinful wisdom, which is wise at doing evil (Jer., iv. 22); from particular wisdom, which understands well the theory and practice of some science, art, or profession, and is able therefore to decide correctly and to arrange successfully such matters as fall under a special kind of activity, as in medicine or architecture or strategy (I Cor., iii. 10).

(d) The things that make up the object of Wisdom are, in the first place, divine things (e.g., the attributes, plans, government, operations of God); and, in the second place, created things, whether in the speculative order (e.g., mind and matter, good and evil, science, religion, history), or in the practical order (i.e., human actions). Wisdom contemplates the divine as known from faith or the beatific vision, and then, with the things of God as its rule, it judges the things of earth and directs the conduct of men: “The spiritual man judgeth all things” (I Cor, ii, 15). Thus does Wisdom differ from the Gifts of Knowledge and of Counsel; for Knowledge is concerned directly with secondary causes and rises from the creature to the Creator, While Counsel is not a speculative but a practical Gift, and is a response to direction given by the Holy Spirit for the guidance of conduct.

(e) The Gift of Wisdom is an infused perfection of the intellect, “a wisdom descending from on high” (James, iii. 15). Hence, while it resembles the virtue of Wisdom, which also judges human and divine things through first causes (see 145), it differs from that virtue, even with reference to the same objects, on account of its different way of approach. Theology and philosophy judge correctly because they employ study and the investigation of reason; but the Gift of Wisdom has a right judgment because it depends, not on analysis or argumentation, but on a supernatural knowledge had through faith (or vision in case of the blessed) and a supernatural experience of God through charity. Wisdom may express itself, indeed, in the concepts and language of philosophy or theology, but it is not through scientific processes that it knows and judges.

(f) The Gift of Wisdom is infused into the soul along with sanctifying grace; for, like the other Gifts of the Holy Ghost, it is intended to supplement through the action of the Holy Spirit the control exercised by grace, which is imperfect on account of the limitations of the virtues. The Gift of Wisdom, therefore, is an ordinary and normal fact in the spiritual life, and must not be confused with rare and extraordinary phenomena—with the “word of wisdom” (I Cor., xii. 8), which was granted to the Apostles and at times to other preachers of the faith, nor with the clear contemplation of God bestowed in the state of innocence, nor with the infused knowledge or light of glory enjoyed by Christ and some of the Saints while on earth. Thus, while all who are in the state of grace possess the Gift of Wisdom, comparatively only a few have received the “word of wisdom”—that is, the ability to instruct others in the higher mysteries of faith and to explain to them with ease and in suitable language the meaning of these mysteries and their relation to supreme causes. Both these graces are supernatural, but, while the Gift of Wisdom is needed by each individual for his own sanctification, the word of wisdom is needed only in certain cases for the sanctification of others.

From the foregoing definition it is seen that Wisdom belongs both to the will and to the intellect.

(a) In its cause, Wisdom belongs to the will. The cause of right judgment by means of divine things is either the suitability of the intellect, which knows well how to judge, or the suitability of the will, which is inclined towards divine things. Thus, he who is well versed in moral science will give a correct decision about a case of chastity as it falls under the inquiry of reason, and he who is chaste will judge correctly about the same case, even without moral science, but from the sympathy he has for the virtue. The intellectual virtue of Wisdom, then, judges aright because the intellect is sound in its procedures; but the Gift of Wisdom is right in its judgments, because the will has been united to God through charity, so that there has resulted in one a suitability for judging about the things of God: “Give me one who loves, and he will understand what I say” (Augustine, Tract. xxvi. in Joan.).

(b) In its essence, Wisdom belongs to the intellect, for it consists in judgment, and this is an act that is exercised, not by the affections, but by the reason. Through love the soul becomes one spirit with God (I Cor., vi. 17), and the will experiences the sweetness of this union (Ps. xxxiii. 9); the intellect then judges concerning the divine which has been the object of its mystical communion. The Gift of Wisdom, built as it is on faith and charity, differs utterly from private interpretation of revelation (which is subversive of faith) and from the Modernistic experience of the divine (which is explained as a natural intuition had by a special religious sense of a reality that is divine and yet only subjective and unknowable).

From the definition and explanation of the Gift of Wisdom it also follows that this Gift is practical as well as speculative.

(a) Primarily, Wisdom is speculative, for one must consider divine things in themselves before one applies them to other things; and, moreover, the object of Wisdom is God, who is the first truth in the order of knowledge or speculation. It is by Wisdom, then, as well as by the other intellectual Gifts or extraordinary graces, that the act of supernatural contemplation is exercised; but Wisdom, more perfect than the other Gifts, ascends at once to things that are heavenly, divine and eternal, and thinks of God as transcending in perfection every known or knowable degree of created excellence, and as being most true, most beautiful, most lovable (Eph., iii. 17-19).

(b) Secondarily, Wisdom is practical, for God whom it contemplates is the supreme rule of action, as well as the first truth. Thus does the higher Gift of Wisdom unite in itself what are found separate in lower virtues—the speculative quality of the virtue of Wisdom and the practical quality of Prudence (see 1620).

The practical uses of the Gift of Wisdom are indicated in Coloss., iii. 16-17, iv. 6: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all Wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.... Walk with Wisdom towards them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt.”

(a) The contemplation of divine things is useful for instruction in the truths of faith and the duties of religion (“teaching and admonishing one another”); for the mind becomes in a way divine, like the things on which it dwells, filled with knowledge of God and of Christ and of the means of holiness.

(b) Wisdom helps one to fulfill the duty of praying to God with reverence and interior devotion (“singing in your hearts to God”); for Wisdom makes one perceive and feel the sweetness and attraction of the things of God.

(c) It directs one in both words and works (“do all in the name of Christ”); for the intellect which judges things in the light of eternity and with the fervor of divine charity will not mislead in matters of salvation.

(d) It enables one to profit by opportunities of edification (“redeeming the time”); for the example of a life directed by tender love of God and by kindness and courtesy to all is a recommendation of virtue and religion in the sight of the world.

Wisdom is a Gift of the Holy Ghost, and is numbered with the other six communications of the Spirit: “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of Wisdom, etc.” (Is., xi. 2).

(a) Likeness to the Other Gifts.—The Gifts of the Holy Ghost are energies diffused in the powers of the soul as instruments of the supernatural governance of the indwelling Spirit, just as the moral virtues are the instruments of the natural governance of reason. The infused virtues (e.g., faith or charity), unlike the acquired virtues (e.g., temperance or fortitude), do not suffice for the government of the soul; for, while these latter are according to nature, the former surpass nature, and are received by it imperfectly. Hence the need of the Gifts, which on earth supplement the infused virtues, strengthening them against contrary vices, developing secondary acts of the virtues which the virtues only initiate, and in heaven perfecting the blessed in good.

(b) Unlikeness to the Other Gifts.—Wisdom, which is enumerated by Isaias in the first place, is also given the highest rank among the Gifts by theologians, on account of its greater elevation, more universal scope, and the directive power it exercises. Fittingly, then, is Wisdom assigned as the Gift that serves Charity, the queen of the virtues: Charity loves God above all things; Wisdom dwells with delight upon the object of this love (Wis., viii. 16), looks upon life with the eyes of love, and in directing its human actions communicates to them something of the savor and sweetness of divine charity.

The Persons Who Possess Wisdom.—The Gift of Wisdom, as said above (see 1610), is given with sanctifying grace, and hence only those and all those who are in God’s friendship have this supernatural endowment.

(a) Only those in the state of grace have divine Wisdom, for without love of God it is impossible to have that right judgment of things that is consequent on the relish for and connaturality with divine things. Hence, it is said: “Wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins” (Wis., i. 4).

(b) All those who are in the state of grace have the Gift of Wisdom, for man is so weak and the supernatural virtues are so far above him that, even when he has received these virtues, he is unable to make proper use of them or to preserve them in time of temptation, unless he has received the supplementary forces that will enable him to obey more easily and promptly the voice and impulse of the Holy Ghost. Thus, Charity destines man to beatitude, but, unless he has Wisdom to value this virtue and privilege, to spurn the false wisdom of the world, to think on the love of God with delight and to make it the norm of his judgments and decisions, he will not progress in Charity, nor retain it, nor arrive at the beatitude to which it destines him.

Though all who are in the state of grace possess all the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, these Gifts are not had in the same way by all their possessors. Thus, the following points should be noted with reference to the Gift of Wisdom:

(a) The Gifts, like the infused virtues, are possessed habitually by baptized children and insane persons, and actually by adults. Just as infants have the possession but not the use of certain natural gifts (such as reason and responsibility), so likewise supernatural life and powers are granted them through baptismal regeneration, but the exercise of this life and of these powers is prevented by their inability to realize what they possess and to make use of it. The lack of bodily development, which impedes the use of natural reason, also impedes the use of supernatural Wisdom.

(b) The Gift of Wisdom is had in itself by all who are in the state of grace; but in its extension, which is the “word of Wisdom,” it is possessed only by highly gifted souls who have a special mission from God (see above, 1610 sqq.). With sanctifying grace, each one receives the supernatural Gift of judging rightly about heavenly things and of regulating his conduct by them in so far as is necessary for the attainment of salvation; otherwise, we should have to say that grace is inferior to nature, and does not provide what is necessary for its end. But the ability to explain heavenly things so as to draw others to the truth, and to apply heavenly doctrines to the guidance of others so as to lead them to good, is one of the gifts freely given, which the Spirit divides according as He wills (I Cor., xii. 11): “To one by the Spirit is given the word of Wisdom, to another the word of Knowledge, etc.” (ibid, 8).

The Gift of Wisdom in itself (i.e., as intended directly for the benefit of the recipient and not for the benefit of others) is also had in varying degrees. (a) Thus, different persons do not possess this Gift in equal measure; for to some is granted the contemplation of loftier mysteries not granted to others, and suprahuman Wisdom plays a greater part in the direction of some lives than in that of others. (b) The same persons do not possess Wisdom in an equal degree at all times. Thus, in Baptism all the Seven Gifts are received, but in Confirmation they are in some way perfected, either in themselves by a greater refinement or sensibility to the action of the Holy Spirit, or as regards their possession by their subject through a firmer hold of them.

The Exercise of the Gift of Wisdom.—(a) The external magisterium (i.e., revelation and the teaching Church) conveys the truths of faith to the mind of the believer. (b) The internal Teacher, the Holy Ghost, illuminates the soul with Wisdom, so that it ponders on the first principles of faith and makes the love of them control its judgments, Words, and actions: “You have the unction from the Holy One and know all things” (I John, ii. 20), that is, all that is needed for salvation.

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 Sins Opposed to Wisdom.—Just as blindness and dullness-that is, the want of all or of sufficient perceptiveness in spiritual things—are opposed to the Gift of Understanding (see 912), so stupidity and foolishness—that is, the want of all or of sufficient good judgment about spiritual things—are opposed to the Gift of Wisdom.

Just as true Wisdom seems foolishness to the world, so does true foolishness seem wisdom to the world (I Cor., iii. 18 sqq.). There is a counterfeit wisdom, which places its last end in some created good, and which is therefore foolishness before God. St. James (iii. 15) describes false wisdom as “earthly, sensual, devilish”; and these words express very well three chief classes of worldly wisdom. (a) Some of the worldly-wise aim above all things at amassing and increasing wealth or other external possessions (earthly wisdom). (b) Others seek chiefly pleasure, health, comfort, or other bodily goods (animal wisdom). (c) Others imitating Lucifer, who is king over all the sons of pride (Job, xli. 25), devote their whole lives solely to the pursuit of inordinate excellence of some kind—that is, of selfish domination or honors or glory, etc. (devilish wisdom).

In the following enumeration are given the chief potential parts of justice in which there is a strict debt, but not an equal repayment.

(a) Thus, to God man owes whatever honor and veneration he manifests, but with all his efforts man can never pay to God a worship that is equal to the debt. Thus, man cannot sufficiently thank God for His benefits: “What return can I make to the Lord for all that He has done for me?” (Psalm cxv. 12). The virtue of religion, therefore, is a potential part of justice.

(b) To parents children cannot make a full return for the benefits of life and upbringing, and the same may be said of one’s country: “A due return is out of the question in honors paid to the gods and to parents ... but a person is considered to be virtuous if he pays such regard as lies within his power” (Aristotle, Ethics, lib. VIII, cap. 16). Hence, the virtue of piety is also a potential part of justice. In exceptional cases, however, a child may make an equal or even a greater return to his parents for the benefits received from them; for example, by saving his father from death he makes an equal return for the benefit of life, and by converting his parents to the faith he gives them spiritual life, which is more valuable than the natural life he received from them.

(c) To men of virtue we are unable to make a sufficient return for the good they do us by their instruction and example, and hence the honor we show them is less than the benefit we receive from them. The virtue of reverence (observantia) is then a potential part of justice.

The Virtue of Piety.—In general, piety is the virtue that inclines one to show due recognition of indebtedness to those from whom one has received life and existence. There are three senses of the word:

(a) in its strictest meaning, it refers to the dutifulness owed to the immediate or secondary causes of our being, namely, parents and country;

(b) in a derived meaning, it is applied to the religious duties owed to God, who is our Heavenly Father and the First Author of our being. Hence, those who are faithful to the worship of God are called pious and the divine services are known as works of piety;

(c) in its widest meaning, piety is applied to works of mercy, since they are most pleasing to God as a tribute of filial devotion. The merciful man has pity (piety), because his kindness to the unfortunate honors God more than victims or sacrifices. Hence, since God is merciful, He Himself is sometimes called pious: “The Lord is compassionate (pius) and merciful” (Ecclus., ii. 13).

Definition of Piety.—Piety in the strictest sense is defined as “a moral virtue that inclines one to pay to father and fatherland the duty of respect and assistance that is owed them as the authors and sustainers of our being.”

(a) It is a moral virtue, one pertaining to justice, and hence it differs from the special duty of charity owed to parents and country (see 1158, 1171 sqq.). Charity loves parents and country out of love for God whose creatures they are; piety honors them in recognition of the benefits received from them and the authority vested in them.

(b) Piety is shown to father and fatherland; that is, just as religion gives worship to God in acknowledgment of His excellence and our dependence upon Him, so does piety show due respect to those who hold the place of God in our respect on earth. Filial piety is owed to the mother as well as to the father, and in a less degree to other relatives, inasmuch as they share or continue the blood of one’s parents and may be regarded as representing them (e.g., brothers and sisters, husband or wife). Patriotism belongs to one’s native land or the country, nation, state, city, etc., of which one is a citizen; and it should include, not only fellow-citizens, but also the friends and allies of one’s country. He who is the adopted citizen of a country should love the place of his birth, but loyalty and obedience are owed to the nation to which he has transferred his allegiance.

(c) Piety offers respect and assistance. The first duty is owed to parents on account of their position of progenitors and superiors; the second is owed to their condition when they are infirm or destitute or otherwise in need. It is more probable that filial piety is violated only when the personal goods (e.g., life, health, body, fame, honor) of parents are injured, and that injury to their real goods pertains to fraud, theft or damage, rather than to impiety. Moreover, on account of the community of goods that exists between parents and children, real injuries between them are not rigorously acts of injustice and require more than the ordinary grave matter for serious sin (see 1902).

(d) Piety is owed to parents and country as the authors and sustainers of our being. Thus, it differs from legal justice, which is the duty owed the State or community, precisely as it is the whole of which one is a part. It differs likewise from commutative justice, which is obligatory in agreements with parents or other superiors, for the duty is then owed them as partners to a free contract. On account of this nobility of the formal object, filial piety and patriotism are very like to religion and rank next after it in the catalogue of virtues.

The Reverence Required by Piety.—(a) Parents should be honored internally by the esteem in which their parental dignity and merits (not their personal failings) are held; externally, by the marks of respect customarily shown to parents.

(b) Relatives should receive a lower degree of respect commensurate with the nearness and quality of the kinship. Thus, parents should treat their children with the consideration owed to members of the family, and not as servants or strangers, brothers and sisters and relatives of remoter degree should give one another that courtesy and regard which respect for common parents or ancestors calls for. Lineal relatives are nearer than collaterals, and elder relatives (such as grandparents, uncles and aunts) are more entitled to respect than younger relatives (such as grandchildren, nephews and nieces).

(e) Country should be honored, not merely by the admiration one feels for its greatness in the past or present, but also and primarily by the tender feeling of veneration one has for the land that has given one birth, nurture and education. Even though a country be poor and humble, it should be patriotically revered (Ps. cxxxvi). External manifestations of piety towards country are the honors given its flag and symbols, marks of appreciation of its citizenship (Acts, xxi. 39), and efforts to promote its true glory at home and abroad.

The Assistance Required by Piety.—(a) Parents should be helped in their needs, spiritual or temporal. If they are sick, they should be visited; if they are poor, they should be assisted; if they are in need of the Sacraments or prayers or suffrages, these spiritual means should be provided. But a son is not bound to pay the debts of his deceased father who left him nothing, since the debt was a personal one.

(b) Relatives should also be assisted in their needs, especially if the necessity is urgent and the relationship close (as in the case of brothers and sisters). But this duty is not as strict as that owed to parents, and, if the relationship is distant, there is no special obligation of piety.

(c) Country is helped by the aid given to fellow-countrymen who are in moral, mental or corporal need. The noblest patriots are those who devote their lives, labors or substance to the promotion of religion, education and contentment among their people, to the correction of real evils that threaten decay or disaster to the national life, and to the preservation of those special ideals and institutions that constitute what is characteristic and best in the nation.

Sins against Piety.—(a) By Excess.—Exaggerated respect for relatives or country is a sin, since it is not according to order or reason. Thus, while children should not dishonor their parents under the pretext of religion (Matt., xv. 3-9), neither should they be more devoted to their parents than to God (Luke, xiv. 26; Matt., viii. 22), nor neglect God’s call when their parents do not need them (Matt., iv. 22). Thus also, patriotism should not degenerate into patriolatry, in which country is enshrined as a god, all-perfect and all-powerful, nor into jingoism or chauvinism, with their boastfulness or contempt for other nations and their disregard for international justice or charity.

(b) By Defect.—Disrespect for parents is felt when they are despised on account of their poverty, ignorance, or feebleness; it is shown by word (e.g., when they are addressed in bitter, reproachful, or contemptuous speech; or when they are ill spoken of to others), by signs (e.g., when mocking gestures or mimicry are used to ridicule them), by deeds (e.g., when they are threatened or struck), and by omissions (e.g., when their children are too proud to recognize them or to give them tokens of honor). Disrespect for one’s country is felt when one is imbued with anti-nationalistic doctrines (e.g., the principles of Internationalism which hold that loyalty is due to a class, namely, the workers of the world or a capitalistic group, and that country should be sacrificed to selfish interests; the principle of Humanitarianism, which holds that patriotism is incompatible with love of the race; the principle of Egoism which holds that the individual has no obligations to society); it is practised when one speaks contemptuously about country, disregards its good name or prestige, subordinates its rightful pre-eminence to a class, section, party, personal ambition, or greed, etc.

Malice of Sins against Piety.—(a) The moral malice is distinct from that of other sins, since injustice committed against the debt owed to the human principle of existence has a special character of wrong, as being opposed to a special kind of right. Parricide and matricide have always been looked on as having a peculiar enormity among sins of homicide; and similarly, disrespect to father and mother are greater evils than disrespect to persons who have no like claim to honor. Hence, he who has struck his father must mention the circumstance of relationship in confession, since it is a circumstance that changes the species of the sin. But he who has struck his fourth cousin need not confess the relationship, for distant kinship, though an aggravating circumstance, does not give the injury the character of impiety.

(b) The theological malice of the sin is grave from the sin’s nature, since piety ranks next to religion and is the object of a special commandment and promise from God. But the sin may be venial on account of lightness of the offense (e.g., when young children answer back or speak saucily to their parents, but without contempt) or on account of the lesser importance of the person offended (e.g., when a brother slaps his brother, the sin is not as serious as when a child strikes his parent). Children who have been seriously disrespectful to their parents are obliged to beg pardon; but to impose the obligation regularly in confession is deemed unwise, since insistence may only lead the penitent to new sins, and moreover the forgiveness of parents may generally be presumed when there is amendment.

The Complements of Justice.—To each of the various virtues correspond certain complements, namely, Gifts of the Holy Ghost, Fruits of the Holy Ghost, and Beatitudes (see 159).

(a) The Gift that corresponds to justice is piety, for, like justice, piety is exercised towards another, and moreover piety is the completion of the virtue of religion, the highest development of justice. This Gift is defined as “an infused habit that renders the soul well disposed towards God as its kind Father, and makes it quickly responsive to the Holy Spirit when He moves it to acts of filial affection towards God.” As the virtue of piety is shown to earthly fathers, so the Gift of Piety is shown to the Father in heaven: “You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, in which we cry: Abba, Father” (Rom., viii. 15). Religion honors God as Lord, piety as Father; filial fear reveres His majesty, piety His lovingkindness. And as a child tenderly loves all that belongs to a good father, so piety makes the soul rejoice and be glad in the things of God, in the Saints, the Scriptures, the practices of religion, and the like.

(b) The Beatitudes assigned here are the fourth (Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill), which agrees with justice, and the fifth (Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy), which is suitable for piety inasmuch as one who finds his love and joy in God as Father will be compassionate to the suffering creatures of God. Like justice, both of these Beatitudes are exercised in reference to the neighbor (see 164).

(c) The Fruits that seem most appropriate here are good will and kindness, which find a sweet joy in purposing and performing services for others. Like justice, these acts have reference to others (163); like piety, they see in their neighbors the children of the same heavenly Father. Thus, justice when alone is guided by prudence; it pays what is due to God as Lord, to man as neighbor; it acts perhaps with pain, but from a sense of duty. But when justice is supernaturally perfected, it is the Spirit of Piety which guides, and which makes one to see in God one’s Father and in man the child of God; even that which is not owed is given from mercy, and there is a hunger and thirst for justice; and in the payment of duty to others there is at last a joy found in the very difficulty itself.

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. 52.

32. What the gift of counsel is. - The gifts of the Holy Spirit are dispositions by which the soul is rendered well and easily movable by the Holy Spirit, especially in arduous things which pertain to salvation. Therefore the gift of counsel (gave van goddelijken raad) is a certain light by which, as if by counsel received from God, man sees what is to be done in order to salvation. Whence just as through prudence or eubulia man is one counseling well, so through the gift of counsel he is capable of taking counsel well; in the same way as in human affairs those who do not suffice for themselves in the inquiry of counsel seek counsel from wiser men (a. 1, ad 1).

Man needs to be moved by God Himself, through a supernatural inquiry of reason, concerning the means to the supernatural end: for human reason is not able to comprehend all individual and contingent things. But for such motion acquired or infused prudence is not sufficient, nor are the other virtues. Therefore a special habit must be posited, so that man may be moved by God through a supernatural inquiry of reason concerning the means to the supernatural end; this we call the gift of divine counsel.

It is distinguished a) from faith, which, although it is secondarily practical, is practical only remotely by way of universal rule, not proximately and applicatively to a work here and now to be placed in singulars;

b) from science and wisdom, for a similar reason. For they treat of things to be done scientifically and speculatively, namely of practical principles in common, and are not immediately concerned with singular contingents;

c) from the supernatural virtue of prudence also, chiefly in that prudence moves in a human mode, as a dictate proceeding from deliberation dependently upon human reason, nevertheless illustrated by faith; but the gift itself moves in a divine mode, according to the instinct of the Holy Spirit, immediately dependently upon divine reason, from connatural supernatural affection and union with the supernatural end: from this union, namely, and connaturality, man is rendered fit and perfect for judging concerning things to be done for the supernatural end. Thus the gift of counsel is a completing co-principle of the infused virtue of prudence.

A threefold grade is distinguished in its use.

"The first grade of the gift of counsel is that by which man is receptive of the counsels of the Holy Spirit as to those things which are necessary for salvation, namely for observing the precepts; indeed he who is not adorned with this grade of counsel is in a state of condemnation... The second grade of the gift of counsel is that by which we incline the ear of the mind to the evangelical counsels of Christ... The third grade... perfectly to fulfill the counsels themselves of Christ."

1. Dionysius the Carthusian, On the Gifts, tr. III, a. 7.

33. The gift of counsel corresponds to prudence as helping and perfecting it, because it is concerned with the same things to be done here and now for the sake of the end.

"The inferior moving principle is chiefly helped and perfected by this, that it is moved by a higher moving principle... But it is manifest that the rectitude of human reason is compared to divine reason as an inferior moving principle, which is moved, to a superior one...: for eternal reason is the supreme rule of all human rectitude. And therefore prudence, which imports the rectitude of (practical) reason, is most of all perfected and helped according as it is ruled and moved by the Holy Spirit; which pertains to the gift of counsel... Whence the gift of counsel responds to prudence as helping and perfecting it" (a. 2).

But it is rightly called divine counsel, and not judgment or command: "To judge and command does not belong to one moved, but to one moving. And because, in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the human mind does not have itself as moving, but rather as moved..., hence it is that it was not fitting that the gift corresponding to prudence be called command or judgment, but counsel, by which there can be signified the motion of the mind counseled by another counseling" (ad 1).

34. The gift of counsel is in all the just, at least as to those things which are necessary for salvation (a. 1, ad 2). And it remains in the fatherland, where man is perfectly directed by the Holy Spirit; but there it will have another act. For there it is not according to some inquiry and doubt about things to be done (which does not befit the perfection of the fatherland), but partly insofar as the cognition of those things which they already know are to be done is continued by God in the blessed, for example, in praising God or praying for others; partly insofar as they are illuminated concerning those things which they do not know about things to be done. For they do not know all things which pertain to the governance of things and are not of the essence of beatitude, but that which is revealed to them as it pleases God, as is explained by St. Thomas, I, q. 12, a. 8 (a. 3).

The fifth beatitude is said to correspond to the gift of counsel: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. For counsel is properly about those things useful for salvation; but mercy is most useful. And "therefore the beatitude of mercy specially corresponds to the gift of counsel, not as eliciting but as directing" (a. 4). And although the counsel of the Holy Spirit directs in all acts of the virtues, nevertheless it specially directs in works of mercy, for the reason already given (ad 1).

THE Gift of Counsel is a supernatural Habit, by which the mind is rendered easily movable to the inquiry necessary for deliberation. Now this mode of moving the mind is connatural to it, because it proceeds by inquiry to its decrees. But God moves the minds of men in ways connatural, as D. Thom. art. 1. and D. Bonaventure note.

You will object. The Gifts are given in aid of the virtues; but man is sufficiently perfected for counsel by prudence and Eubulia: Therefore.

D. Thom. answers that Prudence and Eubulia direct to Counsel according to those things which reason can comprehend; but because human reason cannot comprehend the singular contingents that can occur, hence the thoughts of mortals are timid, and our providence uncertain, as is said Sap. 9., where the Saintly Doctor speaks out most excellently; Therefore man needs, in the inquiry of Counsel, to be directed by God, who comprehends all things, which is done through the gift of Counsel, by which man is directed as it were by Counsel taken from God; just as also in human affairs those who are not sufficient of themselves in the inquiry of Counsel seek counsel from the wiser.

Hence the Saintly Doctor labors to explain for what the gift of Counsel is necessary; namely, for the inquiry of those things which reason does not attain of itself.

Wherefore the Gift of Counsel stands as a superior Mover, because indeed Prudence moves as a mover in reason toward rectitude according to the rules of created reason. But Counsel moves according to eternal reasons, which are the first rules directing to the right; hence another difference shines forth, that Counsel makes known whether something is to be done, and warns against precipices, lest one repent after the fact; but prudence teaches at what time, by what means and circumstances, here and now, one ought to act; wherefore as prudence presides specially over the virtue of fortitude, lest it rush headlong into the work; so Counsel presides over the Gift of fortitude, by which the will imbued divinely with the Holy Spirit more quickly acquiesces to the one counseling whether, and what, is to be done; Hence D. Gregory in moral. says, cited by the Seraphic Doctor de 7. Donis, de Dono Consilii, cap. 1.: greatly is fortitude destroyed, unless it be supported by Counsel.

Whence Prudence and Counsel seem as it were the lesser Light and the greater Light; for prudence is of lesser light, which it borrows from Counsel, that it may direct the more securely; but this [Counsel] presides over the shining and fervid rays of the spiritual day, which arises in the mind; whose Morning then begins, when the ray of eternal Counsel kindles the will toward the holy purpose, and scatters further the darkness in which the mind previously had so long lodged in the Dwelling of its own prudence; But now, upon the reception of divine inspiration, it rises up, to conform itself perfectly to that supreme Counselor, whose voice it perceives with the innermost ears whispering: Son, hear, take my counsel, and cast it not away. Hear (the Seraphic Doctor postillates,) as to the Intellect, take, as to the affection, cast not away as to the effect. He who walks in this day does not stumble; for he more easily regards the past, more safely beholds the present, and more securely looks out toward things to come; wherefore Counsel is called the Eye, and the Caution of things to come; of the Morning of this Day the Psalmist says: In the morning I will stand before you, and will see, as the Seraphic Doctor notes, de 7. Donis, ubi supra, cap. 4.

The Saintly Doctor proceeds to pour out upon pious minds the meridian Illumination of this Gift; which stands in this, that with concordant flame and light it kindle and hasten upward, in a straight path of perpendicular rays, the afffection together with the Intellect; which is accomplished while the mind is wholly intent upon observing the Divine precepts and Counsels; for then the Sun of the Deity, shining forth more brightly from the supreme orb of heaven, visits the soul with a threefold splendor; for the Father comes and visits the Memory, exciting it to operate perfectly; the Son comes and visits the Intellect, illuminating it to contemplate clearly; the Holy Spirit also visits the Will, inflaming it to love sweetly, according to the Saying of the Lord, John 14.: We will come to him, and will make our abode with him; then the divine Sun (the Seraphic Doctor says) burns the earth at meridian, burning the mountains threefold, breathing forth fiery rays, etc. as is had in Ecclesiasticus, cap. 43.

But the Vesper, Consummative of this spiritual Day, then declines, when what is commanded by the Lord is attended to not with wavering care, but with exuberant desire the mind devotes itself wholly to the study of perfection, and with certain counsel embraces whatever is counseled: To this Vesper S. Theresa came, when she vowed that whatever she judged more perfect, and more pleasing to God, she would straightway perform; as is read in her life; for Counsels, the more perfect they are, the more luminous also they are, leading to the perfect Day, and consummating it; as the Saintly Doctor notes cap. 4. near the end, ubi supra.

WHEN the Gift of Counsel is set forth, as it were an economus, for the powers of the soul to be directed toward supernatural things, the Saintly Doctor here proceeds to show how he orders his family.

He observes therefore, that the Soul is a certain noble creature, from the book de spiritu, et anima, cap. 17. under D. August. tomo 3.; for it is that City of God of which glorious things are said, Psalm. 86. But in the city there are many peoples; namely, the Wise for counseling, Soldiers for fighting, and Artisans for working; So in the Soul there are the vigor of genius and of nature, as it were Natives, as the Saintly Doctor says, distinguished into three grades; the first grade the Intellectual faculties obtain, the middle the Rational possess, the lowest the Sensible, or Animal, retain.

Therefore the Gift of Counsel presides over the whole soul, assigning the Intellectual powers to penetrating and persuading supernatural goods; whence these senses are the best Counselors of the soul; For they counsel: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is all man, that is, the whole man: To these, as Advocates, are joined Faith, Hope, and Charity, as called from on high to plead the cause of human salvation.

Likewise this Gift subordinates the rational powers to the Intellectual, for despising evil with the eye of discretion, and choosing the good manfully; whence they are as it were the Soldiers of the Soul, fighting the insolence of concupiscence according to their powers; to which, as Auxiliary troops, are added the acquired habits, namely Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice; for these virtues strongly repel the vices, and bravely defend their right.

Finally, in the lowest place, Counsel orders the animal senses, to supply the visible things needed by the body; whence they are as it were Rustics and Artisans, persisting in works of the hands, and working with a coarser wit, serving the other faculties of the soul. These, as it were instruments of the arts, take to themselves the exterior senses, which are also as it were Recruits pursuing coarser rudiments; Likewise to the animal senses are associated certain passions, as Love, Hatred, Sorrow, and Joy, with which, being furnished, they obey the higher faculties the more expeditiously; but all these the Gift of Counsel provides, mediately or immediately, ordering each sense in its order and to its function, as the Seraphic Doctor here concludes most excellently; but of these he speaks wondrously cap. 6. and 7. seqq.

IT MUST BE ASSERTED that the Gift of Counsel remains in the fatherland.

It is proved first from D. Thom. When the mover is the cause only of motion, the end having been had, it ceases to move; as when a house is being built, it is promoted; but when it has already been built, it is no longer built; but when the mover is the cause not only of the motion, but also of the form to which the motion is, then the action of the mover does not cease even after the attainment of the form, as the Sun illuminates the air even after it has been illuminated; and in this way God causes in us both the virtue and the cognition, not only when we first acquire them, but also as long as we persevere in them: but thus God causes cognition in the blessed, not as in the ignorant, but by continuing in them the whole cognition of the things to be done. About those things which they do not know, they consult God, not with anxious inquiry, as we do, but with simple conversion.

It is proved secondly from D. Bonaventure here in the body. The state of glory is much more abundant and perfect than the state of Grace; but the state of grace admits all the gifts by which the soul is conducted to Deiform perfection; and among these is Counsel; Therefore. The consequence is plain, because where the Deiformity of the soul is greater, there the Gifts which effect it should rather be given; but in the fatherland the Deiformity is greater: Therefore. Nevertheless the Saintly Doctor adverts that the Gifts and habits are admitted there as to the nobler acts and uses; but not as to those things which hardly regard imperfection.

It is proved secondly from the Seraphic Doctor, fundam. 2. We shall not be more blessed in the fatherland than Christ was on the way; but Christ had the Gift of Counsel, as Isaias has it; therefore from the perfection of the fatherland there does not follow the evacuation of Counsel.

It is confirmed fundam. 4. The lowest of the Gifts, namely fear, will not be evacuated in the fatherland; for it is said in the Psalm: The fear of the Lord is holy, remaining unto age of age: Therefore much less Counsel.

You will object. Where there will be no defect of doubt, or of Composition and discussion, there will be no Counsel, which carries these two with it; but those will not be in the fatherland: Therefore.

The Saintly Doctor answers ad 4. Counsel implies a weighed discussion of the parts, and a stable, firm, and certain election of the worthier part: the first is accidental, and of imperfection; wherefore it will be taken away: but the second is essential to Counsel, and of perfection, whence it will remain.

But what the function of Counsel is in the fatherland is gathered from D. Bonaventure, discoursing at length on the seven Gifts, de Dono Consilii, cap. 5. 6. and 7., where he describes most excellently the whole family of the Soul banqueting on spiritual dishes and seasoned drinks, and prescribes the manner in which, even on the way, this Gift may be foretasted; see it yourself, whose words, something divine and savoring, read through in their proper place, suggest what for that reason it was not my wish to transfer here.

THE GIFT of fortitude is a habit existing, as in a subject, in the will, insofar as it is engaged about arduous things, and it easily makes it mobile for repelling fears and repressing daring, with the hope of escaping any perils whatsoever, which the virtue does not furnish. Hence the soul is better disposed by the gift of fortitude toward every arduous thing than by any moral virtue. Therefore through this fortitude the Saints wrought marvelous works of fortitude, enduring with exultation, Act. 5. They went rejoicing from the sight of the Council, because they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus. Thus Blessed Andrew hastened joyfully to the Cross, Agatha to prison. This gift, in the apex of perfection, which the Holy Doctor calls of the purified soul, renders the soul, as it were, insensible amid perils and other evils, and feasting and exulting amid delights. See the Holy Doctor de septem Donis, de Dono fortitudinis, cap. 2. et 3. bringing forth splendid things.