The Holy Spirit is wonderful, it envelopes us, it’s everywhere, it guides us, and it gives us wonderful gifts. The Catholic Church teaches that there are 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit that are infused into us when we are confirmed. These gifts are needed to guide us toward Christ, and to guide others toward Christ.
These 7 gifts are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
Where Do Our 7 Gifts Come From?
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might (fortitude), the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (piety). His delight shall be in fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 11:1-3
Our understanding of the 7 gifts comes directly from scripture, in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah. These gifts are also understood through Catholic tradition and teaching to be imparted into us in the Sacrament of Confirmation. This is a very powerful sacrament indeed, because we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and become fully Catholic. Once this happens, God gives us abundant graces to build up His Church and to defend it. And we gain graces to help us stay on that narrow path toward salvation.
The Gift of Wisdom
Wisdom is the gift that helps us know what is divine and allows us to judge our human actions and direct them toward good and divine truths. Wisdom guides us through our actions and helps us know when something we want to do is wrong.
The Gift of Understanding
Understanding allows us to grasp higher truths that are difficult to sort out naturally. Mysteries of God are understandable even if we don’t fully know them. It allows us to feel things are true, and to understand that they are. For example, the Holy Trinity, Christ’s death saving us from sin, God’s love for us, God’s omnipotence, our ability to choose God or choose ourselves.
The Gift of Counsel
Counsel is when the Holy Spirit gives us direction. This direction is always bringing us toward our salvation. The Holy Spirit gives us promptings, moves our hearts, and guides us through many other ways. When we need direction in life we can ask for counsel.
The Gift of Fortitude
Fortitude is resoluteness, courage, strength, and a firm mind. It allows us to firmly choose the good and avoid evil, despite the temptations of evil and consequences of doing good. Because we have Heaven and everlasting life in our minds, we can overcome all obstacles to do good, even deadly obstacles, even martyrdom.
The Gift of Knowledge
Knowledge is the ability to study and learn, especially topics on theology, Faith, and whatever leads us to Christ. Knowledge helps us acquire information, and helps us know how to constructively apply this information.
The Gift of Piety
Piety is reverence toward God and giving God the worship He is due. We each have a duty to God, to honor His word, commandments, Church, and other people he created. Sometimes this is difficult, however, because of our concupiscence, and a gift of the Holy Spirit is needed to accomplish this goal.
The Gift of Fear of Lord
Fear of God is not being afraid of being condemned to hell. Fear of being punished is a different type of fear than what is gifted from the Holy Spirit. The gift of fear relates to our fear of offending God because we love Him dearly. It’s about the fear of being separated from Him, rather than the fear of pain and punishment. It’s a subtle yet very important distinction.
How Can We Increase These Gifts?
When we receive these 7 gifts at the Sacrament of Confirmation, we don’t receive our full potential of those gifts. It’s more correct to say that we receive the ability to have those gifts, or seeds of those gifts. Like plant seeds, they need to be cultivated. You may have noticed that you were unwise many times, or that you haven’t had the fortitude to stick with Christ. So we need to increase this gift within us throughout our lives, so that we can live as Christians ought to live.
The first way to increase these gifts is sacramentally. Yes we receive these gifts in confirmation, but there are other sacraments where God infuses us with incredible grace. The Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, taken in a state of grace at every mass, fills us with such great divine power from God. The grace we receive in Communion will strengthen our gifts from the Holy Spirit.
Another sacrament, that of Reconciliation or Confession, gives us grace as well. First of all, it brings is back into a state of grace if we are in a state of sin, and we cannot increase our gifts if we are in a state of sin. But we also receive special graces to resist sins, specifically those sins that we confess. If we need a gift to resist those sins, we will receive more of that gift.
The other way of increasing our gifts from the Holy Spirit is to ask God. We need to pray often for an increase in each of the gifts, and we need a devotion to the Holy Spirit. We can ask for an increase in the moment, when we find ourselves in dire need of counsel or wisdom. Or we can ask for an increase everyday, always knowing that we always need more.
Check out my other article Seven Prayers to the Holy Spirit for some prayers you can use to add to you prayer routine!
A PRAYER FOR THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT BY ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI
Holy Spirit,
Divine Consoler,
I adore You as my true God,
with God the Father and God the Son.
I adore You and unite myself to the adoration
You receive from the angels and saints.
I give You my heart
and I offer my ardent thanksgiving
for all the grace which You never cease to bestow on me.
O Giver of all supernatural gifts,
who filled the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God, with such immense favors,
I beg You to visit me with Your grace
and Your love and to grant me the gift of holy fear,
so that it may act on me as a check to prevent me
from falling back into my past sins,
for which I beg pardon.
Grant me the gift of piety,
so that I may serve You for the future with increased fervor,
follow with more promptness Your holy inspirations,
and observe your divine precepts with greater
fidelity.
Grant me the gift of knowledge,
so that I may know the things of God and,
enlightened by Your holy teaching, may walk,
without deviation, in the path of eternal
salvation.
Grant me the gift of fortitude,
so that I may overcome courageously all the assaults of the devil,
and all the dangers of this world which threaten the salvation of my soul.
Grant me the gift of counsel,
so that I may choose what is more conducive to my
spiritual advancement
and may discover the wiles and snares of the tempter.
Grant me the gift of understanding,
so that I may apprehend the divine mysteries
and by contemplation of heavenly things detach my thoughts
and affections from the vain things of this miserable
world.
Grant me the gift of wisdom,
so that I may rightly direct all my actions,
referring them to God as my last end;
so that, having loved Him and served Him in this life,
I may have the happiness of possessing Him eternally in the next.
Amen.