7 Gifts Holy Spirit

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 3

HOLY SPIRIT, GIFTS OF

‘‘Virgin Mary and St. John Receiving the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit,’’ Spanish Gothic Altarpiece. (©Andrea Jemolo/CORBIS)

Souls of the Just, tr. S. A. RAEMERS (Westminster, Md. 1950). LEO then, by a participation in His plenitude, in itself, His
XIII,Divinum illud munus (encyclical, May 9, 1897), Acta Sanctae body. As Vatican Council II has declared, it is in the souls
Sedis 29 (1896–97) 644–658, Eng. The Great Encyclical Letters,
ed. J. J. WYNNE (New York 1903) 422–440, A. GARDEIL, Diction-
of the faithful who make up this body that the Spirit gives
naire de théologie catholique, ed. A. VACANT et al., (Paris 1903— His gifts for the welfare of the Church (see Dogmatic
50) 6.1: 944–949. Constitution on the Church 7).
[P. F. MULHERN] Teaching of the Fathers. Educated in the apostolic
tradition, the early Fathers wrote of the Holy Spirit in the
life of the Christian (see GOD [HOLY SPIRIT]). Most of
them spoke of two stages, one the Christian life at its
HOLY SPIRIT, GIFTS OF
minimum, the other in which the Spirit dominates the
The source of the Church’s teaching on the gifts of soul under its constant motion. But the early Fathers did
the Holy Spirit is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in not speak clearly of seven special gifts distinct from the
the OT and the NT, and in the life of the Church. The graces of the Holy Spirit in general and from the Pauline
Spirit promised in Isaiah (11.1–3) manifested Himself at charisms.
the Baptism of Jesus and communicated Himself to the
Apostles at Pentecost. Thereafter He gave Himself to the The Greek Fathers, beginning with St. Clement, re-
Church, which lived under His continuing influence. The called Isaiah’s list of gifts, but they did not confine them-
Church sees the gifts promised in Isaiah (six in the He- selves to precise numbers. It was enough for them that
brew, seven in the Septuagint) realized first in Christ and the Spirit poured out His riches on Christ, then on the

NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA 47


HOLY SPIRIT, GIFTS OF

Church in its members. The Latin Fathers, however, cited would be less able to achieve supernatural perfection than
the number and allegorized about it. St. Victorinus of Pet- to achieve natural perfection.
tau (In. Apoc. 1) related the seven gifts to the seven spirits
It was unthinkable to St. Thomas that God, who
of the Apocalypse; St. Hilary (In Mt. 15.10) connected
shared His inner life with man by grace, would provide
them with the seven loaves in the miracle of the bread and
for his needs less perfectly in the supernatural than in the
fishes; St. Augustine (Serm. 347) traced a parallel be-
natural order. Thus, he argued that with the life of grace
tween the seven gifts and the beatitudes, and he saw in
God gives supplementary forces to the soul by which it
Isaiah’s words a complete description of the Holy Spirit’s
can achieve the same level of performance supernaturally
work in the soul. St. Gregory the Great drew on Augus-
that it achieves naturally. Since our sanctification is ap-
tine especially (Moralia 2); he saw the gifts as special
propriated to the Holy Spirit, St. Thomas concluded that
aids to the Christian in his war against evil. His writings
the same Spirit meets this normal need of the soul by di-
furnished a foundation for the theology on the gifts to be
recting it supernaturally, much as human reason directs
developed in the Middle Ages.
it in the purely natural order. This influence of the Holy
Middle Ages. From Gregory in the 7th century to the Spirit intervenes in man’s supernatural psychology, be-
11th century, nothing was added to the literature on the stowing on it a capacity for action parallel to the perfect
gifts. In the 12th century, there came a renascence of in- action achieved by the natural virtues. The modifications,
terest attributable principally to the reading of SS. Augus- or dispositions, or tendencies in the soul, that result from
tine and Gregory. Inquiry began into questions that the the action of the Holy Spirit are called His gifts: wisdom,
Fathers had not asked: Are the gifts a species of VIRTUE, understanding, knowledge, piety, fortitude, counsel, and
or are they quite distinct? What role do they play in the fear of the Lord. Through these the Holy Spirit can direct
spiritual life? Why are there seven of them, and how are the supernatural life of the soul much as human reason,
they classified? The answers to these questions were to through the virtues, directs the moral life of the soul.
have a profound effect on the theology of the spiritual
Because the need of the soul was lasting, it was clear
life.
to St. Thomas that the entities by which the need was met
In the early 13th century, there was no precise termi- were lasting too. Hence, though distinct from the virtues,
nology on the gifts, although much had been written on the gifts were like the virtues in that they were habits. As
them. Some thought the gifts to be the source of the vir- habits, the gifts and the supernatural virtues have the
tues; others saw them as effects. Most of the theologians, same efficient cause, God, the author of the supernatural
however, identified gifts and virtues. Then, in 1235, with order. But the principal or motor cause is different: for
the Summa of Philip the Chancellor (cf. Recherches de the infused virtues, the immediate principle of action is
théologie ancienne et médiévale 1:76–82), a trend began human reason elevated by grace; for the gifts, the princi-
toward viewing the gifts as distinct from and superior to ple of action is the Holy Spirit. Through the gifts, He
the virtues. This became the classic teaching at the Uni- moves men as His immediate and direct instruments.
versity of Paris, especially by the Franciscan and Domini- Therein lies a pivotal distinction: the infused virtues can
can schools, and it was given its perfect expression by St. be used by their possessor at will, presuming the actual
Thomas Aquinas (Summa theologiae 1a2ae 68.2). grace, which is never wanting; the gifts, however, are ac-
tuated not at the will of the possessor but only at the will
Teaching of St. Thomas. Beginning, as was his
of the Holy Spirit. Thus, although the practice of the vir-
way, with an existent reality, Aquinas reasoned to the
tues is said to prepare the soul for the activity of the gifts,
soul’s need for supernatural aids, superior to the virtues
this is only because virtuous actions remove the obstacles
and by which the soul could become habitually pliable
in men that impede the activity of the Holy Spirit. The
to the influence of the Holy Spirit. He saw that, despite
gifts will not operate if there are obstacles, but they do
the dignity given the soul by the theological virtues, be-
not operate automatically when the obstacles are taken
cause of the supernatural object (i.e., God Himself) to
away. Their action depends on the Holy Spirit.
which they oriented it, the virtues do not give to the soul
a perfection of action comparable to what it has in the The gifts, then, differ from the virtues. In the use of
natural order from the natural virtues. It became clear to the virtues, even the infused ones, the soul is fully active;
him that a man with the supernatural virtues alone would it is capable of such fully supernatural action because it
be much less at home in the things of God than a man is supernaturalized in its being by habitual grace. Still, its
with the natural virtues was in the things of nature. For, actions are performed in a human mode. A person in
as he said, ‘‘We know and love God imperfectly with the sanctifying grace, for example, elicits an act of love of
supernatural virtues’’ (Summa theologiae 1a2ae 68.2). In God at will; the soul is the motor cause. A soul under the
effect, if a man had only virtues, without the gifts, he motion of the gifts acts vitally, but seconding a divine

48 NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA


HOLY SPIRIT, ICONOGRAPHY OF

motion. It is passive only to the divine agent; it executes symbolization of the Holy Spirit as a dove in Pentecost
what the Holy Spirit executes in it. The action of the gift scenes, although not attested in the Biblical narrative, is
is an activity received. supported by the anonymous Liber de rebaptismate
(Patrologia Latina, ed. J. P. Migne [Paris 1878–90]
Moved by the direct and immediate action of the
3:1203). The Holy Spirit has been represented anthropo-
Holy Spirit, the gifts, as His instruments, are subordinate
morphically in painting and sculpture of the Holy Trinity,
to the virtues, but only in that the purpose of the gifts is
but this mode of representation declined after the Middle
the perfection of the infused virtues. So the fruits of the
Ages and was ultimately declared unacceptable in a de-
Holy Spirit are actions of virtues that have been perfected
cree by Benedict XIV (Oct. 1, 1745).
by the gifts. More perfect than the fruits are the BEATI-
TUDES, actions that flow from the gifts and the virtues The Holy Spirit is represented principally in three
working together; these are the highest actions of the soul scenes from the New Testament: the Annunciation to the
on earth, an anticipation of eternal beatitude. Blessed Virgin, the Baptism in the Jordan, and Pentecost.
They occur then at the conception of Jesus Christ, at the
The teaching of St. Thomas on the gifts found favor beginning of His public life, and at His last manifestation
because of its simplicity and its principles. But it has al- in the cycle of the glorification, for it was He who prom-
ways met opposition, especially from the Scotists, who ised that He would send the Holy Spirit.
deny the distinction between the gifts and the virtues.
Since the gifts are not distinct entities to these theolo- Annunciation. In the Annunciation scene, the Vir-
gians, they make no attempt to fit them into the supernat- gin is present with the angel and the dove of the Holy
ural organism. Today St. Thomas’s exposition is Spirit. The dove is not found in all representations of the
sometimes criticized as being dependent on an imperfect Annunciation, but it is present in the fully elaborated de-
pictions. One may also find God the Father and an em-
understanding of the famous text of Isaiah. However, al-
bryon or homunculus of Christ. The figure of the dove in
though he, following the Fathers, took the exact number
its descent courses along golden rays of light proceeding
of the gifts from Isaiah, his teaching on the function of
from the mouth of God the Father on high. One may also
the gifts in the spiritual life flows from the principle, veri-
mention at this point representations of Mary with the
fied throughout the NT, that the souls of the just need the
Holy Spirit present, which are not scenes of the Annunci-
special help of the Holy Spirit. What he says about the
ation. In the ‘‘Virgin and Child with Angels, Prophets,
gifts has been given much authority in modern times by
and Symbols’’ by the early Netherlandish painter Provost
the generous use of his concepts and language in the en-
(Hermitage, Leningrad), the dove of the Holy Spirit hov-
cyclical on the Holy Spirit, Divinum illud munus of LEO
ers over the Virgin with her crown in its claws.
XIII.
Baptism of Christ. The three essential figures in
Bibliography: LEO XIII, ‘‘Divinum illud munus’’ (encyclical,
representations of the Baptism of Christ are the Son, the
May 9, 1897) Acta Sanctae Sedis 29 (1896–97) 644–658, Eng.
Catholic Mind 36 (May 8, 1938) 161–181. B. FROGET, The Indwell- Baptist, and the dove of the Holy Spirit, usually shown
ing of the Holy Spirit in the Souls of the Just, tr. S. A. RAEMERS directly above the head of Christ. Sometimes at the top
(Westminster, Md. 1950). JOHN OF ST. THOMAS, The Gifts of the of the painting God the Father is also shown ruling over
Holy Ghost, tr. W. D. HUGHES (New York 1951). J. DE GUIBERT, The the scene that inaugurates the public life of Christ. Ac-
Theology of the Spiritual Life, tr. P. BARRETT (New York 1953). A. cording to Matthew, the Holy Spirit, at the moment of the
GARDEIL, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. A. VACANT et
al. (Paris 1903–50) 4.2:1728–81. R. CESSARIO, Christian Faith and Baptism, descended like a dove, but Luke avers that the
the Theological Life (Washington, D.C. 1996). S. PINCKAERS, The Spirit descended indeed in the corporeal form of a dove.
Sources of Christian Ethics, tr. M. T. NOBLE (3d rev. ed.; Washing- In the ‘‘Baptist’’ by Jan Joest (Church of St. Nicholas,
ton, D.C. 1995). THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa theologiae 1a2ae 68.2. Kalkar), the dove of the Holy Spirit is on a parallel with
[P. F. MULHERN]
the head of St. John, with Christ in the center. Andrea
Verrocchio (15th century) shows the dove issuing from
the open hands of God, its beams forming a secondary
radiance above the head of Christ and falling upon the
HOLY SPIRIT, ICONOGRAPHY OF lustral water in the scoop held above the head of Christ
The third Person of the Holy TRINITY was represent- by St. John. Paintings of the Baptism of Christ, in their
ed in all periods of Christian art preeminently in the form arrangement, frequently recall the vertical Trinities of the
of a snow-white dove. The use of the dove as a symbol late Middle Ages and early Renaissance with God the Fa-
of the Holy Spirit was formally approved by a local coun- ther uppermost, then the dove of the Holy Spirit, and
cil of Constantinople in 536. In scenes of Pentecost, the Christ below.
Holy Spirit appears as described in Acts, in the form of Pentecost. The dove of the Holy Spirit occurs in rep-
fiery tongues descending on the Apostles. The additional resentations of Pentecost, although its appearance is not

NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA 49

You might also like