Gift of Counsel

WORDS OF WARNING!

Before we go any further, a WORD OF WARNING needs to be said! The Gifts of the Holy Ghost might sound like human virtues―fear, piety, knowledge, fortitude, counsel, understanding and wisdom―but they are not human virtues. They are divine actions by the Holy Ghost that make us think and act in a supra-human way and much more perfectly than if we were merely using our human virtues of the same name. Therefore, mere human knowledge is far inferior to the Holy Ghost’s Gift of Knowledge, whereby the Holy Ghost directly informs our mind without any need on our part for research, study, analysis, reasoning, consultation, etc. A simple stupid analogy would be along the lines of not having to work out math problems because you are given the answer key. Or not having to walk to work because someone takes you to work in their car. Or not having to swim across a lake because someone loans you their boat. Some of the early Fathers of the Church compare the Gifts of the Holy Ghost to the invisible wind that blows into the sails of a ship and pushes it along in the direction the wind is blowing―but, before that can happen, we have to have sails on the mast and those sails must be unfurled. If we play our part, the Holy Ghost will play His part! This applies to all the Gifts of the Holy Ghost―even though they sound like everyday human actions, they are not human actions but divine interventions and actions by the Holy Ghost.

ANOTHER WARNING is the fact that, even though you received the dormant seeds of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost together with sanctifying grace in your Baptism; and even though those dormant seeds were activated when you received the Sacrament of Confirmation; this DOES NOT MEAN that they will always and automatically work for you! The Seven Gifts―even though you have them in your soul―will usually only be activated by the Holy Ghost if He sees that you are serious about your spiritual life and are making progress in the acquisition and practice of the virtues: “Be not deceived, God is not mocked! For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap! ... He who sows sparingly, shall also reap sparingly! … For he that sows in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption! But he that sows in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting!” (Galatians 6:7-8; 2 Corinthians 9:6). God is not going to reward a stubborn sinner, or a lukewarm person, or a spiritually negligent person by giving them some of His choicest Gifts! On the contrary, God says: “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold, nor hot. I would thou wert cold, or hot! But, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of My mouth!” (Apocalypse 3:15-16). Which boss is going to reward an employee who is lazy, negligent, offensive and a thief? Rather than reward such an employee, he is more likely to fire him!

So let us proudly presume and expect the Holy Ghost to reward our abuse of the spiritual life through indifference, neglect, laziness, worldliness or lukewarmness―for then the Holy Ghost will leave us to ourselves and our own puny human power! As you sow, so shall you reap!

THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST
5. THE GIFT OF COUNSEL

Uncertainty in Life
“Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor and has taught Him?” (Isaias 40:13) … “For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Counsel, in general, is an advice, which is the result of our own or of another’s reflection, and which influences the line of action to be taken in some event or issue of our lives, or of some special undertaking. We may even say that counsel is advice given by somebody.

How often in our lives are we not in serious doubt! Our minds are harassed from every side, no matter where we turn we are greeted by indecision. This is especially true today ― when, more than ever, we are torn between our Faith and the world. We may long for some ray of light to guide us in a serious undertaking, but it is not forthcoming. How can that cloud, that thick shadow of doubt, be laid aside? How are we to enter into the sunlight of certitude? What is our usual everyday solution? Usually, we ask for advice, we seek counsel. We seek out the most wise and reputable adviser possible—it may be the best priest, the best doctor, the best lawyer, the best broker, the best mechanic, etc., that we know or can afford. If we are young, we consult those placed over us, our parents or our guides, and we cast away all anxious doubt by relying on their decision; in religion we seek the advice of our superiors; and in the world we ask counsel from our dearest friend, who is always ready to help us, who perhaps has often or always advised us in our anxieties, and whose advice has always proven trustworthy.

Seeking Advice
At all events, whenever we are in doubt as to the course to follow, we seek counsel. Moreover, this is what Holy Scripture tells us to do, “Seek counsel always of a good wise man” (Tobias 4:19). Our fortune, honor or even life may depend upon the counsel that we receive! And if we truly had our own interests seriously at heart, and if our souls were not so disposed to pride and independence, how happy and contented we should be to seek counsel from others! How many useless regrets! How many bitter tears it would spare us!

If man needs advice so often on worldly affairs―on the business of every-day life―how much more does he not need it on things regarding the world of the supernatural? It is also clear that man’s willingness to follow a piece of advice becomes greater in proportion as the advice brings light, knowledge and certainty and excludes all doubt. If this is true of human advice, how much more true is it for the Gift of Counsel, which does all this and more, and in a way far superior to the ability of any human adviser.

Divine Advice
Souls who are free from mortal sin; whose are in the state of grace; receive, from the Divine Spirit, advice concerning their supernatural destiny, so that they may reach Heaven in all security, in all certainty. The doubts—which may cloud the path along the steep, narrow and dangerous mountain pass that leads from Earth to Heaven—are melted away before the powerful and penetrating rays of this heavenly sun. The sun we speak of is none other than the light conveyed by the Holy Ghost in one of His seven Gifts―that of Counsel. However, it must be pointed out and stressed that the Gifts of the Holy Ghost will only work in our souls in proportion to the degree in which have worked at acquiring virtues―God is not going to reward spiritual sloth and religious indifference and lukewarmness!

Advice and Freedom
St. Thomas Aquinas says that the Gift of Counsel leads us on, and guides us, in all the undertakings whose final end or goal is eternal life. It matters little whether these undertakings are absolutely necessary or not; as, for him who obeys God’s law, who does God’s will in all things, all paths lead to Heaven, nor, is any one of them, taken separately, strictly necessary. Again, as the advice of any man does not oppose or destroy our personal freedom, so also the Gift of Counsel is no enemy of human freedom, it only elevates and perfects it, in a supernatural way.

Where Am I Headed?
The object of my existence here below is to gain Heaven. What is the surest way, the most practical means of reaching Heaven? Am I to live in the world? If so, am I to remain single or should I marry? Or am I to enter into the sanctuary of God’s holy priesthood (men) or the Religious life (men and women)? If so, am I to be a secular priest, or a priest within a Religious Order? If the latter, am I to enter a contemplative Order, or one devoted to the active ministry? And, finally, of these which one is to be the object of my choice? St. John Bosco was of the opinion that one-out-of four persons is called to the priesthood or Religious life. How many have failed to fulfill God’s wishes due to a lack of light and direction? The Gift of Counsel would have given that light and direction—but let us not forget that the Gifts of the Holy Ghost will only work at full steam after we have spent a decent length of time in the apprenticeship of acquiring and practicing the virtues. Today’s world is not very conducive to a successful apprenticeship!

Various Paths—Various Destinations
I look around me, and without going beyond the family circle perhaps, I find different members following different paths to the one destined goal—Eternity and Heaven. My parents, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends may have chosen different courses—some taking paths that lead to God, others taking paths that lead away from God and are worldly. Will I follow the beaten path of the world outside, or the narrow passage of the chosen few? Here, I am face to face with the business of my own salvation; and I am in doubt. Who shall rid me of my difficulties? I cannot expect much light from men, for no one knows my mind better than myself. All alone, it is only prayer to the Father of Light that will assist me. I pray. I pray intensely. In an instant my mind is made up, all doubt has vanished, profound peace floods the soul; and the light given is nothing else than the Gift of Counsel.

Yet, we must keep repeating the fact that the Gifts of the Holy Ghost will usually only work best if we have persevered for a certain time in the acquisition and practice of the many virtues. All the Gifts of the Holy will only work in proportion to the efforts we have put into the acquisition of virtues―Holy Scripture gives us the principle for this, or “a rule-of-thumb”, when it says: “For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap! For he that sows in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption! But he that sows in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting! … He who sows sparingly, shall also reap sparingly: and he who sows in blessings, shall also reap blessings!” (Galatians 6:8; 2 Corinthians 9:6). God is not going to reward laziness, lukewarmness and indifference!

Led, Yet Free
Those led by the Spirit of God, lose nothing of their liberty, but they lose all of their doubts. The Gift of Counsel enlightens our mind and urges us to leap up to do the will of God, instead of plunging down into pride by doing our own will. In a single simple supernatural intuition―under the enlightenment of the Holy Ghost―the soul sees, as far as is opportune, the end, goal, target, purpose of its action and the means which are best adapted to the circumstances in achieving that goal.

How human liberty is preserved by the Gift of Counsel is a mystery of the movement of the Holy Ghost. In the intimate instruction or inspiration, which the Holy Ghost gives to the soul in Counsel, there seems to be no alternative but to obey. The Holy Ghost does not negotiate or engage in arbitration, but asks complete acceptance, since such is the law of grace: “For it is God Who works in you―both to will and to accomplish―according to His good will” (Philippians 2:13).

In surrendering all personal deliberation to God, the soul that is obedient to the Gift of Counsel, does not lose its liberty. On the contrary, it gains a sureness and determination, which rebukes the false elation of pride. Knowing the will of God, with a certitude inspired by the Spirit of God, the soul has no need of a more humanly acceptable explanation to assure it that, following the promptings of Gift of Counsel, the soul is both pre-eminently free and prudent. Obedience to God is at once the greatest of human sacrifices and its most clear-cut perfection. Complete obedience is the work of the Gift of Counsel. In its scope are works more pleasing to God than acts of sacrifice performed in the virtue of Religion, and from it proceed acts which rise above, not only the perversity of men, but even their best efforts.

Not Fully Understanding, But Still Confident
The soul with the Gift of Counsel does not ask for a clear realization and understanding of every aspect of each situation. It asks only a sign of God’s will, a smile of approval or a frown of warning, interiorly manifested through the Holy Ghost. The ordinary signs of God’s will—His prohibitions, precepts, permissions, exteriorly revealed counsels, or the pattern of his own acts—may be lacking, but the Gift of Counsel grants an interior assurance in an act of discernment of good from evil, the greater good from the lesser, in each situation which would confound the soul functioning under ordinary prudential judgments.

When the will of God is manifested interiorly, even if no exterior obligation or law binds it, the soul finds itself with the choice of either serving God or sinning. Yet the soul is not told what to do and then left without further assistance from the Holy Ghost. It is also instructed concerning the immediate circumstances of its act and any possible impediments. St. Peter was told by God to evangelize and baptize the Gentiles―although prudence and Jewish Law would tell him that “it is not permissible for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him” (Acts 10:28 ff.). Nevertheless, following the promptings of the Holy Ghost through His Gift of Counsel, Peter still came to the no-Jew Cornelius, so that “the grace of the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the Gentiles also” (Acts 10:45).

Hey God! No Trespassing!
Many lukewarm or worldly souls, imagine that the Holy Ghost and His Gift of Counsel are ‘trespassing’ upon modern man’s independence―and see this as a reason to deny the Holy Ghost entry into the soul. These lukewarm and worldly souls may happily be the slaves of every kind of bad habit and sin, or the dupes of any kind of deception, but to serve the will of God under inspiration seems repugnant. They will not serve Him Whose counsels they have not shared. Because they cannot understand precisely how the Holy Ghost works within the soul, to conceive within it right intentions and judgments, therefore, they militantly defend their puny exaggerated human liberty at whatever price ― “who mind earthly things” (Philippians 3:19). “They liked not to have God in their knowledge” (Romans 1:28). “Who have said to God: ‘Depart from us! We desire not the knowledge of thy ways!’” (Job 21:14).

Don’t Cramp My Style!
St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that man was made to be happy—unfortunately, like a baby seeking to alleviate its thirst with a bottle of colorless ammonia, thinking it to be water―man seeks to slake his thirst for happiness with things that are harmful, but which he falsely reckons to be good.

Happiness can be identified with nothing further afield than the greener grass next door, and the soul, with serpent-like scheming or bullish brashness, tries to overcome or undermine any moral barriers to obtain it. Once the grass or any other created good is gained, the soul is not satisfied, and looks again for something else. Over and over again the mind changes its final end, and tries to adjust to it a new set of means. With each new experience it is less sure of itself, a little more indifferent and appreciably more inconsistent, since “a double-minded man is inconstant in all his ways” (James 1:8).

Double-Minded, Two-Faced
This duplicity of mind arises principally from pleasure-seeking. Sensual satisfactions delight, distract, and then destroy a person’s judgment in practical matters, long before they obliterate his knowledge or judgment of speculative or practical principles. In each sin, his mind retains the rules of conduct, but it does not apply them. In a kind of stupor the mind finds itself unwilling, or by habit incapable, of applying its memory of the past experiences to the judgment of the present experience, in view of the future. It casts aside its accepted principles, rather than apply them to the current situation, because it is not sufficiently concerned about the consequences of its action: “Eat, drink and be merry,” for science has a remedy for hangovers and Hell. Only the present moment, or the past in dreams and the future in desires to be currently enjoyed, concerns the person animalized by sensuality, and his only counsel is the impulse to grasp and gulp down every pleasure within reach. Yet, in each sensual act, a man’s mind is a little queasy, since what his practical judgment demands at the moment, his other mind—his judgment of principles—has rejected for all time. In other words, he is like a schizophrenic in the spiritual domain—two minded, two faced—convinced that he really can serve mammon and God.

Avarice
Another less common, but no less uncontrolled source of a double mind and a doubting heart, is avarice. With two heads and no heart, the avaricious are excessive in their prudence, rather than inept. They ignore the wise man’s admonition: “Labor not to be rich; but set bounds to thy prudence” (Proverbs 23:4), and they put a fine edge on their reasoning powers at the grinding wheel of many worldly motivated sacrifices. Sacrifices are made, moreover, not only to gain wealth, but to get one’s own way.

More subtle than the avarice of wealth is the avarice for dominance and control. Assuming authority, attracting and absorbing attention, minding other people’s business—these things often give a perverted soul a tidy sum in self-satisfaction. Many sacrifices of honor may have to be made, and the soul may have to engage in crafty maneuvering—one moment they are faking obedience and giving off the odor of false humility; the next moment they are highly offended, but the eventual possession and control of the emotional strings, which make puppets of other people, seems worth it. In either avarice there is a false caricature of prudence and a contradiction to the Gift of Counsel. The motives for avarice are as much a part of carnal prudence as sensual delight. Its methods—astuteness, fraud, and deceit—are far more ruthless. Astuteness formulates the tactics, while deceit and fraud carry them out.

To be led by the Spirit of God means to ask God’s guidance. “But,” says Cardinal Manning, “impetuous men are led by the flesh, and not by the Spirit; and having set out on the way of their own choosing, they come to crosses and sorrows. Then, they begin to ask counsel of God, but they ask it too late.” (Internal Mission, p. 344). God will not hear them; they are thrown back into the hands of their own counsel, their hearts filled with darkness and indecision. Each step takes them farther into the night of doubt; they have lost their paths, and all that is left to them is despair.

The Nature of the Gift of Counsel
The Gift of Counsel is a supernatural habit by which the soul in the state of grace, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, judges rightly in particular events what ought to be done in view of its supernatural ultimate end. The following should be noted in regard to this definition:

(a) The Gifts of the Holy Ghost are not passing or temporary motions or simple actual graces, but supernatural habits infused by God in the soul together with sanctifying grace.

(b) The Holy Ghost activates the Gift of Counsel to be a moving cause; but the soul in a state of sanctifying grace collaborates as instrumental cause, through the virtue of prudence, to produce a supernatural act. These acts are performed promptly and as if by instinct, without needing the slow and laborious interior discussion of the reason explaining why this or that line of action is safe and sound and reasonable.

(c) The supernatural virtue of prudence correctly judges what has to be done at a given moment, guided by the light of reason illumined by Faith. But the Gift of Counsel quickly discovers what has to be done by the instinct and motion of the Holy Ghost, that is to say, by entirely divine reasons, which are often unknown to the very soul that performs the act. For this reason, in the virtue of prudence the way of action is discursive, while in the Gift it is intuitive, divine or superhuman.

These ways of defining the Gift of Counsel do not differ substantially from Cardinal Manning’s description of it, when he says, “It is a certain quality or perfection, infused into the reason of man, by the Grace of the Holy Ghost, whereby the reason is made able to discern, not only right and wrong, not only the way of obedience, but also the way of perfection; that is to know that which between two things, both good and right, is better, higher and more pleasing to God. It gives also ... a ready will to do and carry out into practice, that which we see to be the higher and better part” (Internal Mission, pp. 333, ff.).

Its Importance and Necessity
The intervention of the Gift of Counsel is indispensable for perfecting the virtue of prudence, above all, in certain sudden cases that are difficult to solve―yet require an immediate judgment, since falling into sin or heroism can be a matter of an instant. Such cases―which are less rare than is commonly believed―cannot be resolved by the slow and laborious work of the virtue of prudence. The intervention of the Gift of Counsel is necessary; it will provide the instantaneous solution as to what should be done.

Father Lallemant writes: “We may notice in several places of Scripture admirable instances of the Gift of Counsel; as in the silence of Our Lord before Herod, and in the answers He made to save the woman taken in adultery, and to confound those who demanded of Him if it were lawful to pay tribute to Caesar; in the judgement of Solomon; in the enterprise of Judith, to deliver the people of God from the army of Holofernes; in the conduct of Daniel to justify Susanna, against the calumny of the two elders; in that of St. Paul, when he set the Pharisees against the Sadducees and when he appealed from the tribunal of Festus to that of Caesar” (Spiritual Teaching, p. 151).

Natural Prudence, Supernatural Prudence, Divine Prudence

Natural Prudence
Before performing any deliberate action, we go through a mental process with the purpose of examining carefully, not only the lawfulness of what we intend to do, but also its convenience, its timeliness. Ordinarily we are not aware of this process, just as we are not aware of what happens when our food goes through the digestive tract, to be assimilated by the entire organism. Precisely because we are accustomed to use our intelligence to regulate our actions, the procedure goes by unnoticed. But on certain occasions, in more difficult and complicated activities, when we do not see our way clearly and immediately, then, because of our greater concentration on the matter, we are aware of our deliberation.

It is no easy thing to determine what should be done in difficult matters, and to know what should be known about the lawfulness, the appropriateness, and the opportuneness of an act. We analyze, reflect, and recall the past to guide us in the present and to foresee the future — and how many times, after we have reflected and analyzed at great length, we still do not know what to do in a given circumstance, but have to go to a wiser, more experienced person for advice.

The Supernatural Virtue of Prudence
To help us determine what should be done in a particular case, we have Prudence in the natural order, and the infused virtue of Prudence, which bears the same name, in the supernatural order. The virtue of Prudence is not the speculative knowledge of ordinary spiritual things; it is the application of this knowledge and these general principles to concrete cases with their special circumstances of time, place, manner, etc. Prudence is a difficult virtue to practice — not only the prudence needed to direct others, but even that prudence which is indispensable in governing ourselves. It is difficult because, while we must look upward in order to work according to higher principles and rules, we must look downward and remain in touch with this prosaic earth in order to be aware of each one of the circumstances that surround the contemplated act.

But in this matter, as in all others in the spiritual life, the virtue is not enough. Timidity and uncertainty, as we have already seen, are the usual characteristics of prudence the virtue. How difficult to unite prudence and boldness! There are bold men who are unmindful of prudence, and there are men who seem prudent yet who do not dare to do the bold things they should. At the same time, our decisions are uncertain. In any matter whatsoever, and especially in spiritual things, how difficult it is to arrive at stability and security! We plan and arrange things without having the assurance that they will attain the desired result; our procedures are unsure and do not always bring about what we have intended.

Divine Prudence
Therefore human prudence would not be enough, supernatural prudence itself, prudence the virtue, would not be enough, to lead us to the heights of glory. Human life is so complicated, so difficult, the ways by which we reach perfection are so painful, we find so many troubles, so many contradictions in our life, that if we had no other direction, we would never attain our end.

But God, who never fails us in our needs, has given us a Gift by which the Holy Ghost becomes our guide. As the archangel Raphael led Tobias on his journey, so the Spirit who lives in our souls guides us along the winding and troublesome paths of this life, until we reach our perfection in the inexpressibly loving embrace of God.

That superior prudence, that divine prudence which is the fruit of a movement of the Holy Ghost, is the Gift of Counsel. It does not have the same name as the virtue, because the prudence we receive from the Gift of Counsel does not spring from the depths of our intelligence; it comes to us from above, from a superior Being: it is communicated to us by the Spirit.

Prudence, ruled by reason, gives a human mode to our actions: uncertainty and timidity; whereas the Holy Ghost puts a divine character on the acts that proceed from the Gift of Counsel. The virtue and the Gift have different norms. That of the virtue is right reason, enlightened by faith, which helps us to judge whether we should perform such and such an action at a certain time. The norm of the Gift is higher; it is divine, it is eternal reason, the norm of God.

The Gift of Counsel in Saints
At times the saints have been able to do things that fill us with amazement. For example, St. Catherine of Siena spent entire Lenten periods without any other food than Holy Communion. In the light of human prudence, there is no justification for this. Right reason demands that we give our bodies the necessary food; it prohibits such excesses, though at the same time it does not tolerate neglect of mortification, for the middle way must always prevail in the practice of virtue. But St. Catherine accomplished this amazing thing because of a superior instinct, a divine norm. She did not see the usual rule of reason; she saw the exalted rule of the will of God. This is the way of the Gift of Counsel.

When we work under its direction our decisions will be quick, sure and audacious. With what boldness do the saints proceed, with what security, and with what rapidity! They do not follow the counsels of men, nor the dictates of their own reason. They have a higher norm: eternal reason, the mind of God, that illuminates their spirit and lays before them the road they should follow.

In numerous instances we can discover the influence, the effect, of this Gift upon the saints. For example, how could St. Vincent Ferrer have performed miracles with such naturalness, if he had not been guided by the Gift of Counsel? The saint would speak a few words from the Gospel, then add: “In the name of Jesus Christ, you are now healed”; and he worked these miracles just in passing, as any ordinary act of his life. Now, if one of us should try to imitate St. Vincent and perform miracles, he would commit a gravely imprudent act. St. Vincent could perform them because the Holy Ghost moved him; because he was in a singular manner under the direction of the Spirit.

First Degree of the Gift of Counsel
In this Gift, as in all the others, there are degrees. In the first degree, the soul succeeds rapidly in doing the will of God as regards what is immediately necessary in the spiritual life. It is no simple thing to have this, security. While the known will of God is by no means always easy to fulfill, yet it is often more difficult to know God’s will than to fulfill it. Have we not all found ourselves in situations in which we could not exactly say what our obligation was? What did God want us to do in such cases? The Gift of Counsel helps us to answer that question in a quick and certain manner.

The Gifts work in us simultaneously, or rather, the Holy Ghost makes us work and advance under the influence of His Gifts, and on some occasions several of them cooperate in the work of our spiritual life, just as many organs cooperate in our body, and many faculties in our soul. But in this world of the Gifts, the actions that proceed from them have to be ruled by the Gift of Counsel.

Now this Gift also influences the actions of our everyday life, those actions that are ruled by the ordinary virtue of prudence. As in a battle the general who has the responsibility of a special division works with freedom in it, but receives orders from a higher chief, so the virtue of prudence rules our actions, but receives directives from another, more excellent supernatural arbiter, the Gift of Counsel.

Second Degree of the Gift of Counsel
In the second degree, the Gift of Counsel shows us the will of God, our designated way, not only in the necessary things of our spiritual life, but also in the things of counsel; in the things that, while not absolutely obligatory, are very beneficial and useful for helping us to reach God.

Third Degree of the Gift of Counsel
In the third degree, the soul seems to rise from the earth and to live in another, higher world. The hand of God guides it with security, without mishap, and without timidity. The soul goes along the path that our Lord indicates, until it arrives at that height of perfection to which it has been called by God.

Means to Foster This Gift
Apart from the general means for fostering the Gifts (recollection, life of prayer, fidelity to grace, and the like), upon which we can never insist too much, the following greatly help us to dispose ourselves for the actuation of the Gift of Counsel when it becomes necessary:

(a) Cultivating a profound humility, in order to recognize our own ignorance and to ask for guidance from on high.
Humble and persevering prayer is irresistible in face of the mercy of God. We should invoke the Holy Ghost when we rise in the morning, to ask Him for His direction and counsel throughout the day; at the beginning of each action, with a simple and brief movement of the heart that will be at the same time an act of love; in difficult and dangerous moments, when more than ever we need the lights of Heaven; before making an important decision or giving orientation to others, or the like.

(b) Accustoming ourselves to act always with reflection and without haste.
All human effort and diligence are often insufficient for acting with prudence, as we have already noted. However, God does not deny His grace to anyone who does his best. When it becomes necessary, the Gift of Counsel will unfailingly act to make up for our ignorance and inability; but we should not tempt God, expecting to receive by Divine means what we can provide by the means He has placed within our reach with the help of ordinary grace.

(c) Listening in silence to the voice of God.
If we emptied our minds and shut out the noise and tumult of the world, we would frequently hear the voice of God, which usually speaks to the heart in solitude (cf. Osee 2:14). The soul must flee the exterior tumult and completely relax the spirit in order to hear the lessons of eternal life that the Divine Master will explain to it, as He did to Mary of Bethany, who sat calm and quiet at His feet (cf. Luke 10:39).

(d) Practicing perfect docility and obedience to those whom God has placed in the Church to govern us.
Let us imitate the example of the saints. St. Teresa, as we have seen, obeyed her confessors even in preference to Our Lord Himself, and He praised her conduct. The docile, obedient and humble soul is in the best of conditions to receive enlightenment from on high. On the contrary, nothing removes us farther from the mysterious echo of the voice of God than the spirit of self-sufficiency and insubordination to His legitimate representatives on Earth.