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HOLY GHOST HOMEPAGE (General Articles)
| INTRODUCTION TO THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST (a very brief coverage of all seven Gifts) |
| Gift of Fear | Gift of Piety | Gift of Knowledge | Gift of Fortitude | Gift of Counsel | Gift of Understanding | Gift of Wisdom |
| THE TWELVE FRUITS OF THE HOLY GHOST (a brief coverage of all 12 Fruits) |
| PRAYERS TO THE HOLY GHOST | NOVENA TO THE HOLY GHOST |
Links will be activated as articles appear on those pages
HOLY GHOST HOMEPAGE (General Articles)
| INTRODUCTION TO THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST (a very brief coverage of all seven Gifts) |
| Gift of Fear | Gift of Piety | Gift of Knowledge | Gift of Fortitude | Gift of Counsel | Gift of Understanding | Gift of Wisdom |
| THE TWELVE FRUITS OF THE HOLY GHOST (a brief coverage of all 12 Fruits) |
| PRAYERS TO THE HOLY GHOST | NOVENA TO THE HOLY GHOST |
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!
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
6. THE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING
6. THE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING
No Depth of Understanding!
In this increasingly superficial world with its little depth of knowledge and understanding, the Holy Ghost’s Gift of Understanding makes us penetrate divine truths―which is something that certainly lacking among modern-day Catholics. It is common knowledge and admitted by many scholarly writers and observers, that the levels of education have fallen dramatically and drastically over the last 60 to 70 years. With the advent of modern technology―such as television, computers, internet, smartphones and social media―less and less people are able to think and understand as they used to do. Nowadays, they just ask the computer or AI (Artificial Intelligence) to think for them! Studies have shown that college students could not pass an 8th Grade exam paper from around 100 years ago! Most Catholic adults could not even pass a First Communion Test or a Confirmation Test! Most don’t even know the Ten Commandments! Some are unable to name the three Members of the Holy Trinity―others don’t even know that the Trinity has three Persons! The media has for many decades communicated with the general public at a vocabulary level of 5th to 8th Grade!
St. Thérèse of Lisieux used to lament that Jesus is so little loved because he is so little known―which the same concept as the philosophical axiom which states that you cannot love what you do not know―which also implies that you only love a little what you know little about! However, knowledge and understanding are two different things―you might know what a computer is, but you might not understand how it works; you might know what a computer-chip is, but not understand how it works; you may know what the law of gravity is, but lack the understanding to explain in detail; scientists and doctors are able to recognize a disease, but lack the understanding on how to cure it; from the weird sounds that you car makes you know that something is wrong with the car, but you lack the understanding to figure out exactly what is wrong with it. Yes―cannot love what we do not know―but we will love even more those things that we not only know, but also understand. Understanding can build upon the foundation of knowledge and thus increase the degree of love. If the greatest commandment is all about loving ― “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength! This is the greatest and the first commandment!” (Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31) ― then anything that can increase that love is bound to be of the greatest interest and importance!
I Wanna Know! I Wanna Know!
Everyone by nature wants to know—or at least be “in the know.” The advent of the internet and search engines fuels this desire to know everything about everyone everywhere! The ‘knowledge’ that most people have today is not acquired through traditional research, study, analysis and learning―but it is merely a “parrot-fashion” repetition of what turned-up after their “Google Search” ― without them really knowing whether the internet opinion or statement is true or false. There is little or no real intelligence that is able to filter-out the misinformation, disinformation, propaganda and outright lies. A lot of people know a lot of things―but they do not know if what they know is really worth knowing at all! We have arrived at the point where many people suffer from “information constipation” ― meaning that a lot of information goes into the mind, but little or nothing comes out of the mind! As Holy Scripture says: “Even a fool, if he will hold his tongue, shall be counted as being wise―and if he close his lips, shall be counted as a man of understanding” (Proverbs 17:28). “There is that fool after he was lifted up on high [with pride about what he things he knows]―for if he had understood, he would have laid his hand upon his mouth” (Proverbs 30:32). “Understand, ye senseless among the people! And, you fools, be wise at last!” (Psalm 93:8).
Between the Lines—Below the Surface
Some words express our thoughts with admirable accuracy. Though they may not be precise definitions, they are exact expressions of the object signified. Such is the Latin word “intelligere” (intus-legere: “to read interiorly, to penetrate”).
Let us try to be more precise. The Latins called it an “inner reading” — [which is another way of saying that which “stands under” or “stands beneath” the surface of things; therefore, a “deeper” knowledge, rather than a surface or superficial knowledge]. Understanding, then, is that power of the human soul, to descend beneath the surface of things, to pry into the hidden reality, it is that which breaks through the surface-shell, to reach the real substance therein enclosed.
Abstract
In the natural order, intelligence is the ability to perceive the abstract, the immaterial truth—we can contemplate abstract things like justice, mercy, fidelity, etc., which do not exist by themselves in a concrete way, like a tree for example. We understand and calculate with numbers and fractions, even though they do not exist in the concrete. In the supernatural order, intelligence penetrates higher truths. As the natural light of human reason makes us understand visible and sensible (see, hear, touch, taste, etc.) things, the supernatural light of the Gift of Understanding, of which we shall speak in this article, serves to penetrate supernatural truths and to reveal their intimate depths.
Understanding is More Than Knowing
On a purely natural and rational level, to know is not always to understand. I may know how to say a phrase in a foreign language without necessarily understanding what it means. I may know that my car won’t start, but I do not understand why. St. Ignatius Loyola, in his Spiritual Exercises, points out that it is not great knowledge which profits the soul, but the penetration and savoring of spiritual things. To find spiritual profit, we do not have to multiply readings and meditations: we should rather go to the heart of some few truths, understand them as much as we can, and delight in them. When the Spiritual Exercises are made correctly and well―or during a day of some other spiritual retreat, or simply whenever we meditate attentively on some supernatural truth or teaching―it seems that our soul is transformed, that we become another being. With the new light that has been given to us, our soul has a changed attitude toward spiritual things.
Through Him, With Him, In Him
Without God we can do nothing—“Without Me, you can do nothing!” (John 15:5). God is our light―“Jesus spoke to them, saying: ‘I am the light of the world: he that follows Me, walks not in darkness, but shall have the light of life … As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world’” (John 8:12; 9:5). “Wherefore He says: ‘Rise thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead―and Christ shall enlighten thee!’” (Ephesians 5:14).The teachings of God are meant “to enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death―to direct our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). When Christ ascended into Heaven, He sent us the Paraclete: “And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever. The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, nor knows Him―but you shall know Him, because He shall abide with you, and shall be in you … The Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you!” (John 14:16-17, 26).
Who Truly Understands Without God?
“God looked down from Heaven on the children of men―to see if there were any that did understand, or did seek God” (Psalm 52:3). “The steps of man are guided by the Lord―but who is the man that can understand his own way?” (Proverbs 20:24). “All men are vain, in whom there is not the knowledge of God―and who, by these good things that are seen, could not understand Him that is, neither by attending to the works have acknowledged Who was the Workman!” (Wisdom 13:1). “And who shall understand His ways?” (Ecclesiasticus 16:21). “‘My thoughts are not your thoughts! Nor your ways My ways!’ saith the Lord. ‘For as the Heavens are exalted above the Earth, so are My ways exalted above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts!’” (Isaias 55:8-9). “The senseless man shall not know, nor will the fool understand these things!” (Psalm 91:7). “Who, as it were, on purpose have revolted from Him, and would not understand all His ways” (Job 34:27). “Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be wise at last!” (Psalm 93:8). “O that they would be wise and would understand, and would provide for their last end!” (Deuteronomy 32:29). “They that trust in Him, shall understand the truth!” (Wisdom 3:9).
Limited Intelligence
But man’s intelligence―even if it be ever so powerful and penetrating―is nevertheless merely a created power; therefore it is a limited power, and by itself it can never overstep the limits set down to it by God. But, man is created for a supernatural end―for Heaven―and the means given him by God are contained in Revelation; they are a set of truths exceeding the natural capacity of human understanding. Now, if these truths of Revelation are really means to our end, then we must use them, but to use them we must first know them; but because they are above the power of the natural human mind, we need some supernatural aid, some Heavenly light to penetrate them. This supernatural light which the Holy Ghost gives to man is called the Gift of Understanding.
Gift of Understanding Surpasses Natural Understanding
This light of the Gift of Understanding does not proceed from the natural understanding; as no amount of reasoning of the most intelligent mind that the world ever saw or will see, could prove that God is one and at the same time three. The Gift of Understanding comes from the Holy Ghost and perfects our natural reason. Just as it is by natural reason that we grasp all natural truths, so it is by the supernatural Gift of Understanding we know those truths which exceed the power of our natural reason―such as the truth of the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnation, or the Redemption.
This is a distinct Gift. It is not human reason; neither is it the same as the theological virtue of Faith, whose characteristic it is to make us adhere to truths that are beyond the light of natural reason, because God has revealed them. The supernatural Gift of Understanding helps us to penetrate the depths of such supernatural truths, and to know them as far as that is possible for a creature of Earth. It differs also from the Gift of Knowledge―whose purpose is to distinguish, with certitude, truth from error. Such, therefore, is the hierarchy or order in the degrees of our knowledge of revealed truths. We know of their existence by Faith, we are rendered sure of their truth by Knowledge, then, the Gift of Understanding gives us as clear an insight of them as man can have here below.
Thus, we see that this supernatural Gift of Understanding is a special power for the intellect, given to those who, cooperating with the light of Faith and cooperating with the Spirit of God, receive over and above the light of natural reason, a power helping them to grasp the hidden meaning of truths beyond the natural range of human reason. This knowledge, like a powerful search-light, casts its penetrating rays, not only over the surface, but into the deep ocean of all the articles of Faith. It is not superficial―it is deep. It does remain on the surface of things―it penetrates the depth of things. It shows how they are all intimately connected, it points out their superiority over anything this Earth could give, over any truth soever, of which human reason may claim parentage, and it shows their beauty to be surpassing the splendor of any earthly truth.
The Gift of Understanding, then, is a supernatural habit, quality or perfection, with which our intelligence is enabled to know and comprehend the truths of Catholic Faith and all that are connected with them in greater depth; and by thus knowing them better and deeper, we are then led to love those teachings and truth, and, consequently, to live in conformity with the deeper knowledge of these teachings and truths.
The Three Lights
There are three lights that guide us in our passage through life―namely, Natural Human Reason, Supernatural Faith and the Supernatural Gift of Understanding. Reason is merely a weak oil-lamp, shining only a feeble glimmering light, and often glimmers most when we most need its assistance. It is barely sufficient to pierce the surface of the blackness of night, and will only let us see or make-out the objects that nearest at hand. Faith is like blazing torchlight, illumining and manifesting the way; but, alas, the rays of Faith do not go beyond a very limited horizon. Just look at Catholics―who certainly have the Faith, but whose knowledge is only very limited and superficial. Their knowledge is like bonfire―very limited as to how far it will shed its light―walk away ten or twenty yards and you are standing in darkness.
To give another example: I enter my room one evening, an hour after sunset, with my own eyes, unaided by any other light, I can barely distinguish the objects around me. I then light my lamp, and now, I can see them clearly. I can read and write at my desk with ease, though I cannot read my paper, ten feet from my light. Now, suppose I enter this same room at midday, I see everything clearly and distinctly and without the slightest effort.
The supernatural Gift of Understanding is the summer sun at noonday, dispelling all darkness and clouds, and shedding its penetrating light on everything beneath. The difference is clear. The Gift of Understanding does for us in the order of supernatural truths what the summer sun does in the order of natural ones. All these, truths are contained in Holy Scripture, but they are there in an obscure way, hidden under some mysterious veil of words or expressions; but the Gift we are considering pierces this veil or makes it transparent. It enables us to understand what we believe from the time we believe it explicitly.
The Apostles and the Gift of Understanding
The Apostles, before Pentecost, had reason and Faith―yet we are told that they knew not the Scriptures “And they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said” (Luke 18:34). “When Jesus was risen again from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had said” (John 2:22).
Nevertheless, in the immediate days after Our Lord’s resurrection, when Jesus appeared on various occasions to His Apostles and disciples, before the Apostles had received the Gifts of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost: “They, hearing that He was alive, did not believe! And after that He appeared in another shape to two disciples walking, as they were going into the country [to Emmaus]. Then Jesus said to them: ‘O foolish and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, Jesus explained to them in all the Scriptures, the things that were written concerning Him … And they, going back to Jerusalem, told it to the rest [of the Apostles and disciples] ― but neither did the Apostles believe them. At length Jesus appeared to the Eleven [Apostles] while they were at table, and He upbraided them with their lack of belief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He was risen again! … Then He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures” (Mark 16:11-14; Luke 24:26-27, 45). Even at His last moment on Earth, when He was about to ascend into Heaven, “seeing Him they adored―but some doubted!” (Matthew 28:17).
The Spirit of Understanding, in all its full glory, descended upon those poor uneducated Apostles at Pentecost ― enlightening and informing them ― making them, there and then, real suns in the sky of Heavenly doctrine, and their rays illumined the entire world. See how St. Peter expounded the Scriptures to the assembled nations on the first Pentecost morning; and see how the Spirit of Understanding enlightened the minds of his hearers, so that “they received his word, were baptized, and there were added on that day about three thousand souls … and the Lord increased daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:41, 47). With the skill of a master, St. Peter painted a verbal picture of the reign of Jesus, whilst his hearers―the Jews―truly penitent, confessing their guilt, embraced the truth, just like the child who, after a long absence, embraces his loving mother.
Raising Our Minds to New Heights
This Gift of Understanding not only aids our minds to know and understand Holy Scripture, but also it helps us to find the truth wherever it may be present. For some, this truth is manifested and verified in the science of theology. A case in point is St. Thomas Aquinas. He handles the most sublime truths with an ease and a grace which baffle all comprehension. In his case it was the Spirit of Understanding that passed into the “dumb Sicilian ox and, by his mouth, spoke to the world.” As Our Lord said: “Take no thought how or what to speak―for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak!” (Matthew 10:19).
For others, this Gift of Understanding is manifested and verified in philosophy, as is admirably portrayed in the life of St. Catherine, whose deep knowledge made the pagan philosophers blush for shame. For others still, this Gift of Understanding shines forth in their ordinary actions or conversations; and, thank God, it is more frequent than we think. And this is due to no human power, nor human aid, nor natural light―no, it is Faith perfected by the supernatural Gift of Understanding.
If people― Catholics especially―would only make that small effort required to possess such a treasure, what a veritable gold-mine would sermons, religious instruction and the history of the Church become! They would no longer be vain, boring sounds, but entering by the ear, they would be engraved on the heart, producing abundant fruit. What is the effort that is required? God will usually not manifest or “trigger” the Gift of Understanding in us until He sees that we are seriously trying to live the Faith―by learning and growing in our knowledge of the Faith, and are making good progress in growing in the many virtues that are required of us. Once He sees our seriousness about the Faith and the serious efforts we are making―then God will, in proportion, “trigger”, or activate, or manifest His supernatural Gift of Understanding within us.
Understanding Persecution
Today is not the first time that we are baffled by the fact that the Church is always persecuted and the world is always prosperous; and yet, we must believe that God is still in control over the world and the Church. Nation after nation has abandoned God. This is surely hard to understand, impossible to grasp, unless, by the light of the Gift of Understanding, we see in this Jesus Himself, our Head, persecuted, abandoned and contradicted by all, and yet He lives on. As it was with Jesus, our Head, so, too, it is with His Mystical Body, the Church. This warfare, though it becomes more brutal and savage with each century and decade, can never prevail against the Church. These events and countless others—the whole history of the world and Church—point always to the hand of God behind everything, when read and analyzed under the light of the supernatural Gift of Understanding.
This Gift of Understanding also acts upon our will. For, the clearer the mind sees a thing, then the more the heart loves it and adheres to it. Once we know and understand and love our Faith, then we are safe― Hell, with its deceit, the sophistry of the proud independent mind with its lies, the world with its derision, may all beat against the Ark of Faith, but in vain. We merely say “Credo” or “I believe” and nothing can disturb us. But, as with the wind shaking a tender oak tree, only serves to drive its roots more firmly into the ground; likewise, such storms and persecutions from outside only purify and strengthen our Faith, making us more fervent in serving God, more resistant against temptation, more resigned in poverty, more cheerful in adversity, more detached from life, and more constant in our endeavors and aspirations to the only reality of the future—God and Heaven. Yet, once again it must be stated that the Gifts of the Holy Ghost are not activated and manifest automatically and to same degree in all persons―it all depends upon our prior efforts in advancing in the virtues―especially the theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, as well as other moral virtues. As we sow, so shall we reap: “For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap” (Galatians 6:8). “He who sows sparingly, shall also reap sparingly” (2 Corinthians 9:6).
Effects of the Gift of Understanding
The Gift of Understanding produces admirable effects in the soul, and all of them perfect the virtue of Faith to the degree of incredible intensity and certainty that was attained in the saints. The Gift of Understanding reveals truths with such clarity that, without uncovering the mystery entirely, it gives souls such an unshakable security concerning the truth of our Faith, that they could not imagine the existence of unbelieving or undecided persons in matters of Faith. This is seen in mystical souls, in whom the Gift of Understanding has developed to an eminent degree. They would be more inclined to disbelieve anything that they saw with their own eyes, rather than to doubt in the slightest degree any of the truths of Faith.
This Gift of Understanding is most useful for theologians, and St. Thomas Aquinas possessed it to an extraordinary degree. It enables the theologian to penetrate into the depths of the revealed truth and to deduce later, by means of theological reasoning (discursus), the conclusions that are implicitly contained in these truths. The Angelic Doctor himself points out six different ways in which the Gift of Understanding enables us to penetrate into the depths and mystery of the truths of Faith (Cf. Summa, IIa-IIae, q. 8, art. 1). Here are those six ways:
(1) It enables us to see the substance of things hidden under their accidental manifestations.
In other words, it helps us see beneath the surface of things; it gives much more depth to superficial knowledge; it simplifies the complex. By the power of this divine instinct, the mystics perceive the Divine reality that is hidden under the Eucharistic veils. From this follows their obsession with the Eucharist, an obsession that becomes in them a veritable martyrdom of hunger and thirst. In their visits to the tabernacle they do not pour out many prayers or meditate, but merely contemplate the Divine Prisoner of Love with a simple and penetrating gaze that fills their souls with infinite peace and tenderness. As in the case of the simple peasant man, whom the St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars, daily saw sitting and staring at the tabernacle in his little church in Ars. Eventually St. John Vianney asked the peasant what he was doing by simply sitting and staring, with no prayer book or Rosary in his hands. To which the peasant man, possessed by the Holy Ghost, simply replied: “I look at Him and He looks at me!”
(2) It discloses the hidden meaning of Sacred Scripture.
This is what the Lord with the two disciples at Emmaus when “He opened their understanding so that they could understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). All the mystics have experienced this phenomenon. Without any biblical study, or any human assistance, the Holy Ghost suddenly discloses to them, with a most vivid intensity, the profound meaning of some statement in Scripture that immerses them in a deluge of light.
(3) It reveals to us the mysterious significance of symbols and figures.
Thus St. Paul saw Christ in the rock that gushed forth with living water to appease the thirst of the Israelites in the desert: “And the rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). St. John of the Cross reveals to us―with a startling mystical intuition―the moral, analogical and parabolic meaning of many of the symbols and figures of the Old Testament that reached their full realization or fulfillment in the New Testament, or in the life of grace.
(4) It reveals spiritual realities to us under sensible appearances.
The Liturgy of the Church is filled with sublime symbolism that, for the most part, escapes the notice of superficial souls. But the saints experience a great veneration and respect for the “smallest ceremony of the Church” (St. Teresa, The Life, p. 226, chap. 33, n. 5), which floods their soul with devotion and tenderness. The Gift of Understanding enables them to see the sublime realities that are hidden beneath those symbols and sensible signs.
(5) It enables us to contemplate the effects that are contained in causes.
As Father Philipon writes: “There is another aspect of the Gift of Understanding that is particularly noticeable in the case of contemplative theologians. After the hard work of human study, everything suddenly becomes luminous, under an impulse of the Spirit. A new world is seen … Christ-the-Priest, the One Mediator between Heaven and Earth, or Mary the Virgin Co-Redemptrix, bearing spiritually in her womb all the members of the Mystical Body; the Unity of Essence with the Trinity of Persons … All are truths which the Gift of Understanding can penetrate effortlessly and fruitfully in the very light of God” (Fr. M. M. Philipon, O.P., The Spiritual Doctrine of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, p. 180-181, chap. 8, n. 7).
(6) It makes us see causes through their effects.
Father Philipon continues: “Inversely, the Gift of Understanding reveals God and His almighty causality of effects, without working the long, discursive journeyings of human thought left to its own resources, but by a simple, comparative gaze and by intuition, ‘after the manner of God.’ In almost imperceptible signs and in the smallest events of its life, a soul, that is attentive to the Holy Ghost, suddenly discovers God’s providential plan in its regard” (M. M. Philipon, O.P., The Spiritual Doctrine of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, p.180-181, chap. 8, n. 7).
Such are the principal effects that the activation of the Gift of Understanding produces in the soul. One can see that, perfected by this Gift of Understanding, the virtue of Faith reaches an astounding intensity. The veils of mystery are never parted in this life—“we see now through a glass in a dark manner” (1 Corinthians 13:12)―but its unfathomable depths are penetrated by the soul with an experience that is so clear and deep, that it approaches the intuitive vision. St. Thomas Aquinas, a model of serenity and reserve in all his statements, writes the following words: “In this very life, when the eye of the spirit is purified by the Gift of Understanding, one can, in a certain way, see God” (Summa, Ia-IIae, q. 69, art. 2, ad 3).
Vices Opposed to the Gift of Understanding
St. Thomas dedicates an entire question to the study of the vices that are opposed to the Gift of Understanding (Summa, IIa-IIae, q. 15). They are mainly two: (1) spiritual blindness and (2) dullness of the spiritual sense. In a simplistic way, you could say one is totally blind, the other is partially blind. The verses of Holy Scripture that could possibly apply to these two states are: “O foolish people without understanding: who have eyes, and see not: and ears, and hear not!” (Jeremias 5:21) … “Seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand!” (Matthew 13:13) … “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a provoking house: who have eyes to see, and see not: and ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a provoking house” (Ezechiel 12:2) ... “The sensual man perceives not these things that are of the Spirit of God―for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand” (1 Corinthians 2:14) ... “They have not known, nor understood: for their eyes are covered that they may not see, and that they may not understand with their heart” (Isaias 44:18) … “Do you not yet know nor understand? Have you still your heart blinded? Having eyes, see you not? And having ears, hear you not? Neither do you remember!” (Mark 8:17-18) … “Leave them alone! They are blind, and leaders of the blind! And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit!” (Matthew 15:14).
The first, SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS, is the complete lack of vision (blindness); the second, DULLNESS OF THE SPIRITUAL SENSE, is a notable weakening of vision (myopia). Both of them proceed from carnal sins (lust and gluttony), and, because of that, there is nothing that is such an impediment to the light of the intellect—even naturally speaking—as the vehement attachment to the corporal, fleshly, material, physical things that are contrary to it. For that reason, LUST, with its greater vehemence, produces spiritual blindness, which excludes almost completely the knowledge and appreciation of spiritual goods, and GLUTTONY produces dullness of the spiritual sense, which weakens man as regards this knowledge and appreciation in a way similar to the blunting or dulling of a sharp and pointed object—a nail, for example—that should easily penetrate a wall (Summa, IIa-IIae, q. 15, art. 3). This again proves the earlier mentioned point that the Gifts of the Holy Ghost will only work in proportion to the efforts we are making in growing spiritually, especially in growth of virtues―and lust and gluttony are not virtues, but vices.
A contemporary author writes: “This blindness of mind is that which is suffered by all lukewarm souls; for they possess the Gift of Understanding, but their mind is engulfed with the things of this world. They are lacking in interior recollection and the spirit of prayer; they are constantly pouring themselves [into the things of the world] out through the channels of the senses, without any attentive or constant consideration of divine truths. Hence they never arrive at discovering the exalted clarity that is hidden in their obscurity. For that reason we see that very frequently they are easily deceived and mistaken when they speak of spiritual things; or of the delicacy and fine points of divine love; or of the first stages of the mystical life; or of the heights of sanctity―and that, sometimes, they engage themselves in external works that are covered with the veil of human evaluations, and they consider as exaggerations, or eccentricities, the delicacies that the Holy Ghost asks of souls.
“These are the souls who wish ‘to go by the cow-path,’ as one says rustically. They are attached to the Earth, and for that reason the Holy Ghost cannot raise them into the air with His divine motion and breathing. They are busy making sand-piles, by which they think they can reach Heaven. They suffer that spiritual blindness that prevents them from seeing the infinite holiness of God; the marvel that grace works in souls; the heroism of abnegation that He asks of souls to correspond to His immense love; the foolishness of love, by which the soul is led to the folly of the Cross. Such lukewarm souls think nothing of venial sins and perceive [notice, see] only those sins that are more serious―as a result, they ignore what are commonly called “imperfections”. They are blind because they never take into their hands the torch that would give light in this dark space (2 Peter 1:19), and many times, in their presumption, they attempt to guide others who are blind! (Matthew 15:14).
“He who suffers such a blindness, or shortsightedness in his interior vision, which prevents him from penetrating the things of Faith, cannot be free of fault [sin], because of his negligence and carelessness, or because of the boredom that he experiences in regard to spiritual things―since he loves more those things that appeal to the senses” (I. Menendez-Reigada, O.P., Los dones del Espiritu Santo y la perfeccion cristiana, pp. 593-94).
Hello Sin! Goodbye Holy Ghost!
History certainly repeats itself. A Catholic can have the Faith, but if, by mortal sin, he has lost its life-giving principle of activity, then Holy Scripture is nothing more than a sealed book, whose very appearance brings fatigue and, what is still worse, disgust! Why? Because with his soul being in the state of mortal sin, the Holy Ghost justly withdraws all His Gifts from that soul.
How many of us read and do not understand! And it is our own fault! Nevertheless, Holy Scripture is the word of God, a letter from our Father’s home, the bread of our souls, the mirror of our hearts and the guide of our lives. It is the Book we should read the most―but we read it the least. It is the Book we should understand most, whereas we understand it least of all. The reason is not far to seek―it is because we have not the Gift of Understanding; and we have not this Gift because our souls are not free from sin, and we are not working hard at growing spiritually in general, and growing in the virtues in particular. God will not reward sinfulness, lukewarmness, indifference and neglect! Once again, God will only reward us in proportion to the efforts we are making. The Gifts of the Holy Ghost are precious items―and, as Our Lord said: “Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine!” (Matthew 7:6).
Unmoved By Religion
You believe in God, in Jesus, in Calvary, in Heaven and in Hell. These are consoling and terrible truths yet despite knowing of these things, you admit that they make only a slight impression on you. Why? Because the Gift of Understanding is lacking. And if you do not have the Gift of Understanding, then you have its contraries, the base, low vices of gluttony, avarice and lust. Here is how a Doctor of the Church explains it. Gluttony is an inordinate love of eating and drinking. It is the flesh fighting and conquering the spirit. It is man in company with the lower creation; and if this inordinate love becomes a habit, it throws the entire man on bended knee before his new god—his stomach: “Whose God is their belly; and whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things!” (Philippians 3:19). Gluttony, as the Church Fathers teach us, leads to lust. Avarice can also be said to part of this family of covetousness―for gluttony covets or desires good and drink; lust covets and desires impurity and sex; avarice covets and desires wealth and possessions. All of these forms of covetousness blind the mind and prevent the soul from looking further afield for its happiness and joy.
The first effect of this disorder is that the intelligence becomes dull. The soul and body are like two plates of a balance, or the opposite ends of a see-saw―when the one mounts the other descends. So, by excess of eating and drinking the body develops and the mind becomes heavy, lazy and unfit for study and incapable of any serious intellectual activity. This results in superficiality, where understanding is deeper than superficiality or surface knowledge―it digs down deep to see what is beneath the surface of things. The more we eat, the less we think―or we think with our bellies. For the slave of gluttony, the most important truths are as if they did not even exist―they mean nothing at all, or very little. St. Paul says, “The sensual man perceives not the things that are of the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:14) but “the things that are of the Spirit” are that series of supernatural truths which make up the deposit of Catholic belief.
A second effect of this vice is a senseless worldly hilarity, joyfulness, fun-centered spirit, which may be manifested in countless ways: this is nothing more than the victorious battle-cry of the flesh, when it has conquered the mind or soul. This is nothing more than the lack of the Spirit of Understanding. For, the glutton does not see that life is a trial and that Christian life should be a perpetual prayer and penance. He makes it a perpetual play and pleasure. He forgets or despises these words of Divine Truth, “Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3) and “Pray without ceasing!” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). For the glutton, heavenly truths really “waste their sweetness in the desert air.”
Means to Foster This Gift
As we have said repeatedly, the actuation or activation of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost depends entirely on the Divine Spirit Himself. However, the soul can do much by disposing itself, with the help of grace, for this divine actuation or activation. “For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap” (Galatians 6:8). “He who sows sparingly, shall also reap sparingly” (2 Corinthians 9:6). St. Teresa of Avila, a Doctor of the Church, writes: “Although this work is performed by the Lord, and we can do nothing to make His Majesty grant us this favor, we can do a great deal to prepare ourselves for it” (St. Teresa, Interior Castle, Fifth Mansions, chap. 2, n. 1). The Saint is referring to the contemplative prayer of union, which is an effect of the Gifts of Understanding and Wisdom. The following points are the principal means of disposing oneself for this divine actuation or activation of the Gift of Understanding:
(1) To enliven Faith with the help of ordinary grace.
Just as it is with muscles, the infused virtues are perfected by their increasingly intense practice. This is an excellent disposition which will allow the Holy Ghost to perfect the virtues with His Gifts, if the soul does all that it can by the ascetical practices (spiritual exercises) that are within its reach and capacity. It is a fact that God, according to His ordinary providence, gives His graces to those who are best disposed. Yet how few are the number of souls who seriously seek to acquire, practice and grow in all the virtues! St. Teresa of Avila speaks beautifully on this point in many ways. “Unless you have omitted to prepare yourselves for your work, you need have no fear that it will be lost!” (The Way of Perfection, chap. 18, n. 3). “Their disposition [exercise of virtues] is such that He will grant them any favor!” (Interior Castle, Third Mansions, chap. 1, n. 5).
(2) Perfect purity of soul and body.
As we have already seen, the sixth beatitude, which pertains to the clean of heart, corresponds to the Gift of Understanding: “Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God!” (Matthew 5:8). Only through perfect cleanness of soul and body is one made capable of seeing God―seeing God in this life, by the profound illumination of the Gift of Understanding in the obscurity of Faith; seeing God in the next life, through the clear vision of glory. Impurity is incompatible with either one.
(3) Interior recollection.
The Holy Ghost is the friend of recollection and solitude. Only there does He speak in silence to souls. “I will lead her into the wilderness: and I will speak to her heart” (Osee 2:14). “When you shall pray, enter into your room and, having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret―and your Father, Who sees in secret, will repay you!” (Matthew 6:6). “And having dismissed the multitude, Jesus went into a mountain to pray alone” (Matthew 14:23) … “And rising very early, going out, Jesus went into a desert place, and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35). “And Jesus retired into the desert and prayed” (Luke 5:16). “And when Jesus had dismissed them, He went up to the mountain to pray” (Mark 6:46).
The soul that is a friend of dissipation and worldliness will never perceive the word of God in its interior: “Go forth and stand upon the mountain before the Lord! And behold, the Lord passes, and a great and strong wind before the Lord over throwing the mountains, and breaking the rocks in pieces―the Lord is not in the wind! And after the wind an earthquake―the Lord is not in the earthquake! And after the earthquake a fire―the Lord is not in the fire! And after the fire―a whistling of a gentle air!” That is quiet voice of God (3 Kings 19:11-12). “And thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing thee behind thy back: ‘This is the way! Walk ye in it! And go not aside―neither to the right hand, nor to the left!’” (Isaias 30:21).
It is necessary to empty oneself of all created things, to retire to the cell of one’s own heart in order to live there with the Divine Guest, until the soul gradually succeeds in always preserving the sense of God’s presence, even amidst the most absorbing occupations. When the soul has done all that it can to be recollected and detached from the world, the Holy Ghost will do the rest: “The Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth … shall abide with you, and shall be in you ... He will convict the world of sin! … He will teach you all truth. The things that are to come, He shall show you!” (John 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:7-13).
(4) Fidelity to grace.
The soul must be always attentive and careful not to deny the Holy Ghost any sacrifice that He may ask. “Oh, today if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Psalm 94:8). Not only must the soul avoid every voluntary thought, however small, that would sadden the Holy Ghost—according to the mysterious expression of St. Paul: “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30)—but it must positively second all His divine movements until it can say with Christ: “I do always the things that please Him” (John 8:29). Our love of God is shown by our fidelity or faithfulness to God―as Christ says: “If you love Me, keep My commandments … He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them; he it is that loveth Me … If anyone love Me, he will keep My word … He that loveth Me not, keepeth not My words!” (John 14:15, 14:21-24). On the other hand, Christ also says: “Why call you Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
It does not matter if sometimes the sacrifices that He asks of us seem to be beyond our strength. With God’s grace, all things are possible. “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) … “The things that are impossible with men, are possible with God!” (Luke 18:27). And there is always left to us the recourse of prayer, to ask the Lord in advance for that which He wishes us to give to Him: “Grant what Thou dost command and command what Thou wilt” (St. Augustine, Confessions, Book 10, chapter 29). In any case, in order to avoid anxiety in the matter of fidelity to grace, we should always rely on the rule and counsel of a wise and experienced spiritual director.
(5) Invoking the Holy Ghost.
We cannot practice any of these methods without the help and antecedent grace of the Holy Ghost. For that reason we must invoke Him frequently and with the greatest possible fervor, remembering the promise of Jesus to send the Holy Ghost to us (John 14:16-17).
The hymns “Come Holy Ghost” and “Come O Creator Spirit Blest”, and the liturgical prayer (collect) for the feast of Pentecost, should be, after the Our Father and the Hail Mary, the favorite prayers of interior souls. We should repeat them often until we attain that true understanding that the Holy Ghost can give us.
And, in imitation of the Apostles, when they retired to the Cenacle to await the coming of the Paraclete, we should associate our supplications with those of the Immaculate Heart of Mary— “All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with … Mary the mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14)—the Virgin most faithful and the Heavenly spouse of the Holy Ghost.
The beautiful invocation of the litany of the Blessed Virgin, “Virgin most faithful, pray for us,” should be one of the favorite ejaculations of the souls that thirst for God. The Divine Spirit will be communicated to us in the measure of our fidelity to grace, and this fidelity must be obtained through Mary, the universal Mediatrix of all graces by will of God.
In this increasingly superficial world with its little depth of knowledge and understanding, the Holy Ghost’s Gift of Understanding makes us penetrate divine truths―which is something that certainly lacking among modern-day Catholics. It is common knowledge and admitted by many scholarly writers and observers, that the levels of education have fallen dramatically and drastically over the last 60 to 70 years. With the advent of modern technology―such as television, computers, internet, smartphones and social media―less and less people are able to think and understand as they used to do. Nowadays, they just ask the computer or AI (Artificial Intelligence) to think for them! Studies have shown that college students could not pass an 8th Grade exam paper from around 100 years ago! Most Catholic adults could not even pass a First Communion Test or a Confirmation Test! Most don’t even know the Ten Commandments! Some are unable to name the three Members of the Holy Trinity―others don’t even know that the Trinity has three Persons! The media has for many decades communicated with the general public at a vocabulary level of 5th to 8th Grade!
St. Thérèse of Lisieux used to lament that Jesus is so little loved because he is so little known―which the same concept as the philosophical axiom which states that you cannot love what you do not know―which also implies that you only love a little what you know little about! However, knowledge and understanding are two different things―you might know what a computer is, but you might not understand how it works; you might know what a computer-chip is, but not understand how it works; you may know what the law of gravity is, but lack the understanding to explain in detail; scientists and doctors are able to recognize a disease, but lack the understanding on how to cure it; from the weird sounds that you car makes you know that something is wrong with the car, but you lack the understanding to figure out exactly what is wrong with it. Yes―cannot love what we do not know―but we will love even more those things that we not only know, but also understand. Understanding can build upon the foundation of knowledge and thus increase the degree of love. If the greatest commandment is all about loving ― “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength! This is the greatest and the first commandment!” (Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31) ― then anything that can increase that love is bound to be of the greatest interest and importance!
I Wanna Know! I Wanna Know!
Everyone by nature wants to know—or at least be “in the know.” The advent of the internet and search engines fuels this desire to know everything about everyone everywhere! The ‘knowledge’ that most people have today is not acquired through traditional research, study, analysis and learning―but it is merely a “parrot-fashion” repetition of what turned-up after their “Google Search” ― without them really knowing whether the internet opinion or statement is true or false. There is little or no real intelligence that is able to filter-out the misinformation, disinformation, propaganda and outright lies. A lot of people know a lot of things―but they do not know if what they know is really worth knowing at all! We have arrived at the point where many people suffer from “information constipation” ― meaning that a lot of information goes into the mind, but little or nothing comes out of the mind! As Holy Scripture says: “Even a fool, if he will hold his tongue, shall be counted as being wise―and if he close his lips, shall be counted as a man of understanding” (Proverbs 17:28). “There is that fool after he was lifted up on high [with pride about what he things he knows]―for if he had understood, he would have laid his hand upon his mouth” (Proverbs 30:32). “Understand, ye senseless among the people! And, you fools, be wise at last!” (Psalm 93:8).
Between the Lines—Below the Surface
Some words express our thoughts with admirable accuracy. Though they may not be precise definitions, they are exact expressions of the object signified. Such is the Latin word “intelligere” (intus-legere: “to read interiorly, to penetrate”).
Let us try to be more precise. The Latins called it an “inner reading” — [which is another way of saying that which “stands under” or “stands beneath” the surface of things; therefore, a “deeper” knowledge, rather than a surface or superficial knowledge]. Understanding, then, is that power of the human soul, to descend beneath the surface of things, to pry into the hidden reality, it is that which breaks through the surface-shell, to reach the real substance therein enclosed.
Abstract
In the natural order, intelligence is the ability to perceive the abstract, the immaterial truth—we can contemplate abstract things like justice, mercy, fidelity, etc., which do not exist by themselves in a concrete way, like a tree for example. We understand and calculate with numbers and fractions, even though they do not exist in the concrete. In the supernatural order, intelligence penetrates higher truths. As the natural light of human reason makes us understand visible and sensible (see, hear, touch, taste, etc.) things, the supernatural light of the Gift of Understanding, of which we shall speak in this article, serves to penetrate supernatural truths and to reveal their intimate depths.
Understanding is More Than Knowing
On a purely natural and rational level, to know is not always to understand. I may know how to say a phrase in a foreign language without necessarily understanding what it means. I may know that my car won’t start, but I do not understand why. St. Ignatius Loyola, in his Spiritual Exercises, points out that it is not great knowledge which profits the soul, but the penetration and savoring of spiritual things. To find spiritual profit, we do not have to multiply readings and meditations: we should rather go to the heart of some few truths, understand them as much as we can, and delight in them. When the Spiritual Exercises are made correctly and well―or during a day of some other spiritual retreat, or simply whenever we meditate attentively on some supernatural truth or teaching―it seems that our soul is transformed, that we become another being. With the new light that has been given to us, our soul has a changed attitude toward spiritual things.
Through Him, With Him, In Him
Without God we can do nothing—“Without Me, you can do nothing!” (John 15:5). God is our light―“Jesus spoke to them, saying: ‘I am the light of the world: he that follows Me, walks not in darkness, but shall have the light of life … As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world’” (John 8:12; 9:5). “Wherefore He says: ‘Rise thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead―and Christ shall enlighten thee!’” (Ephesians 5:14).The teachings of God are meant “to enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death―to direct our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). When Christ ascended into Heaven, He sent us the Paraclete: “And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever. The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, nor knows Him―but you shall know Him, because He shall abide with you, and shall be in you … The Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you!” (John 14:16-17, 26).
Who Truly Understands Without God?
“God looked down from Heaven on the children of men―to see if there were any that did understand, or did seek God” (Psalm 52:3). “The steps of man are guided by the Lord―but who is the man that can understand his own way?” (Proverbs 20:24). “All men are vain, in whom there is not the knowledge of God―and who, by these good things that are seen, could not understand Him that is, neither by attending to the works have acknowledged Who was the Workman!” (Wisdom 13:1). “And who shall understand His ways?” (Ecclesiasticus 16:21). “‘My thoughts are not your thoughts! Nor your ways My ways!’ saith the Lord. ‘For as the Heavens are exalted above the Earth, so are My ways exalted above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts!’” (Isaias 55:8-9). “The senseless man shall not know, nor will the fool understand these things!” (Psalm 91:7). “Who, as it were, on purpose have revolted from Him, and would not understand all His ways” (Job 34:27). “Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be wise at last!” (Psalm 93:8). “O that they would be wise and would understand, and would provide for their last end!” (Deuteronomy 32:29). “They that trust in Him, shall understand the truth!” (Wisdom 3:9).
Limited Intelligence
But man’s intelligence―even if it be ever so powerful and penetrating―is nevertheless merely a created power; therefore it is a limited power, and by itself it can never overstep the limits set down to it by God. But, man is created for a supernatural end―for Heaven―and the means given him by God are contained in Revelation; they are a set of truths exceeding the natural capacity of human understanding. Now, if these truths of Revelation are really means to our end, then we must use them, but to use them we must first know them; but because they are above the power of the natural human mind, we need some supernatural aid, some Heavenly light to penetrate them. This supernatural light which the Holy Ghost gives to man is called the Gift of Understanding.
Gift of Understanding Surpasses Natural Understanding
This light of the Gift of Understanding does not proceed from the natural understanding; as no amount of reasoning of the most intelligent mind that the world ever saw or will see, could prove that God is one and at the same time three. The Gift of Understanding comes from the Holy Ghost and perfects our natural reason. Just as it is by natural reason that we grasp all natural truths, so it is by the supernatural Gift of Understanding we know those truths which exceed the power of our natural reason―such as the truth of the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnation, or the Redemption.
This is a distinct Gift. It is not human reason; neither is it the same as the theological virtue of Faith, whose characteristic it is to make us adhere to truths that are beyond the light of natural reason, because God has revealed them. The supernatural Gift of Understanding helps us to penetrate the depths of such supernatural truths, and to know them as far as that is possible for a creature of Earth. It differs also from the Gift of Knowledge―whose purpose is to distinguish, with certitude, truth from error. Such, therefore, is the hierarchy or order in the degrees of our knowledge of revealed truths. We know of their existence by Faith, we are rendered sure of their truth by Knowledge, then, the Gift of Understanding gives us as clear an insight of them as man can have here below.
Thus, we see that this supernatural Gift of Understanding is a special power for the intellect, given to those who, cooperating with the light of Faith and cooperating with the Spirit of God, receive over and above the light of natural reason, a power helping them to grasp the hidden meaning of truths beyond the natural range of human reason. This knowledge, like a powerful search-light, casts its penetrating rays, not only over the surface, but into the deep ocean of all the articles of Faith. It is not superficial―it is deep. It does remain on the surface of things―it penetrates the depth of things. It shows how they are all intimately connected, it points out their superiority over anything this Earth could give, over any truth soever, of which human reason may claim parentage, and it shows their beauty to be surpassing the splendor of any earthly truth.
The Gift of Understanding, then, is a supernatural habit, quality or perfection, with which our intelligence is enabled to know and comprehend the truths of Catholic Faith and all that are connected with them in greater depth; and by thus knowing them better and deeper, we are then led to love those teachings and truth, and, consequently, to live in conformity with the deeper knowledge of these teachings and truths.
The Three Lights
There are three lights that guide us in our passage through life―namely, Natural Human Reason, Supernatural Faith and the Supernatural Gift of Understanding. Reason is merely a weak oil-lamp, shining only a feeble glimmering light, and often glimmers most when we most need its assistance. It is barely sufficient to pierce the surface of the blackness of night, and will only let us see or make-out the objects that nearest at hand. Faith is like blazing torchlight, illumining and manifesting the way; but, alas, the rays of Faith do not go beyond a very limited horizon. Just look at Catholics―who certainly have the Faith, but whose knowledge is only very limited and superficial. Their knowledge is like bonfire―very limited as to how far it will shed its light―walk away ten or twenty yards and you are standing in darkness.
To give another example: I enter my room one evening, an hour after sunset, with my own eyes, unaided by any other light, I can barely distinguish the objects around me. I then light my lamp, and now, I can see them clearly. I can read and write at my desk with ease, though I cannot read my paper, ten feet from my light. Now, suppose I enter this same room at midday, I see everything clearly and distinctly and without the slightest effort.
The supernatural Gift of Understanding is the summer sun at noonday, dispelling all darkness and clouds, and shedding its penetrating light on everything beneath. The difference is clear. The Gift of Understanding does for us in the order of supernatural truths what the summer sun does in the order of natural ones. All these, truths are contained in Holy Scripture, but they are there in an obscure way, hidden under some mysterious veil of words or expressions; but the Gift we are considering pierces this veil or makes it transparent. It enables us to understand what we believe from the time we believe it explicitly.
The Apostles and the Gift of Understanding
The Apostles, before Pentecost, had reason and Faith―yet we are told that they knew not the Scriptures “And they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said” (Luke 18:34). “When Jesus was risen again from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had said” (John 2:22).
Nevertheless, in the immediate days after Our Lord’s resurrection, when Jesus appeared on various occasions to His Apostles and disciples, before the Apostles had received the Gifts of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost: “They, hearing that He was alive, did not believe! And after that He appeared in another shape to two disciples walking, as they were going into the country [to Emmaus]. Then Jesus said to them: ‘O foolish and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, Jesus explained to them in all the Scriptures, the things that were written concerning Him … And they, going back to Jerusalem, told it to the rest [of the Apostles and disciples] ― but neither did the Apostles believe them. At length Jesus appeared to the Eleven [Apostles] while they were at table, and He upbraided them with their lack of belief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He was risen again! … Then He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures” (Mark 16:11-14; Luke 24:26-27, 45). Even at His last moment on Earth, when He was about to ascend into Heaven, “seeing Him they adored―but some doubted!” (Matthew 28:17).
The Spirit of Understanding, in all its full glory, descended upon those poor uneducated Apostles at Pentecost ― enlightening and informing them ― making them, there and then, real suns in the sky of Heavenly doctrine, and their rays illumined the entire world. See how St. Peter expounded the Scriptures to the assembled nations on the first Pentecost morning; and see how the Spirit of Understanding enlightened the minds of his hearers, so that “they received his word, were baptized, and there were added on that day about three thousand souls … and the Lord increased daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:41, 47). With the skill of a master, St. Peter painted a verbal picture of the reign of Jesus, whilst his hearers―the Jews―truly penitent, confessing their guilt, embraced the truth, just like the child who, after a long absence, embraces his loving mother.
Raising Our Minds to New Heights
This Gift of Understanding not only aids our minds to know and understand Holy Scripture, but also it helps us to find the truth wherever it may be present. For some, this truth is manifested and verified in the science of theology. A case in point is St. Thomas Aquinas. He handles the most sublime truths with an ease and a grace which baffle all comprehension. In his case it was the Spirit of Understanding that passed into the “dumb Sicilian ox and, by his mouth, spoke to the world.” As Our Lord said: “Take no thought how or what to speak―for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak!” (Matthew 10:19).
For others, this Gift of Understanding is manifested and verified in philosophy, as is admirably portrayed in the life of St. Catherine, whose deep knowledge made the pagan philosophers blush for shame. For others still, this Gift of Understanding shines forth in their ordinary actions or conversations; and, thank God, it is more frequent than we think. And this is due to no human power, nor human aid, nor natural light―no, it is Faith perfected by the supernatural Gift of Understanding.
If people― Catholics especially―would only make that small effort required to possess such a treasure, what a veritable gold-mine would sermons, religious instruction and the history of the Church become! They would no longer be vain, boring sounds, but entering by the ear, they would be engraved on the heart, producing abundant fruit. What is the effort that is required? God will usually not manifest or “trigger” the Gift of Understanding in us until He sees that we are seriously trying to live the Faith―by learning and growing in our knowledge of the Faith, and are making good progress in growing in the many virtues that are required of us. Once He sees our seriousness about the Faith and the serious efforts we are making―then God will, in proportion, “trigger”, or activate, or manifest His supernatural Gift of Understanding within us.
Understanding Persecution
Today is not the first time that we are baffled by the fact that the Church is always persecuted and the world is always prosperous; and yet, we must believe that God is still in control over the world and the Church. Nation after nation has abandoned God. This is surely hard to understand, impossible to grasp, unless, by the light of the Gift of Understanding, we see in this Jesus Himself, our Head, persecuted, abandoned and contradicted by all, and yet He lives on. As it was with Jesus, our Head, so, too, it is with His Mystical Body, the Church. This warfare, though it becomes more brutal and savage with each century and decade, can never prevail against the Church. These events and countless others—the whole history of the world and Church—point always to the hand of God behind everything, when read and analyzed under the light of the supernatural Gift of Understanding.
This Gift of Understanding also acts upon our will. For, the clearer the mind sees a thing, then the more the heart loves it and adheres to it. Once we know and understand and love our Faith, then we are safe― Hell, with its deceit, the sophistry of the proud independent mind with its lies, the world with its derision, may all beat against the Ark of Faith, but in vain. We merely say “Credo” or “I believe” and nothing can disturb us. But, as with the wind shaking a tender oak tree, only serves to drive its roots more firmly into the ground; likewise, such storms and persecutions from outside only purify and strengthen our Faith, making us more fervent in serving God, more resistant against temptation, more resigned in poverty, more cheerful in adversity, more detached from life, and more constant in our endeavors and aspirations to the only reality of the future—God and Heaven. Yet, once again it must be stated that the Gifts of the Holy Ghost are not activated and manifest automatically and to same degree in all persons―it all depends upon our prior efforts in advancing in the virtues―especially the theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, as well as other moral virtues. As we sow, so shall we reap: “For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap” (Galatians 6:8). “He who sows sparingly, shall also reap sparingly” (2 Corinthians 9:6).
Effects of the Gift of Understanding
The Gift of Understanding produces admirable effects in the soul, and all of them perfect the virtue of Faith to the degree of incredible intensity and certainty that was attained in the saints. The Gift of Understanding reveals truths with such clarity that, without uncovering the mystery entirely, it gives souls such an unshakable security concerning the truth of our Faith, that they could not imagine the existence of unbelieving or undecided persons in matters of Faith. This is seen in mystical souls, in whom the Gift of Understanding has developed to an eminent degree. They would be more inclined to disbelieve anything that they saw with their own eyes, rather than to doubt in the slightest degree any of the truths of Faith.
This Gift of Understanding is most useful for theologians, and St. Thomas Aquinas possessed it to an extraordinary degree. It enables the theologian to penetrate into the depths of the revealed truth and to deduce later, by means of theological reasoning (discursus), the conclusions that are implicitly contained in these truths. The Angelic Doctor himself points out six different ways in which the Gift of Understanding enables us to penetrate into the depths and mystery of the truths of Faith (Cf. Summa, IIa-IIae, q. 8, art. 1). Here are those six ways:
(1) It enables us to see the substance of things hidden under their accidental manifestations.
In other words, it helps us see beneath the surface of things; it gives much more depth to superficial knowledge; it simplifies the complex. By the power of this divine instinct, the mystics perceive the Divine reality that is hidden under the Eucharistic veils. From this follows their obsession with the Eucharist, an obsession that becomes in them a veritable martyrdom of hunger and thirst. In their visits to the tabernacle they do not pour out many prayers or meditate, but merely contemplate the Divine Prisoner of Love with a simple and penetrating gaze that fills their souls with infinite peace and tenderness. As in the case of the simple peasant man, whom the St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars, daily saw sitting and staring at the tabernacle in his little church in Ars. Eventually St. John Vianney asked the peasant what he was doing by simply sitting and staring, with no prayer book or Rosary in his hands. To which the peasant man, possessed by the Holy Ghost, simply replied: “I look at Him and He looks at me!”
(2) It discloses the hidden meaning of Sacred Scripture.
This is what the Lord with the two disciples at Emmaus when “He opened their understanding so that they could understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). All the mystics have experienced this phenomenon. Without any biblical study, or any human assistance, the Holy Ghost suddenly discloses to them, with a most vivid intensity, the profound meaning of some statement in Scripture that immerses them in a deluge of light.
(3) It reveals to us the mysterious significance of symbols and figures.
Thus St. Paul saw Christ in the rock that gushed forth with living water to appease the thirst of the Israelites in the desert: “And the rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). St. John of the Cross reveals to us―with a startling mystical intuition―the moral, analogical and parabolic meaning of many of the symbols and figures of the Old Testament that reached their full realization or fulfillment in the New Testament, or in the life of grace.
(4) It reveals spiritual realities to us under sensible appearances.
The Liturgy of the Church is filled with sublime symbolism that, for the most part, escapes the notice of superficial souls. But the saints experience a great veneration and respect for the “smallest ceremony of the Church” (St. Teresa, The Life, p. 226, chap. 33, n. 5), which floods their soul with devotion and tenderness. The Gift of Understanding enables them to see the sublime realities that are hidden beneath those symbols and sensible signs.
(5) It enables us to contemplate the effects that are contained in causes.
As Father Philipon writes: “There is another aspect of the Gift of Understanding that is particularly noticeable in the case of contemplative theologians. After the hard work of human study, everything suddenly becomes luminous, under an impulse of the Spirit. A new world is seen … Christ-the-Priest, the One Mediator between Heaven and Earth, or Mary the Virgin Co-Redemptrix, bearing spiritually in her womb all the members of the Mystical Body; the Unity of Essence with the Trinity of Persons … All are truths which the Gift of Understanding can penetrate effortlessly and fruitfully in the very light of God” (Fr. M. M. Philipon, O.P., The Spiritual Doctrine of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, p. 180-181, chap. 8, n. 7).
(6) It makes us see causes through their effects.
Father Philipon continues: “Inversely, the Gift of Understanding reveals God and His almighty causality of effects, without working the long, discursive journeyings of human thought left to its own resources, but by a simple, comparative gaze and by intuition, ‘after the manner of God.’ In almost imperceptible signs and in the smallest events of its life, a soul, that is attentive to the Holy Ghost, suddenly discovers God’s providential plan in its regard” (M. M. Philipon, O.P., The Spiritual Doctrine of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, p.180-181, chap. 8, n. 7).
Such are the principal effects that the activation of the Gift of Understanding produces in the soul. One can see that, perfected by this Gift of Understanding, the virtue of Faith reaches an astounding intensity. The veils of mystery are never parted in this life—“we see now through a glass in a dark manner” (1 Corinthians 13:12)―but its unfathomable depths are penetrated by the soul with an experience that is so clear and deep, that it approaches the intuitive vision. St. Thomas Aquinas, a model of serenity and reserve in all his statements, writes the following words: “In this very life, when the eye of the spirit is purified by the Gift of Understanding, one can, in a certain way, see God” (Summa, Ia-IIae, q. 69, art. 2, ad 3).
Vices Opposed to the Gift of Understanding
St. Thomas dedicates an entire question to the study of the vices that are opposed to the Gift of Understanding (Summa, IIa-IIae, q. 15). They are mainly two: (1) spiritual blindness and (2) dullness of the spiritual sense. In a simplistic way, you could say one is totally blind, the other is partially blind. The verses of Holy Scripture that could possibly apply to these two states are: “O foolish people without understanding: who have eyes, and see not: and ears, and hear not!” (Jeremias 5:21) … “Seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand!” (Matthew 13:13) … “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a provoking house: who have eyes to see, and see not: and ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a provoking house” (Ezechiel 12:2) ... “The sensual man perceives not these things that are of the Spirit of God―for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand” (1 Corinthians 2:14) ... “They have not known, nor understood: for their eyes are covered that they may not see, and that they may not understand with their heart” (Isaias 44:18) … “Do you not yet know nor understand? Have you still your heart blinded? Having eyes, see you not? And having ears, hear you not? Neither do you remember!” (Mark 8:17-18) … “Leave them alone! They are blind, and leaders of the blind! And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit!” (Matthew 15:14).
The first, SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS, is the complete lack of vision (blindness); the second, DULLNESS OF THE SPIRITUAL SENSE, is a notable weakening of vision (myopia). Both of them proceed from carnal sins (lust and gluttony), and, because of that, there is nothing that is such an impediment to the light of the intellect—even naturally speaking—as the vehement attachment to the corporal, fleshly, material, physical things that are contrary to it. For that reason, LUST, with its greater vehemence, produces spiritual blindness, which excludes almost completely the knowledge and appreciation of spiritual goods, and GLUTTONY produces dullness of the spiritual sense, which weakens man as regards this knowledge and appreciation in a way similar to the blunting or dulling of a sharp and pointed object—a nail, for example—that should easily penetrate a wall (Summa, IIa-IIae, q. 15, art. 3). This again proves the earlier mentioned point that the Gifts of the Holy Ghost will only work in proportion to the efforts we are making in growing spiritually, especially in growth of virtues―and lust and gluttony are not virtues, but vices.
A contemporary author writes: “This blindness of mind is that which is suffered by all lukewarm souls; for they possess the Gift of Understanding, but their mind is engulfed with the things of this world. They are lacking in interior recollection and the spirit of prayer; they are constantly pouring themselves [into the things of the world] out through the channels of the senses, without any attentive or constant consideration of divine truths. Hence they never arrive at discovering the exalted clarity that is hidden in their obscurity. For that reason we see that very frequently they are easily deceived and mistaken when they speak of spiritual things; or of the delicacy and fine points of divine love; or of the first stages of the mystical life; or of the heights of sanctity―and that, sometimes, they engage themselves in external works that are covered with the veil of human evaluations, and they consider as exaggerations, or eccentricities, the delicacies that the Holy Ghost asks of souls.
“These are the souls who wish ‘to go by the cow-path,’ as one says rustically. They are attached to the Earth, and for that reason the Holy Ghost cannot raise them into the air with His divine motion and breathing. They are busy making sand-piles, by which they think they can reach Heaven. They suffer that spiritual blindness that prevents them from seeing the infinite holiness of God; the marvel that grace works in souls; the heroism of abnegation that He asks of souls to correspond to His immense love; the foolishness of love, by which the soul is led to the folly of the Cross. Such lukewarm souls think nothing of venial sins and perceive [notice, see] only those sins that are more serious―as a result, they ignore what are commonly called “imperfections”. They are blind because they never take into their hands the torch that would give light in this dark space (2 Peter 1:19), and many times, in their presumption, they attempt to guide others who are blind! (Matthew 15:14).
“He who suffers such a blindness, or shortsightedness in his interior vision, which prevents him from penetrating the things of Faith, cannot be free of fault [sin], because of his negligence and carelessness, or because of the boredom that he experiences in regard to spiritual things―since he loves more those things that appeal to the senses” (I. Menendez-Reigada, O.P., Los dones del Espiritu Santo y la perfeccion cristiana, pp. 593-94).
Hello Sin! Goodbye Holy Ghost!
History certainly repeats itself. A Catholic can have the Faith, but if, by mortal sin, he has lost its life-giving principle of activity, then Holy Scripture is nothing more than a sealed book, whose very appearance brings fatigue and, what is still worse, disgust! Why? Because with his soul being in the state of mortal sin, the Holy Ghost justly withdraws all His Gifts from that soul.
How many of us read and do not understand! And it is our own fault! Nevertheless, Holy Scripture is the word of God, a letter from our Father’s home, the bread of our souls, the mirror of our hearts and the guide of our lives. It is the Book we should read the most―but we read it the least. It is the Book we should understand most, whereas we understand it least of all. The reason is not far to seek―it is because we have not the Gift of Understanding; and we have not this Gift because our souls are not free from sin, and we are not working hard at growing spiritually in general, and growing in the virtues in particular. God will not reward sinfulness, lukewarmness, indifference and neglect! Once again, God will only reward us in proportion to the efforts we are making. The Gifts of the Holy Ghost are precious items―and, as Our Lord said: “Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine!” (Matthew 7:6).
Unmoved By Religion
You believe in God, in Jesus, in Calvary, in Heaven and in Hell. These are consoling and terrible truths yet despite knowing of these things, you admit that they make only a slight impression on you. Why? Because the Gift of Understanding is lacking. And if you do not have the Gift of Understanding, then you have its contraries, the base, low vices of gluttony, avarice and lust. Here is how a Doctor of the Church explains it. Gluttony is an inordinate love of eating and drinking. It is the flesh fighting and conquering the spirit. It is man in company with the lower creation; and if this inordinate love becomes a habit, it throws the entire man on bended knee before his new god—his stomach: “Whose God is their belly; and whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things!” (Philippians 3:19). Gluttony, as the Church Fathers teach us, leads to lust. Avarice can also be said to part of this family of covetousness―for gluttony covets or desires good and drink; lust covets and desires impurity and sex; avarice covets and desires wealth and possessions. All of these forms of covetousness blind the mind and prevent the soul from looking further afield for its happiness and joy.
The first effect of this disorder is that the intelligence becomes dull. The soul and body are like two plates of a balance, or the opposite ends of a see-saw―when the one mounts the other descends. So, by excess of eating and drinking the body develops and the mind becomes heavy, lazy and unfit for study and incapable of any serious intellectual activity. This results in superficiality, where understanding is deeper than superficiality or surface knowledge―it digs down deep to see what is beneath the surface of things. The more we eat, the less we think―or we think with our bellies. For the slave of gluttony, the most important truths are as if they did not even exist―they mean nothing at all, or very little. St. Paul says, “The sensual man perceives not the things that are of the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:14) but “the things that are of the Spirit” are that series of supernatural truths which make up the deposit of Catholic belief.
A second effect of this vice is a senseless worldly hilarity, joyfulness, fun-centered spirit, which may be manifested in countless ways: this is nothing more than the victorious battle-cry of the flesh, when it has conquered the mind or soul. This is nothing more than the lack of the Spirit of Understanding. For, the glutton does not see that life is a trial and that Christian life should be a perpetual prayer and penance. He makes it a perpetual play and pleasure. He forgets or despises these words of Divine Truth, “Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3) and “Pray without ceasing!” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). For the glutton, heavenly truths really “waste their sweetness in the desert air.”
Means to Foster This Gift
As we have said repeatedly, the actuation or activation of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost depends entirely on the Divine Spirit Himself. However, the soul can do much by disposing itself, with the help of grace, for this divine actuation or activation. “For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap” (Galatians 6:8). “He who sows sparingly, shall also reap sparingly” (2 Corinthians 9:6). St. Teresa of Avila, a Doctor of the Church, writes: “Although this work is performed by the Lord, and we can do nothing to make His Majesty grant us this favor, we can do a great deal to prepare ourselves for it” (St. Teresa, Interior Castle, Fifth Mansions, chap. 2, n. 1). The Saint is referring to the contemplative prayer of union, which is an effect of the Gifts of Understanding and Wisdom. The following points are the principal means of disposing oneself for this divine actuation or activation of the Gift of Understanding:
(1) To enliven Faith with the help of ordinary grace.
Just as it is with muscles, the infused virtues are perfected by their increasingly intense practice. This is an excellent disposition which will allow the Holy Ghost to perfect the virtues with His Gifts, if the soul does all that it can by the ascetical practices (spiritual exercises) that are within its reach and capacity. It is a fact that God, according to His ordinary providence, gives His graces to those who are best disposed. Yet how few are the number of souls who seriously seek to acquire, practice and grow in all the virtues! St. Teresa of Avila speaks beautifully on this point in many ways. “Unless you have omitted to prepare yourselves for your work, you need have no fear that it will be lost!” (The Way of Perfection, chap. 18, n. 3). “Their disposition [exercise of virtues] is such that He will grant them any favor!” (Interior Castle, Third Mansions, chap. 1, n. 5).
(2) Perfect purity of soul and body.
As we have already seen, the sixth beatitude, which pertains to the clean of heart, corresponds to the Gift of Understanding: “Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God!” (Matthew 5:8). Only through perfect cleanness of soul and body is one made capable of seeing God―seeing God in this life, by the profound illumination of the Gift of Understanding in the obscurity of Faith; seeing God in the next life, through the clear vision of glory. Impurity is incompatible with either one.
(3) Interior recollection.
The Holy Ghost is the friend of recollection and solitude. Only there does He speak in silence to souls. “I will lead her into the wilderness: and I will speak to her heart” (Osee 2:14). “When you shall pray, enter into your room and, having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret―and your Father, Who sees in secret, will repay you!” (Matthew 6:6). “And having dismissed the multitude, Jesus went into a mountain to pray alone” (Matthew 14:23) … “And rising very early, going out, Jesus went into a desert place, and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35). “And Jesus retired into the desert and prayed” (Luke 5:16). “And when Jesus had dismissed them, He went up to the mountain to pray” (Mark 6:46).
The soul that is a friend of dissipation and worldliness will never perceive the word of God in its interior: “Go forth and stand upon the mountain before the Lord! And behold, the Lord passes, and a great and strong wind before the Lord over throwing the mountains, and breaking the rocks in pieces―the Lord is not in the wind! And after the wind an earthquake―the Lord is not in the earthquake! And after the earthquake a fire―the Lord is not in the fire! And after the fire―a whistling of a gentle air!” That is quiet voice of God (3 Kings 19:11-12). “And thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing thee behind thy back: ‘This is the way! Walk ye in it! And go not aside―neither to the right hand, nor to the left!’” (Isaias 30:21).
It is necessary to empty oneself of all created things, to retire to the cell of one’s own heart in order to live there with the Divine Guest, until the soul gradually succeeds in always preserving the sense of God’s presence, even amidst the most absorbing occupations. When the soul has done all that it can to be recollected and detached from the world, the Holy Ghost will do the rest: “The Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth … shall abide with you, and shall be in you ... He will convict the world of sin! … He will teach you all truth. The things that are to come, He shall show you!” (John 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:7-13).
(4) Fidelity to grace.
The soul must be always attentive and careful not to deny the Holy Ghost any sacrifice that He may ask. “Oh, today if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Psalm 94:8). Not only must the soul avoid every voluntary thought, however small, that would sadden the Holy Ghost—according to the mysterious expression of St. Paul: “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30)—but it must positively second all His divine movements until it can say with Christ: “I do always the things that please Him” (John 8:29). Our love of God is shown by our fidelity or faithfulness to God―as Christ says: “If you love Me, keep My commandments … He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them; he it is that loveth Me … If anyone love Me, he will keep My word … He that loveth Me not, keepeth not My words!” (John 14:15, 14:21-24). On the other hand, Christ also says: “Why call you Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
It does not matter if sometimes the sacrifices that He asks of us seem to be beyond our strength. With God’s grace, all things are possible. “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) … “The things that are impossible with men, are possible with God!” (Luke 18:27). And there is always left to us the recourse of prayer, to ask the Lord in advance for that which He wishes us to give to Him: “Grant what Thou dost command and command what Thou wilt” (St. Augustine, Confessions, Book 10, chapter 29). In any case, in order to avoid anxiety in the matter of fidelity to grace, we should always rely on the rule and counsel of a wise and experienced spiritual director.
(5) Invoking the Holy Ghost.
We cannot practice any of these methods without the help and antecedent grace of the Holy Ghost. For that reason we must invoke Him frequently and with the greatest possible fervor, remembering the promise of Jesus to send the Holy Ghost to us (John 14:16-17).
The hymns “Come Holy Ghost” and “Come O Creator Spirit Blest”, and the liturgical prayer (collect) for the feast of Pentecost, should be, after the Our Father and the Hail Mary, the favorite prayers of interior souls. We should repeat them often until we attain that true understanding that the Holy Ghost can give us.
And, in imitation of the Apostles, when they retired to the Cenacle to await the coming of the Paraclete, we should associate our supplications with those of the Immaculate Heart of Mary— “All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with … Mary the mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14)—the Virgin most faithful and the Heavenly spouse of the Holy Ghost.
The beautiful invocation of the litany of the Blessed Virgin, “Virgin most faithful, pray for us,” should be one of the favorite ejaculations of the souls that thirst for God. The Divine Spirit will be communicated to us in the measure of our fidelity to grace, and this fidelity must be obtained through Mary, the universal Mediatrix of all graces by will of God.