Gift of Wisdom

WORDS OF WARNING!

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

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

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

THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST
7. THE GIFT OF WISDOM

Who Needs Wisdom?
Who is it that needs wisdom? Fools need wisdom―for fools are unwise! “Wisdom is too high for a fool!” (Proverbs 24:7). “Understand, ye senseless among the people! And, you fools, be wise at last!” (Psalm 93:8). “The number of fools is infinite” (Ecclesiastes 1:15). “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools!” (Romans 1:22). “The fool esteems all men to be fools, whereas he himself is a fool!” (Ecclesiastes 10:3). “A friend of fools shall become like them!” (Proverbs 13:20). “The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, but the heart of fools is where there is mirth” (Ecclesiastes 7:5). “He that trusts in his own heart, is a fool―but he that walks wisely, he shall be saved” (Proverbs 28:26).

God Speaks of Wisdom in Scripture
“All wisdom is from the Lord God!” (Ecclesiasticus 1:1). “For wisdom came forth from God … the wisdom of God is great!” (Ecclesiasticus 15:10, 19). “The desire of wisdom brings one to the everlasting kingdom!” (Wisdom 6:21). “For God loves none but him that dwells with wisdom!” (Wisdom 7:28). “Get wisdom―because it is better than gold!” (Proverbs 16:16). “Better is wisdom than weapons of war!” (Ecclesiastes 9:18). “Wisdom is better than strength―and a wise man is better than a strong man!” (Wisdom 6:1). “Wisdom has delivered from sorrow!” (Wisdom 10:9). “He that rejects wisdom and discipline, is unhappy and his hope is vain!” (Wisdom 3:11). “I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me!” (Wisdom 7:7). “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and understanding, and knowledge!” (Exodus 31:3). “And God has given to me to speak … because He is the guide of wisdom and the director of the wise!” (Wisdom 7:15).

The Wisdom of De Montfort
St. Louis de Montfort, in his book Love of Eternal Wisdom, speaks of true and false wisdom: “There is the Wisdom of God, the only true Wisdom that deserves to be loved as a great Treasure. There is also the wisdom of the corrupt world which must be condemned and detested as evil and pernicious. Moreover, there is the wisdom of the philosophers which we must despise when it is not true philosophy, and because it is often dangerous to salvation.

“The wisdom of the world is that of which it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise’ (1 Corinthians 1:19) according to the world. ‘The wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God’ (Romans 8:7) … ‘This is not the wisdom descending from above, but earthly, sensual, devilish’ (James 3:15). This worldly wisdom consists in the exact compliance with the maxims and the fashions of the world; in a continuous trend toward greatness and esteem. It is a secret and unceasing pursuit of pleasures and personal interests, not in a gross and open manner so as to cause scandal, but in a secret, deceitful and scheming fashion. Otherwise, it would not be what the world calls wisdom, but rank licentiousness.

“Those who proceed according to the wisdom of the world are those who know how to manage well their affairs and to arrange things to their temporal advantage without appearing to do so; who know the art of deceiving and how to cleverly cheat without being noticed; who say or do one thing and have another thing in mind; who are thoroughly acquainted with the way and the flattery of the world; who know how to please everybody in order to reach their goal, not troubling much about the honor and interests of God; who make a secret but deadly fusion of truth with untruth, of the Gospel with the world, of virtue with vice, of Jesus Christ with Satan; who wish to pass as honest people but not as religious men; who despise and corrupt or readily condemn every religious practice which does not conform to their own. In short, the worldly wise are those who, being guided only by their human senses and reason, seek only to appear as Christian and honest folk, without troubling much to please God or to do penance for the sins which they have committed against His divine Majesty.

“THE EARTHLY WISDOM spoken of by St. James is an excessive striving for worldly goods. The worldly-wise make a secret profession of this type of wisdom when they allow themselves to become attached to their earthly possessions, when they strive to become rich, when they go to law and bring useless actions against others in order to acquire or to keep temporal goods; when their every thought, word and deed is mainly directed toward obtaining or retaining something temporal. As to working out their eternal salvation and making use of the means to do so, such as reception of the Sacraments and prayer, they accomplish these duties only carelessly, in a very off-hand manner, once in a while, and for the sake of appearances.

“SENSUAL WISDOM is a lustful desire for pleasure. The worldly wise make a profession of it when they seek only the satisfaction of the senses; when they are inordinately fond of entertainment; when they shun whatever mortifies and inconveniences the body, such as fasting and other austerities; when they continually think of eating, drinking, playing, laughing, amusing themselves and having an agreeable time; when they eagerly seek after soft beds, merry games, sumptuous feasts and fashionable society. Then, after having unscrupulously indulged in all these pleasures—perhaps without displeasing the world or injuring their health—they look for “the least scrupulous” confessor (such is the name they give to those easygoing confessors who shirk their duty) that they may receive from him, at little cost, the peaceful sanction of their soft and effeminate life, and a plenary indulgence for all their sins. I say, at little cost, for these sensually wise want as penance the recitation of only a few prayers, or the giving of an alms, because they dislike what afflicts the body.

“DEVILISH WISDOM consists in an unlawful striving for human esteem and honors. This is the wisdom which the worldly wise profess when they aim, although not openly, at greatness, honors, dignities and high positions; when they wish to be seen, esteemed, praised and applauded by men; when in their studies, their works, their endeavors their words and actions, they seek only the good opinion and praise of men so that they may be looked upon as pious people, as men of learning, as great leaders, as clever lawyers, as people of boundless and distinguished merit, or deserving of high consideration; while they cannot bear an insult or a rebuke; or they cover up their faults and make a show of their fine qualities.” (St. Louis de Montfort, Love of Eternal Wisdom).

Tasting True Wisdom
The word “wisdom” comes from the Latin word “sapientia.” The very sound is delicious. “Sapientia” actually means “tasting knowledge”—knowledge that is delightful and not merely notional or abstract. It is like the experience of tasting fruit, a very different experience from reading about it in a dictionary.

Is it really possible to taste God? The answer is yes--“O taste and see that the Lord is sweet!” (Psalm 33:9)—but we cannot bring it about by our own efforts. We can only prepare ourselves for it by reducing the obvious obstacles we can perceive and by allowing the action of divine love to purify our unconscious motivation. “Wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins!” (Wisdom 1:4). “You have found Wisdom,” says St. Bernardine of Sienna, “if you weep for the sins of your past life, if you value as naught that which this world most desires, and if all your longing is centered around your eternal happiness!”

True Wisdom
Wisdom imparts to us a knowledge and a love of everything divine, in the highest possible way, and enables us also to judge created things after a divine standard. It is a summing up of all the Gifts, their blossom and their perfection. It is the last step we make in our ascent to God. “The fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom! … The root of Wisdom is to fear the Lord!” (Ecclesiasticus 1:16; 1:25).

The Gift of Wisdom is, therefore, a participation of God’s Wisdom. This close union with God necessarily means participation in God’s Wisdom. “But he who is joined to the Lord,” says St. Paul, “is one spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:17). Hence, it follows that the Gift of Wisdom is not for Saints alone; no, it exists in the soul of each and every one of the faithful who is free from mortal sin; and we all possess as much of it as is necessary for salvation.

The Gift of Wisdom gives to the soul is incomparably superior to all human sciences, even theology, which already possesses something of divine. For that reason, a simple and uneducated soul, who lacks the theological knowledge acquired by study, may sometimes possess, through the Gift of Wisdom, a profound knowledge of divine things that causes amazement even to eminent theologians. Such was the case of St. Teresa and many other souls who had no scientific studies whatsoever.

The Nature of the Gift of Wisdom
The Gift of Wisdom is a supernatural habit, inseparable from Charity (a love of God), by which we judge rightly concerning God and divine things through their ultimate and highest causes under the special instinct of the Holy Ghost, Who makes us taste these things by a certain connaturality and sympathy. We shall explain this definition in order to gain a clear idea of the true nature of this great Gift.

“It is a supernatural habit”: Like all the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, it is infused by God in the soul together with grace and the infused virtues.

“Inseparable from Charity”: It is precisely the Gift of Wisdom that perfects charity by giving it the divine modality it lacks as long as Charity is subject to the rule of human reason, even illumined by Faith. By reason of its connection with Charity, all the souls in the state of grace possess the Gift of Wisdom as a habit—though in differing degrees—and it is incompatible with mortal sin. The same is true of all the other Gifts.

“By which we judge rightly”: In this, as in other things, it is distinguished from the Gift of Understanding. It is proper to the Gift of Understanding to have a penetrating and profound intuition of the truths of Faith in the order of simple apprehension, without making any judgment concerning them. Such a judgment is made by the other intellectual Gifts, but in different ways: The Gift of Wisdom judges concerning divine things; the Gift of Knowledge judges concerning created things; the Gift of Counsel judges concerning the application of these things to our concrete actions.

Seeing Things God’s Way
Too often we try to make God see things our way, yet God says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts! Nor your ways My ways! 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 Gift of Wisdom provides us with God’s view of things, a kind of divine perspective on reality that penetrates through events and perceives the divine presence and action at work, even in very tragic and painful situations. To see God in suffering is indeed a high level of the Gift of Wisdom. Some things are to be learned in this perspective that cannot be learned in any other way.

The Necessity of the Gift of Wisdom
The Gift of Wisdom is absolutely necessary if the virtue of charity is to develop to its full perfection and plenitude. Precisely because charity is the most excellent of all the virtues and the most perfect and divine, it demands by its very nature the divine regulation of the divine wisdom. Left to itself, or to the control of man in the ascetical state, it would have to be regulated by human reason according to the human mode. But this human atmosphere asphyxiates it, preventing it from flying to the heights.

Charity is a divine virtue and has wings for soaring to Heaven, but it is obliged to move along the Earth, because it is under the control of human reason and because, in a certain sense, it is necessary to compromise, in accordance with prudence, due to its weak condition. Only when it begins to receive the full influence of the Gift of Wisdom is there given to Charity the divine atmosphere and modality that it needs as the most perfect of all the theological virtues. Then Charity begins to breathe and to expand in its proper element.

As an inevitable consequence, it begins to grow and to increase rapidly, carrying the soul with it as if in flight, soaring to regions of the mystical life and to the very summit of perfection, which it never could have done if it had remained under the control of human reason in the purely ascetical state.

The Mystical State is Meant For Everyone
From this sublime doctrine follow two inevitable conclusions. The first is that the mystical state—the habitual or predominant regime of the Gifts—is not something abnormal and extraordinary in the full development of the Christian life, but it is the normal atmosphere which grace, as a divine form, demands―so that it can develop in all its virtualities through the operative principles of the infused virtues, and especially through the theological virtues (Faith, Hope and Charity), which are substantially divine. Therefore, the mystical state ought to be something normal in the Christian life, and it is, as a matter of fact, normal in every perfect Christian.

Who’s the Boss? Gift or Virtue?
The second conclusion is that an actuation or activation of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost in merely the human mode—a kind of demotion for the Gifts—besides being impossible and absurd, would be utterly useless for the perfection of the infused virtues, and especially the theological virtues. The theological virtues are superior by their nature to the Gifts themselves. The Theological Virtues have as direct and immediate object God Himself (believed, hoped for or loved), while the Gifts fall directly upon the Infused Virtues (something very distinct from God) to perfect them.

An analogy―though imperfect―would liken the Gifts of the Holy Ghost to gasoline, oil and water that you put into a car (which represents the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity). The car (Theological Virtues) is more important the gasoline, oil and water (the Gifts of the Holy Ghost)―which are there to perfect the car and help it work and run.

Therefore it is evident that the Theological Virtues are, by their own nature, superior to the Gifts of the Holy Ghost themselves. On the other hand, looked upon from the perspective of their way of acting, the Gifts of the Holy Ghost are superior to all Infused Virtues—including the Theological ones—by their divine way of acting (being direct and immediate instruments of the Holy Ghost, and not instruments of the soul in a state of grace, like the virtues). More briefly, the theological virtues are superior to the Gifts by their theological nature, while the Gifts are superior to them by their divine operation (Cf. St. Thomas, Summa, Ia-IIae, q. 68, art. 8).

Effects of the Gift of Wisdom
By reason of its elevation and grandeur and by reason of the sublimity of the virtue that it perfects, the effects which wisdom produces in the soul are truly remarkable. The following are the more characteristic effects of this Gift.

(1) It Gives to the Saints a Divine Sense By Which They Judge All Things
This is the most impressive of all the effects of the Gift of Wisdom so far as they are manifested externally. One would say that the saints have completely lost the human instinct, or the human manner of judgment, and that it has been replaced by a certain divine instinct by which they judge all things. They see everything from God’s point of view―whether it is the little, commonplace episodes of daily life, or the great international events. In all things they see the hand of God. They never attach their attention to immediate secondary causes, but pass them by, to arrive immediately at the Supreme Cause of all that happens, Who governs and rules them from above.

The saints would have to do a great violence to themselves in order to descend to the point of view that judges from a purely human and rational standard. An insult, or any other injury, that is done to them causes them to turn immediately to God―Who is the one who wishes or permits that they be exercised in patience and thus increase their glory. They do not dwell for an instant on the secondary cause―which is the evil or malice of men―but they rise immediately to God and judge all things from the divine heights. They do not consider something (whether sickness, persecution, death, or the like) disgraceful in the way that the men of the world do, but they consider as disgraceful only that which God would consider such―namely, sin, lukewarmness, infidelity to grace, and so on. Like St. Teresa of Avila, they do not understand how the world can consider as treasures those little baubles that sparkle and glitter―because they see clearly that there is no treasure apart from God and the things that lead to God. As St. Aloysius Gonzaga used to say: “Of what avail is this to me for eternity, for the glory of God?” This is the Saints’ only differential criteria for judging the value of things.

The Gift of Wisdom shone most brilliantly in St. Thomas Aquinas, among many other saints. He possessed a remarkable supernatural instinct in discovering in all things the divine aspect by which they were related to God. There is no other way of explaining his divine instinct and insight except that the Gift of Wisdom operated in him in an eminent degree (Cf. Antoine Gardeil, O.P., The Gifts of the Holy Ghost in the Dominican Saints (Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co., 1937), chap. 8).

In modern times, an admirable example of the operation of the Gift of Wisdom is Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity. According to Father Philipon, who studied her case profoundly, the Gift of Wisdom was the outstanding characteristic of the doctrine and life of this saintly Carmelite nun of Dijon (Cf. M. M. Philipon, The Spiritual Doctrine of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, chap. 8, n. 8). She was perfectly aware of her sublime vocation and even succeeded in contemplating the Trinity, so that she experienced the distinct Persons of the Trinity present in her soul. The greatest trials and sufferings were unable to disturb for a moment her inexpressible peace of soul. No matter what misfortunes befell her, she remained as unmoved and tranquil as if her soul were already in eternity.

(2) It Makes the Saints Live the Mysteries of Faith in an Entirely Divine Manner
As Father Philipon says: “The Gift of Wisdom is the royal Gift―by it, souls enter most closely into participation of the deiform mode of divine knowledge. Short of the beatific vision―which is the fullest measure of this Gift―it is impossible to rise any higher. It is the gaze of the ‘Word breathing forth love’ communicated to the soul, which judges of everything in the light of the highest and most divine causes, and judges them also for the highest reasons ‘after the manner of God.’

“The divinized soul that has been introduced by charity into the intimacy of the Divine Persons and, as it were, into the heart of the Trinity is so moved by the Spirit of Love that it contemplates all things from this center, this indivisible point from which they appear to it as they do to God Himself. Thus does it view the divine attributes, creation, redemption, glory, the hypostatic order, the smallest happenings in the world. So far as it is possible to mere creatures, it tends to see from the same angle of vision as that from which God sees Himself and the whole universe. It is the deiform manner of contemplation in the light of the experience of the Deity that fills the soul with inexpressible sweetness (Summa, Ia-IIae, q. 112, a. 5).

“To understand this, we must understand that God can only see things in Himself: in His causality. It is not directly in themselves that He knows His creatures, or in the movement of contingent and temporal causes which govern their activity. He beholds them eternally in His Son. He judges of every event of Providence in the light of His Essence and His Glory” (Fr. M. M. Philipon, The Spiritual Doctrine of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, chap. 8, n. 8, pp. 181-182).

The soul that becomes a participant in this divine mode of knowledge by means of the Gift of Wisdom penetrates into the unsounded depths of the Divinity, and it contemplates all things through the divine. One would say that St. Paul was thinking of such souls when he wrote: “The Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10).

(3) It Makes Them Live in Union with the three Divine Persons
It makes them live in union with the three Divine Persons through an inexpressible participation in Their Trinitarian life. We look again to Father Philipon:

“While the Gift of Knowledge acts by an ascending movement, raising the soul from creatures to God, and the Gift of Understanding penetrates all God’s mysteries from without and within by a simple loving gaze, the Gift of Wisdom may be said never to leave the very heart of the Trinity. It looks at everything from that indivisible center. Thus deiform, the soul can see things only from Their highest and most divine motives. The whole movement of the universe, down to its tiniest atoms, thus lies beneath its gaze in the all-pure light of the Trinity and of the divine attributes, and it beholds them in order, according to the rhythm with which these things proceed from God. Creation, redemption, hypostatic order―it sees all, even evil, ordained to the greater glory of the Trinity.

“Finally, it looks aloft, rising above justice, mercy, prudence and all the divine attributes. Then it suddenly discovers all these uncreated perfections in their eternal Source―in the Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Ghost―which infinitely surpasses all our narrow human concepts and leaves God incomprehensible and inexpressible, even to the gaze of the blessed, and even to the beatified gaze of Christ. It beholds that God, Who is supereminent in His simplicity, is simultaneously Unity in Trinity, indivisible Essence and fellowship of three living Persons, really distinct according to an order of procession that does not affect their consubstantial Equality.

“Human eye could never have discovered such a mystery, nor could human ear have caught such harmonies, and the human heart could never have suspected such beatitude had not the Godhead stooped to us by grace in Christ, in order that we might enter into the unfathomable depths of God under the guidance of His own Spirit” (Fr. M. M. Philipon, The Spiritual Doctrine of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, chap. 8, n. 8, p. 183).

The soul that has reached these heights never departs from God. If the duties of one’s state should so demand, it gives itself externally to all types of work, even the most absorbing work, with an unbelievable activity; but in the most profound center of the soul, as St. John of the Cross used to say, it experiences and perceives the divine company of the Three, and does not abandon Them for an instant. In such souls, Martha and Mary have been joined in an inexpressible manner, so that the prodigious activity of Martha in no way compromises the peace and tranquility of Mary, who remains day and night in silent contemplation at the feet of the Divine Master. For such a soul, life on Earth is the beginning of eternal beatitude.

(4) It Raises the Virtue of Charity to Heroism
This is precisely the purpose of the Gift of Wisdom. Freed from human bondage and receiving in full the divine atmosphere that the Gift gives, the fire of charity reaches tremendous proportions. It is incredible what the love of God can do in souls that are under the operations of the Gift of Wisdom. Its most impressive effect is the complete and total death of self.

Such souls love God with a pure love only for His infinite goodness and without the mixture of any human motive or self-interest. True, they do not renounce their hope of Heaven; they desire it more than ever, but they desire it primarily because there they shall be able to love God with even greater intensity and without any interruption. If it were possible to glorify God more in Hell than in Heaven, they would without hesitation prefer the eternal torments. It is the definitive triumph of grace and the total death of one’s own self. Then one begins to fulfill the first commandment of the law of God in all the fullness that is compatible with the state of misery and weakness on Earth.

This sentiment has been experienced by many saints. We mention only St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who expresses it with such simple yet sublime delicacy: “One evening, not knowing in what words to tell Jesus how much I loved Him, and how much I wished that He might be everywhere honored and served, the sad thought forced itself upon my mind that, from the depths of Hell, there would never go up to Him one single act of love. From my inmost heart I then cried out that I would gladly be cast into that place of torment and blasphemy to make Him eternally loved even there. Of course this could not be for His glory, since He desires only our happiness, but love must needs speak foolishly!” (Autobiography, chap. 5).

As regards one’s neighbor, charity also reaches a sublime perfection through the Gift of Wisdom. Accustomed to seeing God in all things, even in the most tiny details of daily life, the saints see Him in a very special manner in their neighbor. They love their neighbor with a profound tenderness that is completely supernatural and divine. They serve their neighbor with heroic abnegation, which is at the same time filled with naturalness and simplicity. Seeing Christ in the poor, in those who suffer, in the heart of all their brothers, they hasten to aid their brethren with a soul that is filled with love. They are happy to deprive themselves of even the necessities of life in order to give them to their neighbor, whose interest they place and prefer before their own, as they would put the interests of Christ before their own. Personal egoism, in relation to neighbor, is completely dead. Sometimes the love of charity that inflames their heart is so great, that it is manifested externally in the divine madness, which is so disconcerting to human prudence. St. Francis of Assisi embraced a tree as a creature of God, desiring to embrace all creation―because it came from the hands of God.

(5) It Gives to All the Virtues Their Ultimate Perfection
This is an inevitable consequence of the previous effect. Perfected by the Gift of Wisdom, charity extends the divine influence to all the other virtues, because Charity is the true form or soul of all the other virtues, as St. Thomas teaches. The whole pattern and organism of the Christian life experiences the divine influence of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, the perfect plenitude that is seen in the virtues of the saints and is sought in vain in souls which are less advanced.

By reason of the influence of the Gift of Wisdom through Charity, all the Christian virtues are cultivated, and they acquire a godlike modality that admits of countless shades and manifestations, according to the personal character and particular type of life of the saints. But in any case they are all so sublime that one could not say which of them is most exquisite. Having died definitively to self, being perfect in every type of virtue, the soul has arrived at the summit of the mount of sanctity, where it reads that sublime inscription written by St. John of the Cross: “Here on this mountain dwell only the honor and glory of God.”

Opposed Vices
To the Gift of Wisdom is opposed the vice of spiritual dullness or stupidity (St. Thomas. Summa, IIa-IIae, q. 46). It consists in a certain defect of judgment and lack of spiritual sense, or a spiritual dullness, which prevents one from discerning or judging the things of God by taste or contact with God that comes from the Gift of Wisdom. Worse yet is the vice of foolishness or stupidity, which prevents a person from judging in any way of divine things. Dullness is opposed to the Gift of Wisdom by privation; foolishness or stupidity is opposed to it by negation (St. Thomas. Summa, IIa-IIae, q. 46, art. 1).

We suffer from this stupidity whenever we somehow greatly esteem and value the nothingness of this world, or when we think that there is value in anything which is not the possession of the God, the Supreme Good, or what leads to it. Hence, if we are not saints, we must admit that we are really stupid, however painful this might be to self-love (I. Menendez-Reigada, Los dones del Espiritu Santo y la perfeccion cristiana, p. 595).

When this stupidity or dullness is voluntary―because a man is submerged in earthly things to the point that he has lost sight, or has become incapable of contemplating the divine―then it is a true sin, according to the teaching of St. Paul, who says that the animal man does not comprehend the things of the Spirit of God (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:14). And since there is nothing that so brutalizes and animalizes man, until submerging him entirely in the mud of Earth, as the vice of lust, it is primarily from lust that spiritual dullness proceeds, although the vice of anger also contributes to it, in so far as anger’s violent movements impede right judgment (St. Thomas, Summa, IIa-IIae, q. 46, art. 3).

The Means to Foster This Gift
Apart from the general means―such as recollection, a life of prayer, fidelity to grace, deep humility, frequent invocation of the Holy Ghost, and so on―we can dispose ourselves for the actuation of the Gift of Wisdom by using the following means, which are perfectly within our reach with the help of ordinary grace:

(a) To make an effort to see all things from God’s point of view.
How many pious souls, even among those who are consecrated to God, fall into the habit of judging things from a purely natural and human point of view—when not a totally worldly point of view! Their spiritual myopia is such that they never elevate their gaze above the purely human causes to see God’s designs in everything that happens. If they are annoyed by others—even inadvertently—they get mad and feel offended.

If a superior corrects them, right away they consider him demanding, tyrannical and cruel. If he orders them to do something that is not to their liking, they complain of his “lack of understanding,” his “unawareness of reality,” his “incapacity to govern.” If he humiliates them, they raise a terrible fuss. They have to be treated with the caution one would have toward a worldly person entirely lacking supernatural spirit. It is not surprising that the world is in such a bad state when those who should give the good example are often this way!

The Gift of Wisdom will never act in such souls. Such an imperfect and human spirit completely suffocates the habit of the Gifts. Unless they make some effort to elevate their gaze to Heaven and, setting aside the secondary causes, see the hand of God in all the events of their life-whether prosperous or not—their poor and painful spiritual life will always remain on the ground. To learn how to fly it is necessary to keep flapping toward the heights, whatever the cost and sacrifice.

(b) To combat the wisdom of the world, which is nothingness in the eyes of God.
It is St. Paul who terms it so (1 Corinthians 3:19). The world considers as wise those who are fools in God’s eyes (1 Corinthians 1:25), and by an unavoidable antithesis, the wise in the eyes of God are fools according to the world (1 Corinthians 1:27, 3:18). And since the world is full of stupidity and foolishness, Sacred Scripture says that “the number of fools is infinite” (Ecclesiastes. 1:15).

Father Lallemant writes: “In fact, the generality of mankind have a depraved taste, and they may justly be called fools, because they act like fools, placing their last end, at least practically, in the creature and not in God. Each has some object to which he is attached, and to which he refers everything―entertaining neither affection nor passion, except in connection with it; and this is to be a fool indeed!

“If we want to know if we are of the number of wise men or fools, then let us examine our tastes and distastes―either with respect to God and divine things, or with respect to creatures and the things of Earth. From which of them springs our satisfaction and our dissatisfaction? In which does our heart find its repose and its contentment?

“This sort of examination is an excellent means of acquiring purity of heart. We ought to familiarize ourselves with the practice, examining our likes and dislikes frequently during the day, and trying, little by little, to refer them to God.

“There are three sorts of wisdom condemned in Scripture, which are so many veritable follies. (1) ‘Terrena’―earthly wisdom, when a man has no taste but for riches; (2) ‘animalis’―sensual wisdom, when he has no taste but for bodily pleasures; (3) ‘diabolica’―devilish wisdom, when he has no taste apart from his own superiority.

“There is a folly that is true wisdom before God. To love poverty, contempt, crosses, persecutions; this is to be a fool according to the world’s esteem. And yet the wisdom which is a Gift of the Holy Ghost is nothing else but this same folly which has a taste only for what Our Lord and the saints delighted in. Now Jesus Christ, in everything that He touched during His mortal life, as poverty, abjection, the cross, left a sweet odor, a delicious savor; but few souls have their senses sufficiently purified to perceive this odor and to taste this savor, which are altogether supernatural.

“The saints have run to the odor of these ointments (Canticles 1:3), like St. Ignatius, who took delight in seeing himself made a mock of; St. Francis, who so passionately loved abjection, that he performed actions for the purpose of making himself ridiculous; St. Dominic, who was more gratified at Carcassonne, where he was generally insulted, than at Toulouse, where he was honored by all the world” (Spiritual Teaching, pp. 132-133, IV, chap. 4, art. 1).

(c) Not to be attached to things of this world, however good and useful.
Science, art, human culture, material progress of the nations, and so on, are good and useful in themselves if they are directed and ordered righteously. However, if we dedicate ourselves to them with too much eagerness and ardor, they will not fail to seriously harm us. Once

our taste is used to the savor of creatures, it will experience a certain dullness toward savoring the things of God, so superior in every way.

A multitude of souls are paralyzed in their spiritual life because they allow themselves to be absorbed in the disorderly appetite of science, even sacred or theological science. They lose the taste for the interior life, they abandon or shorten prayer, they absorb themselves in intellectual work and neglect the “only necessary thing,” of which Our Lord speaks in the Gospel (Luke 10:42). What a shame this is and how they will regret it in the next life, when it will be too late!

Father Lallemant continues: “How unlike are the judgements of God to the judgements of men! Divine wisdom is a folly in the judgement of men, and human wisdom is folly in the judgement of God. It is for us to see to which of these two judgements we will conform our own. One or the other we must take as the rule of our actions. If we have a taste for praises and honors, so far we are fools; and the more relish we have for being esteemed and honored, the more foolish we are. As, on the contrary, the more love we have for humiliation and the cross, the wiser we are.

“It is monstrous that even in religion there should be found persons who have no taste for anything but what makes them of importance in the eyes of the world; who do all their actions, for the twenty or thirty years of their religious life, only that they may attain some end which they have in view; who scarcely feel either joy or sadness except with reference thereto, or at least are more affected by that than by anything else. As for all that regards God and perfection, it is insipid to them; they feel no relish for it.

“This is a fearful state, and worthy of being deplored with tears of blood. For of what perfection are such religious capable? And what fruit can they gather from their labors among others? But what confusion will be theirs at the hour of death, when it shall be disclosed to them that, during the whole course of their life, they have neither sought nor relished anything but show and vanity, like people of the world. Let such persons be ever so melancholy, only utter a word that gives them a hope of some advancement, however false it may be, and you will instantly see a change come over their countenance, and their heart expand with joy as at the news of some great success.

“For the rest, as they have no taste for devotion, they treat its practices as follies, the amusement of weak minds, and not only guide their conduct by these erroneous principles of an earthly and devilish wisdom, but communicate their sentiments also to others, teaching them maxims altogether contrary to those of Our Lord and the Gospel, the rigor of which they try to soften by forced interpretations that fall in with the inclinations of corrupt nature; supporting themselves by other passages of Scripture ill understood, on which they build their own ruin” (Spiritual Teaching, pp. 133-134).

(d) Not to be attached to spiritual consolations, but pass from them to God.
God wants us only for Himself to such an extent that He desires our complete detachment even from the spiritual consolations which He at times so abundantly provides in prayer. Such consolations are certainly extremely important for our spiritual advancement (J. G. Arintero, O.P., Cuestiones misticas, 1, art. 6), but only as an incentive and encouragement to seek God with a greater ardor. To desire them so as to dwell on them and enjoy them as the ultimate end of our prayer would be evil and immoral; and even considering them as an intermediate end, subordinated to God, would be a great imperfection, of which we would have to purify ourselves if desirous of attaining perfect union with God (St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night of the Soul, passim).

We have to be ready and willing to serve God in darkness as in light, in dryness as in consolation, in aridity as in spiritual delight. We have to seek directly the God of consolations, not the consolations of God. Consolations are like the sauce or seasoning which makes it easier to eat the strong food that really nourishes the body; the seasoning by itself does not nourish the body and can even harm the palate, making the palate insensitive to useful foods prepared without it. This is evil and has to be avoided at all costs if we want the Gift of Wisdom to begin acting intensively in us.