How the Virtues, Fruits, and Gifts Are Connected
Much of this article is based on the magnum opus of Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life.[1] In the first few chapters of the first volume, Father Garrigou-Lagrange sets out to describe the inner workings of the soul, specifically the role that the three theological virtues and the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost serve in a soul.
As a preface, it must be affirmed that the interior life of a Christian presupposes the state of grace. This is essential! If one is not in the state of grace, then the ‘interior life’ of the soul is in fact dead. There are only two sacraments for the ‘dead,’ and those are Baptism and Confession. Thus, Holy Mother Church always exhorts those not in the state of grace to receive – as soon as possible – one of these two sacraments, whichever is appropriate to their state.[2]
However, it is also true that to have a true interior life it is not sufficient to merely be in the state of grace – the interior life requires a struggle against everything that inclines us back into sin.
The Seed of Eternal Life in Us
Through Baptism we have already received the seed of eternal life, for through it we received sanctifying grace, and with sanctifying grace we received infused charity into our souls, which ought to last forever. The life of grace is eternal life begun. All tradition declares that the life of grace on earth is the seed of glory. The slightest degree of sanctifying grace contained in the soul of an infant after Baptism is more precious than all the natural good of the entire universe. And that is why we must guard our souls – and those of our families – as the greatest treasure. Never allow mortal sin in. Death rather than sin ought to be our motto.[3]
Sanctifying grace and charity, which unite us to God in His intimate life, are, in fact, far superior to extraordinary graces like prophecy or the gift of tongues, which are only signs of the divine intervention and which by themselves do not unite us closely to God.
Father Lagrange asserts, “we can define the interior life as follows: It is a supernatural life which, by a true spirit of abnegation and prayer, makes us tend to union with God and leads us to it.” Therefore, the interior life is more and more a conversation with God where man frees himself from egoism, self-love, sensuality, and pride; and through prayer, he asks God for ever new graces.
The Natural Life and the Supernatural Life of the Soul
The soul has both a sensible and an intellectual part. The sensible part is the part common to both man and animals and includes the external senses and internal senses, like the imagination. In the other elevated region of the soul springs out two higher faculties: the intellect and the will. Sanctifying grace is immensely superior to the natural life of our immortal soul.[4]
The Theological Virtues
The theological virtues (i.e., Faith, Hope, and Charity) have God as their very end. By contrast, the moral virtues have for their object the supernatural means proportioned to our last end (i.e., God). Whereas the moral virtues are a ‘golden mean’ (a balance between opposed extremes), the theological virtues are not. They can – and should – always increase! You can never have “too much” faith, hope, or charity.
Faith (even the beginning of faith) is a gift of God and the basis of justification. The three theological virtues grow together in this life. But in Heaven, faith will give place to vision and hope will give place to the possession of God. Only charity remains forever. But in the state of mortal sin, charity is lost – though infused faith and hope remain, if the individual does not sin against those specific virtues mortally.
The Moral Virtues
There are two kinds of moral virtues. First are the acquired moral virtues, which even the ancient pagans knew existed. These are the result of the repetition of our acts. Secondly, there are infused moral virtues that can only be given by God and which the ancient philosophers did not know existed (or when witnessed, they were not considered to be virtuous). The acquired moral virtues do not suffice in a Christian to make him will the supernatural means ordained to eternal life. The infused moral virtues are Christian prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, and those which accompany them (e.g., humility and meekness). If we lose charity in our soul, we also lose the infused moral virtues.
Moral virtues consist of a mean between two extremes (excess on one hand and deficiency on the other). As a result, moral virtues are the summit between the two extremes. For example, religion is the mean between impiety and superstition, and fortitude is the mean between fear and temerity.
The Seven Gifts and Twelve Fruits of the Holy Ghost
In addition to the theological virtues and the moral virtues (acquired and infused), there are also the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor and illustrious theologian, taught three essential things about them as they concern the interior life in the soul:
- The gifts are habitual permanent dispositions.
- The gifts are necessary for salvation.
- The gifts are connected with charity and grow with charity. The gifts of the Holy Ghost render man promptly docile to divine inspirations. It is by virtue of the gifts that we can produce the works of the Beatitudes.
The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost are really and truly distinct from the infused moral virtues. In fact, the grace of the virtues and gifts is more precious than the gifts of prophecy and miracles since these are merely exterior signs, whereas sanctifying grace and charity can unite us to God. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost – while distinct from the infused virtues – are nevertheless in all souls in the state of grace since they are connected with charity.
St. Thomas says that four of these gifts (wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and counsel) direct the intellect – since the intellect seeks to know the will of God – while the other three gifts (fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord) direct the will toward God, since the will seeks to do the will of God.
In some respects, the gifts are similar to the virtues, but, a key distinction is that the virtues operate under the impetus of human reason (prompted by grace), whereas the gifts operate under the impetus of the Holy Ghost; the former can be used when one wishes, but the latter operate only when the Holy Ghost wishes and man cooperates with His promptings of grace.
In the Summa Theologica, II.II, St. Thomas asserts the following correspondences between the seven capital virtues and the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost:
- The gift of wisdom corresponds to the virtue of charity.
- The gifts of understanding and knowledge correspond to the virtue of faith.
- The gift of counsel (right judgement) corresponds to the virtue of prudence.
- The gift of fortitude (courage) corresponds to the virtue of fortitude.
- The gift of piety (reverence) corresponds to the virtue of justice.
- The gift of fear corresponds to the virtue of hope.
To the virtue of temperance, no gift is directly assigned; but the gift of fear can be taken as such, since fear drives somebody to restrict himself from forbidden pleasures.
St. Augustine, in his discourse on the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, also notes the correspondence of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost and their necessity in fulfilling the Beatitudes. For example, one must have the gift of fortitude so he may be courageous in seeking justice. As a result, this is not a merely intellectual exercise. We must cultivate the workings of these gifts in our own souls.
The twelve Fruits of the Holy Ghost are works that we can perform only with the aid of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, the performance of such works is an indication that the Holy Ghost dwells in the soul of the confirmed. The twelve Fruits of the Holy Ghost are charity (or love), joy, peace, patience, benignity (or kindness), goodness, longanimity (or long suffering), mildness, faith, modesty, continency, and chastity.
Fidelity to Grace
Fidelity to grace is of the utmost importance, and especially so is increasing fidelity to the actual grace of the present moment, so we might correspond to the duty of the moment. We must correspond to the graces given to us and cooperate generously with them. Fidelity is required first of all so that we may preserve the life of grace by avoiding mortal sin. Fidelity is also required to merit and obtain the increase of the life of grace, which ought to grow until our entrance into Heaven. To sanctify ourselves, we should offer all our acts in union with Our Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady, to God for His glory and the good of souls.
[1] The text of this work, which is written for those with an aptitude for theological study rather than mere passive reading, is available readily online at https://www.ecatholic2000.com/lagrange/interior1/interior.shtml.
[2] Since ancient times, one of the designations to distinguish the sacraments has been “sacraments of the living” and “sacraments of the dead.” The terms “living” and “dead” refer to spiritual life – that is, if God’s sanctifying grace is present in the person’s soul or not. Baptism can only be received once. It is the gateway to all the other sacraments. It is always received by one who is “spiritually dead.” One who has already been baptized and falls into spiritual death again, receives sanctifying grace once again through the Sacrament of Confession. All the other five sacraments should always be received in the state of grace. Thus, it is a salutary practice to make a good confession before receiving any of the Sacraments of the Living, especially Confirmation, Marriage, and Holy Orders. Extreme Unction is almost always proceeded by Confession, unless the one at the point of death is incapable of making a confession. Most Catholic readers of this site also know they must be in the state of grace to receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion. That is to say, they should not be conscious of any mortal sin on their soul. To receive Holy Communion when one knowingly has unconfessed mortal sin is, in fact, gravely sacrilegious and a species of terrible mortal sin.
[3] “Death rather than sin” was, in fact, the motto of St. Dominic Savio. Similarly, Bl. Queen Blanche of France repeatedly formed her son, King St. Louis IX, with these words: “I would rather see you dead at my feet than commit a mortal sin.”
[4] For a more in-depth explanation of the soul, we invite you to watch Episode 2 – Who Is Man and Episode 3 – The Immortal Soul from our series, “Basics of the Catholic Faith.”