49. Supernatural Virtues and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
18. Basic Concepts
Natural life has God as its end insofar as he can be known and loved using our natural faculties. This means that it returns to its origin after a process of perfection or fulfillment of its being, since natural life—like all degrees of being—proceeds from God. This process basically takes place through the spiritual operations of knowing and loving. Each person has a unique being that he has received from God and is conserved by him. One also has a capacity to perfect oneself through the exercise of one’s superior faculties, which are also received from God, conserved by him, and moved by him to operate in conjunction with human freedom.
Under the direction of reason and will, our natural faculties are brought to perfection through the repetition of good acts. They are endowed with habits called natural or human virtues, which lead to the natural moral good. The individual grows in being to the extent that the natural faculties are perfected by doing good. The individual draws closer to God and lives in better accord with the right order of personal and social life founded in God. Such a person grows in being and becomes more perfect by doing what one ought to do well.
In the elevation of human nature to the supernatural order, God infuses into it a principle of new life, which is called grace. He also infuses new operative habits (called supernatural or infused virtues) and the gifts of the Holy Spirit into its natural faculties. We will deal with them later on. Habitual grace (which elevates nature) and the supernatural operative habits (which elevate the operative potencies to the supernatural order) form what is frequently called the supernatural organism. This term must be understood by analogy—it is both similar to and different from a natural organism.
The similarity lies in that, through grace, virtues, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, the soul is capable of carrying out supernatural works and operations that perfect it and bring it closer to sanctity, which is the goal of Christian life. Similarly, through human nature and all its operative potencies, a person acts and is able to reach biological, intellectual, and moral maturity.
The dissimilarity lies in the fact that the natural organism (body, soul, and their faculties) constitutes a substance that enjoys a relative autonomy with respect to other creatures. On the other hand, the supernatural organism is an element of the natural organism (the entire order of grace belongs to the accidental order). Hence, the subject that acts through the supernatural organism is the human person. It must use its natural intelligence and will to accomplish supernatural acts.
There are other important differences between operations of a strictly natural variety and those of a supernatural kind, and between the process of perfection as it takes place in the merely natural order or the supernatural order.
Because of the condition as a creature, the human person needs an action of God (God’s conserving act) in order to continue existing. The person, likewise, needs divine prompting for his faculties (like intelligence and will) to act. The Magisterium of the Church refers to this presence of God in the being and operations of every creature when it speaks of the threefold manner of God’s natural presence in all things: “By power, insofar as all things are subject to him; by presence, insofar as all things are present to his eyes; by essence, insofar as he is present in all things as cause of their being.”1
This constant divine action in the being and operation of mankind does not suppress human freedom, since God conserves each creature in the being that is proper to it and moves it in conformity with the nature that it possesses. Hence, there is no compulsion that may impair one’s natural way of acting. Humans are the authors of their naturally good acts and are responsible for them, even though such acts depend entirely on God as well. This is a truth of the natural order, which philosophy can discover with certitude.
In the supernatural order, God is also the cause of the supernatural being and operations of the person. He acts through the person’s supernatural organism—a term that must be understood in an analogical way, as was said earlier. God, the first cause, moves the natural potentialities to act. If these potentialities have good moral habits, they respond with more skill in the performance of good acts. In the same way, God also moves the infused or supernatural habits (virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit) to perform concrete acts of virtue that are supernaturally meritorious. For example, a person has the virtue of faith (an operative habit) even while sleeping. In order to perform a concrete act of faith (i.e., “My Lord and my God!”), this habit needs the help of an actual grace that enlightens the intellect and moves the will. The will must freely respond to this grace.
In the following pages, we will distinguish between supernatural virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
19. Supernatural Virtues
19a) Supernatural Virtues as Infused Operative Habits
Along with sanctifying grace, supernatural operative habits are simultaneously infused into the soul (de fide with respect to the theological virtues; de fide eccl. with respect to the moral virtues).
The Roman Catechism taught that “sanctity is inaccessible to nature. This sublime goal can only be attained by the Christian through the grace that God infuses into the soul with charity and the most noble array of all the virtues.”2
An operative habit is a stable quality that is found in an operative potency, enabling it to perform certain acts. In the case of good natural operative habits (or virtues), the potentiality is endowed with the facility to carry out corresponding good acts. If the human virtue is deep-rooted, one also experiences joy in doing good. In the case of supernatural virtues, they alone do not bring about the capacity to perform their corresponding acts, but only the possibility to do so. This is why the supernatural moral virtues must be joined to their corresponding human virtues.
19b) The Theological Virtues
Along with sanctifying grace, the three theological (or divine) virtues of faith, hope, and charity are infused into the soul (de fide).
The Magisterium of the Church states, “In the very act of being justified, at the same time that his sins are remitted, a man receives through Jesus Christ, to whom he is joined, the infused gifts of faith, hope and charity.”3 The word infused means that these virtues are not the fruit of natural effort but are a gift of God. They are bestowed not as acts but as habits that abide in the soul. A baptized infant possesses these three virtues even though the infant is incapable of performing their corresponding acts.
Sacred Scripture contains this truth of faith: “God’s charity has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). The Apostle also says, “Charity never ends” (1 Cor 13:8). In the verses that follow, St. Paul explains that faith—which is conserved in this life—will give way to vision in the life to come; and hope—also conserved in this life—will disappear in heaven, for it will be replaced by the possession of God: “So faith, hope, charity, abide these three” (1 Cor 13:13).
Tradition unanimously emphasizes the importance of these three virtues, which have God himself as their immediate object. Regarding Baptism and its effects, St. John Chrysostom comments, “You have faith, hope, and charity, which abide. Foster them. They are more precious than miracles. But nothing can compare with charity.”4
20. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
20a) The Gifts as Infused Operative Habits
Christian life is rendered possible by habitual grace, which is a stable supernatural quality in the soul (although it can be lost through mortal sin), and by the infused, or supernatural, virtues. The fullness of Christian life, however, can be attained only by means of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
The just man who already lives the life of grace and, like the soul utilizing its potencies, acts according to corresponding virtues, stands in need of those seven gifts we call proper to the Holy Spirit. By virtue of these gifts, the soul is disposed and strengthened to follow the divine inspirations more easily and readily. Such is the efficacy of these gifts that they lead to the summit of holiness; and such is their excellence that they are preserved intact—although more perfect—in the kingdom of heaven. Thanks to these gifts, the Holy Spirit moves us and inspires us to achieve the beatitudes of the Gospel.5
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural habits (permanent dispositions) that are infused into the soul along with habitual grace and the virtues. They differ from the infused virtues in their manner of operation. The gifts of the Holy Spirit enable a person to receive and readily obey the promptings that the Holy Spirit himself sends to the soul in grace. Two further points in this vein must be clarified:
(1) The gifts are bestowed on all
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are bestowed on all the baptized together with habitual grace (de fide eccl.).
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not the privileged possession of select souls. They are operative habits in any soul in the state of grace. However, their actual exercise depends upon the degree of spiritual life of the subject, just as is the case of the human intelligence (intellective potential of the soul). Its actual exercise begins only after the person has reached a certain age, even though it was already present in the soul from the very moment of conception. Further, just as a more perfect physical constitution and a good education facilitate the use of the intelligence, the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is more productive if there is more holiness in the soul.
(2) The gifts do not violate man’s freedom
Although the divine action upon the soul in the case of the gifts is so immediate that the proper response of the will is more passive than active (thus, the person obeys the Holy Spirit’s promptings, reinforces his interior motions, and allows himself to be led along), nevertheless, the will must cooperate. The action of grace always depends on the consent of the will. For this reason, docility to the action of the gifts merits an increase of the life of grace in the soul.
20b) The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Some gifts of the Holy Spirit pertain to the intellect. These perfect the virtue of faith (the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding) and prudence (the gift of counsel). Others pertain to the will and perfect the virtue of fortitude (the parallel gift of fortitude), piety (the gift of piety), and humility (the gift of fear of God). “Among the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I would say that there is one which we all need in a special way: the gift of wisdom. It makes us know God and rejoice in his presence, thereby placing us in a perspective from which we can judge accurately the situations and events of this life.”6
Footnotes:
1. Cf. ST, I, q. 8, a. 3, quoted in DS 3330; CCC, 301–308.
2. Roman Catechism, 2.2.51; cf. CCC, 1998, 2013, 2028.
3. DS 1530; cf. CCC, 1991.
4. St. John Chrysostom, In Actus Apost., 40.2.
5. Leo XIII, Enc. Divinum Illud Munus, May 9, 1897; cf. CCC, 1830–1831.
6. St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ is Passing By, 133.
Natural life has God as its end insofar as he can be known and loved using our natural faculties. This means that it returns to its origin after a process of perfection or fulfillment of its being, since natural life—like all degrees of being—proceeds from God. This process basically takes place through the spiritual operations of knowing and loving. Each person has a unique being that he has received from God and is conserved by him. One also has a capacity to perfect oneself through the exercise of one’s superior faculties, which are also received from God, conserved by him, and moved by him to operate in conjunction with human freedom.
Under the direction of reason and will, our natural faculties are brought to perfection through the repetition of good acts. They are endowed with habits called natural or human virtues, which lead to the natural moral good. The individual grows in being to the extent that the natural faculties are perfected by doing good. The individual draws closer to God and lives in better accord with the right order of personal and social life founded in God. Such a person grows in being and becomes more perfect by doing what one ought to do well.
In the elevation of human nature to the supernatural order, God infuses into it a principle of new life, which is called grace. He also infuses new operative habits (called supernatural or infused virtues) and the gifts of the Holy Spirit into its natural faculties. We will deal with them later on. Habitual grace (which elevates nature) and the supernatural operative habits (which elevate the operative potencies to the supernatural order) form what is frequently called the supernatural organism. This term must be understood by analogy—it is both similar to and different from a natural organism.
The similarity lies in that, through grace, virtues, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, the soul is capable of carrying out supernatural works and operations that perfect it and bring it closer to sanctity, which is the goal of Christian life. Similarly, through human nature and all its operative potencies, a person acts and is able to reach biological, intellectual, and moral maturity.
The dissimilarity lies in the fact that the natural organism (body, soul, and their faculties) constitutes a substance that enjoys a relative autonomy with respect to other creatures. On the other hand, the supernatural organism is an element of the natural organism (the entire order of grace belongs to the accidental order). Hence, the subject that acts through the supernatural organism is the human person. It must use its natural intelligence and will to accomplish supernatural acts.
There are other important differences between operations of a strictly natural variety and those of a supernatural kind, and between the process of perfection as it takes place in the merely natural order or the supernatural order.
Because of the condition as a creature, the human person needs an action of God (God’s conserving act) in order to continue existing. The person, likewise, needs divine prompting for his faculties (like intelligence and will) to act. The Magisterium of the Church refers to this presence of God in the being and operations of every creature when it speaks of the threefold manner of God’s natural presence in all things: “By power, insofar as all things are subject to him; by presence, insofar as all things are present to his eyes; by essence, insofar as he is present in all things as cause of their being.”1
This constant divine action in the being and operation of mankind does not suppress human freedom, since God conserves each creature in the being that is proper to it and moves it in conformity with the nature that it possesses. Hence, there is no compulsion that may impair one’s natural way of acting. Humans are the authors of their naturally good acts and are responsible for them, even though such acts depend entirely on God as well. This is a truth of the natural order, which philosophy can discover with certitude.
In the supernatural order, God is also the cause of the supernatural being and operations of the person. He acts through the person’s supernatural organism—a term that must be understood in an analogical way, as was said earlier. God, the first cause, moves the natural potentialities to act. If these potentialities have good moral habits, they respond with more skill in the performance of good acts. In the same way, God also moves the infused or supernatural habits (virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit) to perform concrete acts of virtue that are supernaturally meritorious. For example, a person has the virtue of faith (an operative habit) even while sleeping. In order to perform a concrete act of faith (i.e., “My Lord and my God!”), this habit needs the help of an actual grace that enlightens the intellect and moves the will. The will must freely respond to this grace.
In the following pages, we will distinguish between supernatural virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
19. Supernatural Virtues
19a) Supernatural Virtues as Infused Operative Habits
Along with sanctifying grace, supernatural operative habits are simultaneously infused into the soul (de fide with respect to the theological virtues; de fide eccl. with respect to the moral virtues).
The Roman Catechism taught that “sanctity is inaccessible to nature. This sublime goal can only be attained by the Christian through the grace that God infuses into the soul with charity and the most noble array of all the virtues.”2
An operative habit is a stable quality that is found in an operative potency, enabling it to perform certain acts. In the case of good natural operative habits (or virtues), the potentiality is endowed with the facility to carry out corresponding good acts. If the human virtue is deep-rooted, one also experiences joy in doing good. In the case of supernatural virtues, they alone do not bring about the capacity to perform their corresponding acts, but only the possibility to do so. This is why the supernatural moral virtues must be joined to their corresponding human virtues.
19b) The Theological Virtues
Along with sanctifying grace, the three theological (or divine) virtues of faith, hope, and charity are infused into the soul (de fide).
The Magisterium of the Church states, “In the very act of being justified, at the same time that his sins are remitted, a man receives through Jesus Christ, to whom he is joined, the infused gifts of faith, hope and charity.”3 The word infused means that these virtues are not the fruit of natural effort but are a gift of God. They are bestowed not as acts but as habits that abide in the soul. A baptized infant possesses these three virtues even though the infant is incapable of performing their corresponding acts.
Sacred Scripture contains this truth of faith: “God’s charity has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). The Apostle also says, “Charity never ends” (1 Cor 13:8). In the verses that follow, St. Paul explains that faith—which is conserved in this life—will give way to vision in the life to come; and hope—also conserved in this life—will disappear in heaven, for it will be replaced by the possession of God: “So faith, hope, charity, abide these three” (1 Cor 13:13).
Tradition unanimously emphasizes the importance of these three virtues, which have God himself as their immediate object. Regarding Baptism and its effects, St. John Chrysostom comments, “You have faith, hope, and charity, which abide. Foster them. They are more precious than miracles. But nothing can compare with charity.”4
20. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
20a) The Gifts as Infused Operative Habits
Christian life is rendered possible by habitual grace, which is a stable supernatural quality in the soul (although it can be lost through mortal sin), and by the infused, or supernatural, virtues. The fullness of Christian life, however, can be attained only by means of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
The just man who already lives the life of grace and, like the soul utilizing its potencies, acts according to corresponding virtues, stands in need of those seven gifts we call proper to the Holy Spirit. By virtue of these gifts, the soul is disposed and strengthened to follow the divine inspirations more easily and readily. Such is the efficacy of these gifts that they lead to the summit of holiness; and such is their excellence that they are preserved intact—although more perfect—in the kingdom of heaven. Thanks to these gifts, the Holy Spirit moves us and inspires us to achieve the beatitudes of the Gospel.5
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural habits (permanent dispositions) that are infused into the soul along with habitual grace and the virtues. They differ from the infused virtues in their manner of operation. The gifts of the Holy Spirit enable a person to receive and readily obey the promptings that the Holy Spirit himself sends to the soul in grace. Two further points in this vein must be clarified:
(1) The gifts are bestowed on all
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are bestowed on all the baptized together with habitual grace (de fide eccl.).
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not the privileged possession of select souls. They are operative habits in any soul in the state of grace. However, their actual exercise depends upon the degree of spiritual life of the subject, just as is the case of the human intelligence (intellective potential of the soul). Its actual exercise begins only after the person has reached a certain age, even though it was already present in the soul from the very moment of conception. Further, just as a more perfect physical constitution and a good education facilitate the use of the intelligence, the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is more productive if there is more holiness in the soul.
(2) The gifts do not violate man’s freedom
Although the divine action upon the soul in the case of the gifts is so immediate that the proper response of the will is more passive than active (thus, the person obeys the Holy Spirit’s promptings, reinforces his interior motions, and allows himself to be led along), nevertheless, the will must cooperate. The action of grace always depends on the consent of the will. For this reason, docility to the action of the gifts merits an increase of the life of grace in the soul.
20b) The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Some gifts of the Holy Spirit pertain to the intellect. These perfect the virtue of faith (the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding) and prudence (the gift of counsel). Others pertain to the will and perfect the virtue of fortitude (the parallel gift of fortitude), piety (the gift of piety), and humility (the gift of fear of God). “Among the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I would say that there is one which we all need in a special way: the gift of wisdom. It makes us know God and rejoice in his presence, thereby placing us in a perspective from which we can judge accurately the situations and events of this life.”6
Footnotes:
1. Cf. ST, I, q. 8, a. 3, quoted in DS 3330; CCC, 301–308.
2. Roman Catechism, 2.2.51; cf. CCC, 1998, 2013, 2028.
3. DS 1530; cf. CCC, 1991.
4. St. John Chrysostom, In Actus Apost., 40.2.
5. Leo XIII, Enc. Divinum Illud Munus, May 9, 1897; cf. CCC, 1830–1831.
6. St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ is Passing By, 133.