Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

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This article is about the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Catholic tradition. For spiritual or charismatic gifts in the general Christian tradition, see Spiritual gift.

The Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are gifts which Roman Catholics and Anglicans believe the Holy Spirit gives to further their sanctification. These gifts, enumerated (approximately) in Isa 11:2-3[1], are:

Theologians consider them to be supernatural and permanent qualities, which make a person to be attentive to the voice of God, which render one susceptible to the workings of actual grace, which make one love the things of God, and, consequently, render one more obedient and docile to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost[2]. The seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Courage, Knowledge, Reverence, and Fear of the Lord.

In some respects they 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 Spirit; the former can be used when one wishes, but the latter operate only when the Holy Spirit wishes[3]. The former are like the oars of a boat; the latter, the sails.

Another related but distinct notion are the spiritual gifts that St. Paul describes in, for example, 1 Cor 12-14, which are, by contrast, given for the upbuilding of others. These are also part of the Catholic tradition but more commonly known as charisms or charismata.^[1]

In Summa Theologica II.2, Thomas Aquinas asserts the following correspondences between the seven Capital Virtues and the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit[4]: