The 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit: What They Are and Their Meaning

The gifts of the Holy Spirit make a person receptive to divine inspiration and define their relationship with God, bringing them into harmony with Him. Here’s what they are and how they are received.

Points 1830 and following in the Catechism of the Catholic Church state:
“1830 The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David. They complete and bring to perfection the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.”

Buy Now:

Oval bas-relief of the Pentecost, okume wood, 12×9 in

Bas-relief of the Dove of the Holy Spirit made by hand in okume wood by the young members of the Focolare Mouvement of Loppiano

The gifts of the Holy Spirit were already mentioned by Isaiah, presenting them as the gifts with which the Messiah would be anointed:
“The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him: the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:2).
Jesus himself, in the synagogue of Nazareth, proclaimed the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy and invoked the Holy Spirit upon himself (Luke 4:16–21).

Christians consider the Holy Spirit the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. Just like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is fully God and proceeds jointly from the other two Persons, where the verb “proceed” means “to originate while remaining equal and coeternal.” None of the three was created before or has generated the others. Thus, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, but without any temporal implication or precedence between them.

Buy Now:

The Holy Trinity of Rublev

Screen-printed icon in various sizes by Rublev, the monk famous for his pictures inspired by the Holy Scriptures.

The Creed states: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.”

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and more broadly the study of spiritual substances, is called Pneumatology, from the Greek πνεῦμα (pneuma, spirit) and λόγος (logos, discourse, study).

The term Holy Spirit (ruah haQodesh) was already used in Jewish culture to indicate the divine Power that animated prophets and those touched by God. At the beginning of Genesis, we read:
“1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
Thus, the Spirit of God has been present in the world since its Creation, indeed as an integral part of Creation (creative function), and also as a constant force of renewal, as the Spirit of God creates life (generative function), and has operated since the beginning of Israel’s history, from the early Prophets (guiding function), to Jesus, who, conceived by the Holy Spirit as we read in the Gospels, was filled with the Spirit of God at His Baptism and, in the Spirit of God, preached and carried out His mission.

The symbols of the Holy Spirit in the Bible are many, indicating how He descends into the world. In particular, we recall:

• Water, a symbol of life, from when Moses struck the rock with his staff to bring forth water for his people, to Baptism and its promise of hope and salvation;
• Fire, which on the day of Pentecost descended upon Mary and the Apostles, enabling them to spread the Word across the world;
• A luminous cloud, as the Holy Spirit appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai, and also during the Annunciation to Mary, the Transfiguration of Christ, and the Ascension;
• The Dove, which descended from Heaven during Jesus’ Baptism (Matthew 3:16).

In addition to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, Saint Paul also lists the fruits of the Holy Spirit:
“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22–23)

Let us now look specifically at the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit — the permanent dispositions that make a person receptive to divine inspiration, that facilitate the practice of the theological virtues (faith, hope, charity), and the moral virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance), with which they are often correlated.
These gifts define the relationship between man and his Creator, aligning him with God, and leading him to desire what God desires.

What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit?

The Gift of Wisdom

Considered since antiquity as a personification of divine wisdom, Wisdom has been identified by many Christian theologians with the Holy Spirit Himself, and later with Jesus, who is referred to as the Wisdom of God. Among the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, Wisdom allows us to understand supernatural realities, to know all that has been created by God, and to contemplate God Himself.
According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, it is inseparable from charity: for him, wisdom is nurtured through contemplation, mystical life, and the experience of God — but only charity raises our capacity to love to the spiritual level necessary to love God.

Buy Now:

St. Thomas Aquinas statue, 8 in, resin

Crafted in resin and meticulously painted, the figurine rests on a circular base of 2.4 in.

The Gift of Understanding

If wisdom elevates us to full awareness of love for God, understanding, another of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, enables us to comprehend the truths of faith, the mystery of Revelation, and the divine reality itself. It is not merely rational understanding but an intelligence of the heart that serves the Faith.
For Saint Augustine, who brought Neoplatonic doctrine into Christian thought, God illuminates the human intellect, where ideas are held, elevating human thought beyond its natural limits.

The Gift of Counsel

A foundation of spiritual guidance, counsel also acts upon human intelligence, illuminating moral choices; allowing us to understand God’s perspective; helping us to choose between good and evil, true and false.
Thus, counsel enables us to recognise God’s will in life’s situations and helps us to make the right decisions to remain in communion with Him.

The Gift of Knowledge

Knowledge, understood as a gift of the Holy Spirit, reveals God’s thought living through us, within our intelligence and understanding. Through knowledge, we learn to recognise and judge created things, and to love God through the world He has designed.

The Gift of Piety

Piety as a gift of the Holy Spirit shapes our attitude towards others, as our brothers and sisters, children of the same Father. Through it, we understand the love of God the Father, the comfort of prayer, and veneration for God and the Saints.

The Gift of Fortitude

Fortitude strengthens a person in their faith, making them courageous, steadfast, and resilient even in the face of the most insurmountable obstacles, persecutions, and threats. It is thanks to this gift of the Holy Spirit that we can defend ourselves from evil and its assaults, cultivating the virtue of fortitude itself, which enables us to do good and resist evil despite our weakness.

Buy Now:

Bas-relief Crucifix Confirmation Holy Spirit, white or gold 15

A very prestigious item, 100% made in Italy by the famous Ceramics Center Ave of Loppiano (Florence).

The Gift of Fear of the Lord

Fear of the Lord places us in the correct attitude of reverence and submission before God, teaching us to relate to His greatness and to acknowledge His power with respect, living every moment aware of His gaze. But it’s not only about fearing Him; it’s about wanting to be worthy of His expectations, to make Him proud of us, like a child who wants to make their father proud.

Why are there seven gifts of the Holy Spirit?

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are seven because in many ancient cultures, including the Jewish one, the number seven symbolised perfection and completeness.
Seven is just one of the symbolic numbers recurring throughout the Bible. It is the divine number par excellence, the day of God’s rest after Creation, and in Catholicism, the number of the Sacraments, the Virtues and Vices, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

When are the gifts of the Holy Spirit received?

Each person receives the Holy Spirit with the laying on of hands during Baptism, and the Sacrament of Confirmation (or Chrism) strengthens the gifts of the Holy Spirit within us. But to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, one must invoke them continually upon oneself, through prayer and by living the Gospel daily.
In short, it is by cultivating the gifts of the Holy Spirit that they descend upon us and continue to nourish our existence.