Sharing an article from the “Dear Padre column.
Dear Padre,
What are the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit? What is the difference between the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruits of the Holy Spirit? ~ Annette
Dear Annette,
Our traditional lists of the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit stem from Scripture. Six of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are named in Isaiah 11:2: “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord” [italics added]. The Tradition of the Church uses the word fortitude for strength and adds piety as the seventh gift. Counsel, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord are also sometimes known as right judgment, courage, reverence, and wonder and awe in the presence of God, respectively. Saint Paul lists nine of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self control” [italics added]. The Tradition of the Church adds goodness, modesty, and chastity. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are more interior qualities, “permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1830). The fruits of the Holy Spirit are more external signs of the workings of the Spirit. Both the fruits and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are manifestations of the free and unmerited grace of God.
David Louch, C.Ss.R.
