Collations on the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Conference VI: Second Conference on the Gift of Fortitude

ConfeRenCe VI: seConD ConfeRenCe on THe gIfT of foRTITUDe 1. “Who shall find a valiant woman?” etc.1 “Pray for us, for2 you are a holy woman.”3 The latter text is what the priests said to Judith. And it can serve as our word to that most glorious Virgin who is full of holiness and grace that she might pray for us to obtain wisdom and grace: wisdom to know the truth, and grace that we may live the truth. We ought to ask God for these two things. This is the reason why we have come to this sermon: to gain right understanding, and to cultivate a spirit of penance. But for this we need prayer. And since we are slow and hesitant about this, we need the intercession of the glorious Virgin that by her assistance we might beg for the divine aid that we might be able to say something, etc. 2. “A valiant woman,” etc. Yesterday evening we touched on this word of Solomon addressed to the glorious Virgin. In it he commends her for three things: first, for her strength of spiritual fortitude; second, for the fruitfulness of her supernatural conceiving; and third, for the discernment of her saving counsel. It is right that these three are joined together, because the strength of her spiritual fortitude was the beginning of her supernatural conceiving, and the gift of counsel was its comple1 See Prov 31:10. 2 The Vulgate reads quoniam (“for”) while Bonaventure has quia (“for”). 3 See Judith 8:29. Collations on the seven Gifts of the holy spirit 124 tion. For it was fitting that the Virgin who was to conceive Christ, the Son of God, “the power of God, and the wisdom of God,”4 should herself be strong and intelligent; strong in virtue, and intelligent through wisdom. Consequently , when the wise one wished to explain the Virgin’s conceiving, he spoke first of the spirit of fortitude, and then added the gift of counsel. For it was necessary for her to be filled with the sevenfold spirit of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and especially with the spirit of fortitude and counsel; she who was to be overshadowed5 by “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, and spirit of knowledge and piety, and … the spirit of the fear of the Lord.”6 3. When the text continues, “Her price reaches far beyond the ends of the earth,”7 the glorious Virgin is understood to be praised for the supernatural richness of her conceiving. This is not my own opinion. For Bernard says: “If our salvation, and that of all human beings, and if the restoration of innocence has been placed in the hand of a woman … it is necessary to search for a strong woman who is required for so great a work.” And he adds: “Her going forth is not from the earth and not from the heaven close by, but from the highest heavens.”8 “Her price reaches far beyond the ends of the earth.” This is the price about which the Apostle speaks in 1 Corinthians 6:20: 4 See 1 Cor 1:24: “But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 5 See Luke 1:35: “And the angel answered and said to her: The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and therefore, the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.” 6 See Isa11:2-3. 7 This is the second part of Prov 31:10. 8 See Sermon 2 n. 5 De laudibus Virginis Matris in SBOp 4.24. At the end of the second quotation Bernard alludes to Ps 18:7: “His going out is from the end of heaven….” Bonaventure’s citation is not verbatim. fortitude – seCond ConferenCe 125 “You have been bought at a great price. Carry and glorify God in your body.”9 In 1 Peter 1:18-19 the apostle Peter tells us how great the price was: “You were redeemed from the empty way of life your ancestors handed on to you, not with perishable things, with gold or silver, but by the precious blood … as of a lamb that is without spot and without blemish.”10 And it had to be a great...