Day 1: The Gifts as Divine Impulse
Reflection
While the spirit of the world taunts us with its lethal influences, the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Wisdom, Understanding, Council, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, Fear of the Lord) are our roadmap to God’s will for us. As Catholics, we must hasten to cultivate these gifts so that we will hear the Divine inspirations.
“See then, how the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been given us precisely to make us aware of this ‘divine impulse’; without them we could not receive the motions of the Holy Spirit. This fact should deepen our understanding of the great value of these gifts, and hence, of the importance of their growth in us in all their plentitude. In fact, the gifts we have received as a seed, at Baptism, are intended, like sanctifying grace and the infused virtues, to grow and develop until we die.”
- Divine Intimacy, by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.
Intention
Let us ask for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit to flourish in our souls, so we can recognize His promptings and respond generously to God’s holy will.
Novena Prayer
Holy Spirit! Lord of Light! From Your clear celestial height, Your pure beaming radiance give!
Almighty and eternal God, Who hast vouchsafed to regenerate us by water and the Holy Spirit, and hast given us forgiveness all sins, vouchsafe to send forth from heaven upon us your sevenfold Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety, and fill us with the Spirit of Holy Fear. Amen.
Our Father and Hail Mary ONCE. Glory be to the Father SEVEN TIMES.
Act of Consecration to the Holy Spirit
To be recited daily during the Novena
On my knees I before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses I offer myself, soul and body to You, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Your purity, the unerring keenness of Your justice, and the might of Your love. You are the Strength and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Your light, and listen to Your voice, and follow Your gracious inspirations. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You, by Your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds, and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart, I implore You, Adorable Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace O Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to You always and everywhere, "Speak Lord for Your servant heareth." Amen.
Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
To be recited daily during the Novena
O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before ascending into heaven did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul, the work of Your grace and Your love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth, the Spirit on Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, and the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord with the sign of Your true disciples, and animate me in all things with Your Spirit. Amen.