Week Four // Prayer for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit,
Divine Consoler,
I adore You as my true God,
with God the Father and God the Son.
I adore You and unite myself to the adoration
You receive from the angels and saints.
I give You my heart
and I offer my ardent thanksgiving
for all the grace which You never cease to bestow on me.
O Giver of all supernatural gifts,
who filled the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God, with such immense favors,
I beg You to visit me with Your grace
and Your love and to grant me the gift of holy fear,
so that it may act on me as a check to prevent me
from falling back into my past sins,
for which I beg pardon.
Grant me the gift of piety,
so that I may serve You for the future with increased
fervor,
follow with more promptness Your holy inspirations,
and observe your divine precepts with greater fidelity.
Grant me the gift of knowledge,
so that I may know the things of God and,
enlightened by Your holy teaching, may walk,
without deviation, in the path of eternal salvation.
Grant me the gift of fortitude,
so that I may overcome courageously all the assaults of
the devil,
and all the dangers of this world which threaten the
salvation of my soul.
Grant me the gift of counsel,
so that I may choose what is more conducive to my
spiritual advancement
and may discover the wiles and snares of the tempter.
Grant me the gift of understanding,
so that I may apprehend the divine mysteries
and by contemplation of heavenly things detach my thoughts
and affections from the vain things of this miserable
world.
Grant me the gift of wisdom,
so that I may rightly direct all my actions,
referring them to God as my last end;
so that, having loved Him and served Him in this life,
I may have the happiness of possessing Him eternally in
the next.
Week Four Intention
We pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Universal Church.
Week Four // Day Three
Grant me the gift of knowledge,
so that I may know the things of God and,
enlightened by Your holy teaching, may walk,
without deviation, in the path of eternal salvation.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever blamed a gap in your knowledge of God or our Faith on “poor catechesis.” Sure, the opportunities and people that have fallen short in passing on the Faith are unfortunately vast and varied, from cradle Catholics to converts alike. Our Faith, in so many ways, is mysterious, deep, complicated, and hard to understand, let alone explain.
Thanks be to God, though, we don’t have to know all the right answers before we can know God Himself. Some of the greatest Saints in history, whom God chose for great purposes, knew only the basics of the Catechism (St. Bernadette comes to mind). But they didn’t let that get in the way of their knowing God and discerning His call on their lives.
St. Alphonsus Liguori possessed extensive knowledge of many subjects. Born to a privileged family near Naples, Italy in 1696, he received the best available education in philosophy, literature, and the arts. Excelling in his studies, he was awarded doctorates of civil and canon law at age 16 and went on to become known as one of the best lawyers in Naples before he was 20. Knowledge, you could say, was not a gift he seemed to lack.
The knowledge he prayed for, though, was not an earthly one, but a heavenly one. As we see throughout the Gospels, as Jesus rebukes the Pharisees, mere knowledge of the “rules” falls devastatingly short of what God calls us to. Knowledge—the gift of the Holy Spirit—does not end with a test we could pass or fail depending on the strength of our childhood CCD program or Catholic school theology classes. Rather, it leads us to know God more intimately by knowing the Truths He has revealed. There lies the difference between the generous gift of the Holy Spirit that St. Alphonsus Liguori prayed for, and knowledge as the world defines it.
What aspects of our Faith may God be calling you to learn more about in order to draw you closer to Him? (Perhaps the Eucharist, Mary, the Communion of Saints, the Theology of the Body?)
Prayer + Discussion for Prayer Partners
Discuss your answer above. Where can you go to learn more about what you answered? Commit to sharing one thing you learn about your topic with one another next time you talk.
Lisa Kirk is a regular contributor to the BIS blog. New York City-born and internationally raised, she now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her study-abroad-crush-turned-husband and their two children. A former wedding magazine editor and fashion copywriter, she now writes primarily for Something Pretty, the Catholic living and classic style blog she began in 2010. She loves learning about the Saints, wandering the city with coffee in hand, and making new friends on Instagram. Read all of Lisa's posts here.
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