Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: Fortitude as a gift of the Holy Spirit

Saturday, January 21, 2023

Fortitude as a gift of the Holy Spirit

It is not easy to be a Catholic in today's age. So in my own life as a hermit, I have found that fortitude is a virtue and grace that regularly needs to be prayed for and cultivated. When so much around us is based on feelings or emotions, and not based on God's truth or on reason, then it takes fortitude to be able to remain steadfast in your faith, and in loving God.

The Catechism defines Fortitude as follows CCC #1808

Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions.

So fortitude is to remain constant in the face of difficulties. It requires, courage, strength and even at times an act of faith. We have to choose to follow the Holy Spirit and the Gospel even when everything else is telling us we don't have to. So this act of faith, of still choosing to follow God no matter what, is what we call fortitude. In my own spiritual life, I have renamed this as "holy stubborness". This is because at times I have to be so stubborn in my faith, that I have to choose to love God and follow him even inspite of all my sins, failings and weaknesses. But constantly relying on the mercy of God to say "Lord I know you love me, help me to love you more", then getting up and continuing to move forward in faith.

Fortitude is linked to the 7th Beatitude - those who suffer and are persecuted. It is not possible to suffer for the faith, be persecuted and remain faithful to Jesus without the gift of fortitude. This is linked to what I call the empowerment we receive from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) to strengthen us. We receive this initially in Confirmation, and then everyday we can pray for an infilling of this grace from the Holy Spirit.

We can see the gift of fortitude fulfilled by Our Lord in the agony in Garden of Gethsemani (Luke 22:39-46, Mark 14:32-42, Matthew 26:36-46). He says that his soul is sorrowful unto death, but still says that he chooses the Will of the Father - this is Fortitude and Holy Stubborness!

To choose to follow God and to love him requires an act of the will. This is why St John of the Cross teaches us: “Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.” It requires an act of the will, strength, courage, determination to act contrary to how we may feel, and still choose to love God, to follow Him - this is Holy Stubborness, the Gift of Fortitude that we receive from the Holy Spirit who empowers, strengthens and comforts us in the spiritual life.

2 comments:

AnonymousJanuary 22, 2023 at 8:00 AM
Yes fortitude is one of the cardinal virtues, and the only hinge that is also a gift of the Holy Spirit...
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AnonymousMarch 3, 2023 at 9:44 AM
Thank you Br Jerome; I like the “holy stubbornness” depiction!
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Disclaimer

Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.