EIGHTH DAY (Friday)
Bend the stubborn heart and will,
melt
the frozen warm the chill.
Guide the steps that go astray!
The Gift of Wisdom
Embodying all the other gifts, as charity
embraces all the other virtues, Wisdom is the most perfect of the gifts. Of
wisdom it is written "all good things came to me with her, and innumerable
riches through her hands." It is the gift of Wisdom that strengthens our
faith, fortifies hope, perfects charity, and promotes the practice of virtue in
the highest degree. Wisdom enlightens the mind to discern and relish things
divine, in the appreciation of which earthly joys lose their savor, whilst the
Cross of Christ yields a divine sweetness according to the words of the
Saviour: "Take up thy cross and follow me, for my yoke is sweet and my
burden light.
Prayer
Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, and reveal to my
soul the mysteries of heavenly things, their exceeding greatness, power and
beauty. Teach me to love them above and beyond all the passing joys and satisfactions
of earth. Help me to attain them and possess them for ever. Amen.
ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT (to be said daily)
On my knees 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 said daily)
On my knees 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 said daily)
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 of 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.
