Quoted from St. Francis de Sales in my morning reading, Hughson's With Christ in God:
"These gifts (the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit) are not only inseperable from charity, but they may be called its peculiar properties. The gift of wisdom is nothing more than love which has discovered by experience how sweet the Lord is. Understanding is a love which attentively considers the truths of faith, to penetrate the depths of their sweetness, and to fathom the abyss of the divinity, descending afterwards from the knowledge of the Creator to that of His creatures. The gift of knowledge is a love which we apply to the knowledge of ourselves and creatures, as conducive to the knowledge of the Almighty, and tending to impart a correct idea of the homage due to Him, by the consideration of His perfection and our extreme misery. The gift of counsel is a species of love by which we vigilantly seek the best means of serving God perfectly. The gift of fortitude is also the strength which love communicates for the execution of whatever has been suggested by the gift of counsel. Piety is likewise love which alleviates suffering and labour by inspiring a filial affection, and a joy in performing such actions as are pleasing to our heavenly Father. Finally, the gift of fear is evidently love, since it urges us to avoid all that is displeasing to God" (310-311).
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