Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The doctrine of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit has its prophetic basis in Isaiah 11:2, which describes the Messiah as the one upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rests — «the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness, and of the fear of the Lord» (Douay-Rheims). The Catechism of the Catholic Church nn. 1830-1831 teaches that these gifts are «permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit», received in Baptism and sealed in Confirmation. St Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae Ia-IIae q. 68) demonstrates that each gift perfects one of the theological or cardinal virtues. The Church consecrates to these seven gifts the time between Ascension and Pentecost, especially in the Novena to the Divine Holy Spirit.
O Holy Spirit, third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, eternal Love of the Father and of the Son: come to me, your unworthy servant, with the fruitful rain of your seven gifts.
Gift of Wisdom: grant me the taste for the things of God, that I may prefer the eternal to the passing, and the invisible to the visible.
Gift of Understanding: open my mind to the comprehension of the revealed mysteries, that I may believe with clarity what faith proposes and what the Magisterium teaches.
Gift of Counsel: guide my decision in moments of hesitation, that I may always choose what most pleases God, without selfish calculations.
Gift of Fortitude: grant me courage in persecution, patience in sickness, perseverance in the daily struggle against my sins.
Gift of Knowledge: teach me to read in creatures the Creator, and to discern in the circumstances of life your will.
Gift of Piety: grant me the heart of a son before the Father in heaven, and of a brother before all men.
Gift of Fear of the Lord: imprint on me the holy respect which sin offends, and the filial vigilance against every offence against God.
Come, O Divine Spirit, and renew the face of this earth which I am (cf. Ps 103:30).
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.