In his weekly catechesis series on the Holy Spirit the Pope examines the gift of fortitude and its effect on the life of the faithful

On Wednesday, 26 June, during the General Audience in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father continued his series of catecheses on the Holy Spirit, speaking about the Spirit's role in strengthening Christians.

1. One gift which is needed by the people of today, who are particularly exposed to assault, temptation and the seduction of the world, is fortitude: the gift, that is, of courage and constancy in the struggle against the spirit of evil which lays siege to those who live upon this earth, in order to turn them away from the road to heaven. Many people risk wavering and giving in, especially during times of temptation or suffering. For Christians too there is always the risk of falling from the heights of their vocation, of deviating from the logic of the baptismal grace which was granted to them as a seed of eternal life. For this very reason Jesus revealed and promised to us the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Defender (cf. Jn 16:5-15). From him we are given the gift of supernatural fortitude, which gives us a share of the power and strength of the divine Being (cf. Summa Theologica, I-II, q. 61, a.5; q. 68, a. 4).

2. In the Old Testament we already find many proofs of the action of the divine Spirit who sustained not only individuals, but also the whole people, in the difficulties they encountered throughout their history. However, it is especially in the New Testament that the power of the Holy Spirit is revealed and believers receive the promise of his presence and activity in every struggle, until the final victory. We spoke of this several times in preceding catecheses. Here I will limit myself to mentioning that in the Annunciation the Holy Spirit is revealed and granted to Mary as "the power of the Most High", who shows that "nothing will be impossible for God" (Lk 1:35-37).

On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, who manifests his power through the symbolic sign of a driving wind (cf. Acts 2:2), gives the apostles and all those gathered with them "all in one place" (Acts 2:1), the new strength promised by Jesus in his farewell discourse (cf. Jn 16:8-11) and shortly before the Ascension: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit descends upon you" (Acts 1:8; Lk 24:49).

3. It is a question of an inner strength which is rooted in love (cf. Eph 3:17), which St Paul writes about to the faithful of Ephesus: may the Father "grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self" (Eph 3:16). Paul prays to the Father to give to those to whom he is writing this higher power, which Christian tradition lists among the "gifts of the Holy Spirit", deriving them from the text of Isaiah which lists them as the characteristics of the Messiah (cf. Is 11:2, ff.). Among the gifts with which Christ's most holy soul is filled, the Holy Spirit also gives to Christ's followers the fortitude which he was champion of in his life and death. One can say that the Christian who is involved in the "spiritual combat" has a share in the strength of the cross!

The Spirit intervenes with a deep, continuing action at every moment and under all aspects of Christian life in order to guide human desires in the right direction, which is the direction of generous love of God and neighbour, following the example of Jesus. For this purpose the Holy Spirit strengthens the will, making the person capable of resisting temptations, of gaining the victory in internal and external struggles, of overcoming the power of evil and especially Satan, like Jesus who was led by the Spirit into the desert (cf. Lk 4:1), and of fulfilling the demands of a life according to the Gospel.

4. The Holy Spirit gives the Christian the strength of fidelity, patience and perseverance on the path of good and in the struggle against evil. In the Old Testament the prophet Ezekiel told people of God's promise: "I will put my spirit within you"; the purpose was to obtain the fidelity of the people of the new covenant (cf. Ez 36:27). In his Letter to the Galatians, among the "fruits of the Holy Spirit", St Paul lists "patience", "fidelity" and "self-control" (Gal 5:22). These virtues are necessary for a consistent Christian life. Among them "patience" is singled out; it is a property of charity (cf. 1 Cor 13:4) and is infused into the soul by the Holy Spirit with charity itself (cf. Rom 5:5), as part of the fortitude to be practised in confronting evil and the tribulations of life and death. This is accompanied by "perseverance" which is continuity in the exercise of good works with the victory over difficulties represented by the length of the road to be travelled; like it is "constancy" which makes people continue to do good despite all external obstacles: both of these are fruits of the grace which he gives the person in order to reach life's goal on the way of good (cf. St Augustine De Perseverantia, c. 1: PL 45:993; De corrept. et gratia, c. 12: PL 44:937).

This courageous practice of the virtues is required of every Christian who, even in the state of grace, is still weak in his or her freedom, as St Augustine emphasized in his controversy with the followers of Pelagius (cf. De corrept. et gratia, c. 12 cit.): however, it is the Holy Spirit who gives the supernatural strength to fulfil the divine will and conform our life to Christ's precepts. St Paul writes: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death". Thus Christians have the possibility of "walking in the Spirit" and of fulfilling "the justice of the law", that is, of fulfilling the divine will (cf. Rom 8:2-4).

5. The Holy Spirit also gives people the strength to fulfil the apostolic mission which was entrusted to those designated to proclaim the Gospel and, in some measure, to all Christians. Therefore, at the moment when he sent his disciples on mission, Jesus asked them to wait until Pentecost, so that they might receive the power of the Holy Spirit: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you" (Acts 1:8). Only with this power can they be witnesses to the Gospel to the ends of the earth, following Jesus' command.

At all times, even to this very day, it is the Holy Spirit who gives the commitment to use all one's faculties and resources, to use all one's talents, to spend and, if necessary, to offer one's life in the mission that has been received. It is the Holy Spirit who does wonders in the apostolic activity of men and women of God and the Church chosen and motivated by him. It is the Holy Spirit who most of all assures the efficacy of such an action, regardless of the human capacity of those who have been called. St Paul said so in his First Letter to the Corinthians, speaking of his own preaching as a "demonstration of spirit and power" (1 Cor 2:4), of an apostolate, therefore, that was carried out "by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit" (Rom 15:18-19). Paul attributes the value of his work of evangelization to this power of the Spirit.

Even amid the sometimes enormous difficulties which are encountered in the apostolate, it is the Holy Spirit who gives the strength to persevere, renewing courage and helping those who are tempted to renounce the fulfilment of their mission. It is the experience of the very first Christian community, where the brothers and sisters who were persecuted by the enemies of the faith pray: "And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness" (Acts 4:29). And behold, "As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31).

6. It is the Holy Spirit who sustains those who are persecuted, to whom Jesus himself promised: "For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Mt 10:20). Martyrdom especially, which the Second Vatican Council calls "the highest gift and supreme test of love" (Lumen gentium, 42), is a heroic act of fortitude inspired by the Holy Spirit. This is shown by the holy martyrs of all ages, who faced death because abundant charity burned in their hearts. St Thomas, who examines a good number of cases of ancient martyrdom including those of very young children and the patristic texts concerning them, concludes that martyrdom is "the most perfect human act", because it is the result of the love of charity, and is proof of its greatest perfection (cf. II-II, q. 124, a. 3). This is what Jesus himself affirms in the Gospel: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (Jn 15:13).

In closing, we must make reference to Confirmation, the sacrament in which the Holy Spirit is conferred ad robur: for strength. Its finality is to communicate the fortitude which will be needed in the Christian life and apostolate of witness and action to which all Christians are called. It is quite significant that the rite of the blessing of the chrism alludes to the anointing which the Spirit gives to martyrs. Martyrdom is the highest form of witness. The Church knows this and entrusts the Spirit with the task of sustaining, if necessary, the witness of the faithful to a heroic degree.