In my theological opinion, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are the same as the seven infused cardinal virtues. At Baptism, when sanctifying grace is received, the Holy Spirit infuses the baptized person with the three theological virtues and the seven cardinal virtues. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are also given at Baptism. But some of these gifts are given the same name as some of the virtues:

Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.” [CCC 1831.]

The three intellectual virtues (wisdom, understanding, knowledge) are the same as three of the seven gifts of the Spirit. And there is no tradition or magisterial teaching defining wisdom, understanding, and knowledge as gifts of the Spirit in a way that would distinguish them from the same three virtues as they are infused by the same Spirit. Wisdom as a gift of the Spirit is the same as the virtue of wisdom infused by the Spirit. The same is true for understanding and knowledge. There is no distinction, neither in wording, nor in the meaning of the words. Therefore, the gifts of the Spirit called wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, which are given at Baptism and strengthened at Confirmation, are the three infused intellectual virtues.

Since these three gifts of the Spirit are each virtues, it follows that the other four gifts would also be virtues. Fortitude as a gift of the Spirit is the same as one of the infused cardinal virtues; and again there is no distinction between fortitude as a gift of the Spirit and fortitude as a virtue infused by the Spirit.

Counsel is a gift of the Spirit, and prudence is one of the cardinal virtues. Saint Thomas Aquinas asks the question: “Does the gift of counsel correspond to prudence?” And he answers by affirming that “the gift of counsel corresponds to prudence, as helping and perfecting it.” [Summa Theologica, II-II, Q. 52, A. 2]

Now Saint Thomas distinguishes counsel from prudence by saying that counsel helps and perfects prudence. But this is exactly the relationship between an infused virtue and the same virtue in its acquired form. A person may obtain and exercise all of the cardinal virtues, without sanctifying grace, but only in their acquired form, by the use of intellect and free will. Such an exercise of virtue is always done in cooperation with actual grace, but when sanctifying grace is lacking, this cooperation is limited, and therefore the exercise of the acquired virtue is limited. The infused form of each cardinal virtue given with sanctifying grace allows each virtue to be exercised in a more perfect manner, even in full cooperation with actual grace. Therefore, the gift of the Spirit called ‘counsel’ is nothing other than the infused form of the virtue called prudence.

The remaining gifts of the Spirit are piety and fear of the Lord, and the remaining infused cardinal virtues are temperance and justice. Now temperance is often described as moderation. But moderation is only a virtue, even in its limited acquired form, when a person restricts or denies himself the use of temporal goods in order to pursue spiritual goods. So not all moderation is a virtuous act done in cooperation with grace. A person might moderate eating, for the sake of vanity, or might moderate leisure activities in order to obtain more money by working. Only when moderation is practiced for the sake of higher spiritual goods is moderation the virtue of temperance. And this type of temperance, in its fullest and truest form as an infused virtue, is identical to piety. For piety refers to acts of a spiritual nature, to acts which order spiritual goods above temporal goods. A person who places temporal goods above spiritual goods is not pious. A person who places one temporal good above another is not necessarily pious. A person who places spiritual goods above temporal goods is pious, by definition. This piety is identical to the infused virtue of temperance, which places spiritual goods above temporal goods, resulting in moderation. Therefore, the gift of the Spirit called piety is the same as the infused cardinal virtue called temperance.

The remaining gift of the Spirit is fear of the Lord, and the remaining infused cardinal virtue is justice. The virtue of justice considered here is not merely the acquired virtue of justice, which includes only limited cooperation with grace, and which is based more on reason than on faith. The infused virtue of justice does what is good and right out of fear of the Lord. But this fear of the Lord is not fear as a human emotion, nor is it the worldly fear of punishment. Perfect love casts out worldly fear. But the fear of the Lord is found even in the sinless and perfect Virgin Mary. This fear of the Lord is a virtue whereby the person does what is just for the sake of God, not for the sake of self, and not merely for the sake of family or friends.

[Psalm 33]
{33:12} Come forward, sons. Listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
{33:13} Which is the man who wills life, who chooses to see good days?
{33:14} Prohibit your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
{33:15} Turn away from evil, and do good. Inquire about peace, and pursue it.
{33:16} The eyes of the Lord are on the just, and his ears are with their prayers.
{33:17} But the countenance of the Lord is upon those who do evil, to perish the remembrance of them from the earth.
{33:18} The just cried out, and the Lord heard them, and he freed them from all their tribulations.

This Psalm teaches us that the fear of the Lord is exercised in just acts, in doing good and in avoiding evil because the Lord is just. And this is identical to the exercise of the infused virtue of justice.

[Proverbs]
{15:27} Whoever pursues avarice disturbs his own house. But whoever hates bribes shall live. Through mercy and faith, sins are purged. But through the fear of the Lord, each one turns aside from evil.

The fear of the Lord is a gift of the Spirit whereby each person does good and avoids doing evil because God is and does only good. Again, this describes the infused cardinal virtue of justice.

And so, for all the seven cardinal virtues and the corresponding gifts of the Spirit, the infused form of each cardinal virtue is the same as the corresponding gift of the Spirit. However, the acquired form of each cardinal virtue is merely related to the corresponding gift of the Spirit, in that the gift helps and perfects the acquired virtue. So the only distinction that needs to be made between the seven cardinal virtues and the seven gifts of the Spirit is that the cardinal virtues may be infused or acquired. These seven virtues are identical to the gifts of the Spirit when we are considering them in their infused form. But when we are considering them as merely acquired virtues, they are only related to the gifts of the Spirit.

by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and
translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.