Today, what is traditionally the Ember Saturday after Pentecost, we move to a consideration of the sixth of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit: the Gift of Piety.
For more on what is meant by an Ember Day, you might note: Ars bene moriendi: Ember Days?
The Catechism, referring to Isaiah, lists the Gifts thus: "The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord." (CCC1831)
St. Thomas Aquinas notes that piety is among three of the gifts that belong especially to the "appetite," rather than directly to reason: "For, seeing that of the seven gifts...three [belong] to the appetite, viz. fortitude, piety and fear" (STh, I-II, q. 68, a. 1)
Of the Gift of Piety, the sixth listed, the Angelic Doctor says, "As by the virtue of piety man pays duty and worship not only to his father in the flesh, but also to all his kindred on account of their being related to his father so by the gift of piety he pays worship and duty not only to God, but also to all men on account of their relationship to God." (STh, II-II, q. 121, a. 1, ad 3) Further, he mentions of this gift in his introduction to the gifts that, "The appetitive power, in matters touching a man's relations to another, is perfected by 'piety.'" (STh, I-II, q. 68, a. 4)
John of St. Thomas adds that, "The gift of piety...honors and magnifies God for His own sake, regardless of whether He bestows good or evil. In a sort of nakedness and annihilation of self it gazes upon the divine magnitude itself and for itself, saying with the Psalmist, O magnify the Lord with me and let us extol his name together, that is, let us adore Him not for what He has given us, nor according to the measure of His gifts, but for Himself and in Himself....the very nature of the git of piety demands that it be extended to men as children of God, since it implies a reverence for the majesty of God, not according to the measure of His blessings but according to the greatness of His glory." (Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Ch. VI, 11 & 20)
St. Thomas Aquinas associates the Gift of Piety with the cardinal virtue of Justice. John of St. Thomas explains, in his Introduction to the Summa Theologiae, "Alone of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, piety involves what is owed to another, considering God as father, and all the faithful as brothers according to the spirit of adoption. Under this formality he covers universally everything which involves the note of debt." (Commenting on STh, II-II, q. 121 of Aquinas)
St. Augustine of Hippo, in On the Sermon on the Mount, associates the Gift of Piety with the second Beatitude, explaining, "Piety corresponds to the meek: for he who inquires piously honours Holy Scripture, and does not censure what he does not yet understand, and on this account does not offer resistance; and this is to be meek: whence it is here said, Blessed are the meek." (Book I, chapter 4, 11)
St. Thomas Aquinas explains, thus: "the second beatitude has a certain congruity with piety, inasmuch as meekness removes the obstacles to acts of piety." (STh, II-II, q. 121, a. 2)
John of St. Thomas associates the Beatitude of the meek with a removal of the irascible appetite: "The second, 'blessed are the meek,' removes the inordinate passions of the irascible part of the soul, so that men will not place their end in winning victory and taking vengeance on their enemies. " (Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Ch. IX, 3)
On this Ember Saturday after Pentecost, let us pray for the Gift of Piety, that we might give what is just to God and neighbor, and restrain our irascible appetites with meekness!
Veni, Sancte Spiritus! Live well!
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