Fortitude is a gift of the Holy Spirit which enables us to overcome difficulties and avoid dangers during our earthly life on the way to God's Kingdom of heaven.

St. Lawrence gives us an example of this gift of the Spirit. Lawrence was a deacon of Rome put to death during the Valerian Persecution 258 A.D. The prefect of Rome demanded from Lawrence the wealth of the Church, but Lawrence instead presented him only with the poor Christians of Rome. So, he was placed on an iron grid and roasted to death. It is said that during his ordeal he asked his executioners to turn him over because he had been roasted enough on one side. Such strength of spirit is beyond our weak human nature, so it is by the strength given by the Spirit that he was able to endure this horrible torture till death.

In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

The gift of Piety is inspired by the Spirit of adoption which makes us children of God and through which we call God our Father. This childlike attitude is expressed is in Ps 131:2 "Like a weaned child on its mother's lap, so is my soul within me. Israel, hope in the LORD, now and forever."

St. Thérèse of Lisieux is a unique example of this gift. She developed a childlike attitude toward God. She rejoiced in God's justice because, she said, God makes allowance for our weaknesses and understands the frailty of our humanity. "So what have I to be afraid of?" She looked upon the saints as peaks of mountains lost in the clouds and herself like a grain of sand, so she looked for a little way to get to heaven. Her way was not to do great things for God but to do little things in daily life with a great love for God. She wrote, "Now I am ill and I shall not get better. Yet I am at peace. For a long time have not belonged to myself, but have completely abandoned myself to Jesus.... So he is free to do whatever he wants with me." 83 This was the "little way" of St. Therese inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Give us virtue's sure reward;
Give us Your salvation, Lord;
Give us joys that never end.

Fear of the Lord