Theological Foundations new file

107 The Role of the Holy Spirit because they had been given the ability to make a proper judgment (even in the most dangerous cases) as to how to protect themselves from evil and what path to follow in order to reach heaven. Because they pos- sessed the gift of fortitude and were guided by their love of God, they were able to bear all kinds of suffering and torture for Christ. Because they possessed the gift of piety and were animated by filial love and ado- ration for the Heavenly Father, they kept the faith which they had promised to God till the end. Finally, because they had the gift of the fear of God, they preferred to choose death, rather than lose God’s grace through which they were preserved from evil. 30 As he follows the thought of St. Gregory 31 further, Father Stanislaus emphasizes the fact that the gifts of the Holy Spirit strengthen the mind of a Christian on his way to perfection and in his struggle with the vices that are contrary to these gifts. They help him to fight foolishness, dull- ness of mind, bad counsel, fear, ignorance, lack of perseverance in prayer and useless fear. 32 *** Father Matulaitis-Matulewicz does not develop a theology of the gifts of the Holy Spirit but approaches them from a practical point of view. In his spiritual conferences, he tells his readers that they need to prepare themselves to receive these gifts by removing all obstacles. He also shows ways of obtaining them. Blessed George believes that one can best prepare himself to obtain the gifts of the Holy Spirit by removing those obstacles which man him- self places on their path. The Holy Spirit walks away from those who do not give up earthly things, even though they see their uselessness, and do not mend their errors, even though they see the chaos of their lives. “Wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin. For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit, and will rise and depart from foolish thoughts, and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness” (Wis 1, 4-5). Thus the main obstacle placed before the Holy Spirit is a disorderly attachment to the world and to one’s own