By Father Fred Edlefsen

The words “courage” and “fortitude” may be interchangeable.  However, I will use “courage” to identify a virtue and use “fortitude” to identify the Gift of the Spirit.  Virtues and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are different phenomena.   A virtue is a habit to do the good; whereas a Gift is a disposition to be moved by the Holy Spirit.   The virtue of courage is the habit of doing the good when it is uncomfortable, daunting, sacrificial, or even life-threatening.  The Gift of Fortitude elevates the virtue courage to a purely divine level.  By Fortitude, we bear a radical or heroic witness to Christ or “what is right” when it requires a great personal sacrifice, perhaps even our life.    The martyrs are the most notable examples of Fortitude in action.

Pray for Fortitude when your faith in challenged.  Through Fortitude, the Spirit grants perseverance in faith, hope, and love – and in bearing witness to Christ – when spiritual trials or temptations last a long time.  "The one who endures to the end, he will be saved” (Matthew 24:13).  Fortitude draws upon the grace of Confirmation to give you a serene energy, in midst of trial, from which you will draw strength.  The Gift of Fortitude perfects the virtue of Courage, and it produces the Beatitude, “Blessed are those who thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.”