Seven Hard Ways Of Jesus Christ Crucified & Seven Gifts Of The Holy Ghost To Combat The Seven Deadly Sins
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. Is.11.2-3.
Remember thou the seven hard ways, which thy Lord walked for thee in this his Passion, that he might stop up the seven ways of the seven deadly sins, which lead thee unto Hell, & might open the way to everlasting life, by the seven gifts of the holy Ghost.
For he went:
First, from the house where he supped, to the Garden.
Secondly from thence to Annas.
Thirdly to Caiphas his house.
Fourthly to Pilate.
Fifthly to Herod.
Sixthly again to Pilate.
Seventh to the Cross.
Do thou in all thy travails meditate upon these ways, and for the love of thy Lord run in the way of his Commandments.
Isaia names the gifts of the holy Ghost from the highest down, and in combination, so as to show at one and the same time their difference, interrelationship, origin, and order.
1. Wisdom
2. Understanding
3. Counsel
4. Fortitude
5. Knowledge
6. Piety
7. Fear of the Lord
There are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit for the sake of repelling in the best possible way the DEVIATIONS OF THE VICES.
1. Wisdom against lust.
2. Understanding against gluttony
3. Counsel against covetousness
4. Fortitude against sloth which destroys the soul's power for good
5. Knowledge against anger which is a kind of insanity
6. Piety against envy
7. Fear helps against pride
Good practice after the reception of communion is to meditate on the seven hard ways of our Lord after looking at the crucifix above the Altar (or in you mind's eye)
On the holy wound of the right hand meditate on the first hard way of Our Lord where he went from the house where he supped, to the Garden asking for the gift of Wisdom to help combat the deadly sin of lust. Saying O Jesus Christ Crucified by the virtue of the holy wound of your right hand send me Wisdom to conquer my sins of Lust. One Our Father, Ave Maria, Glory Be...
On the holy wound of the left hand meditate on the second hard way of Our Lord to the house of Annas asking for the gift of Understanding to combat the deadly sin of gluttony. Saying O Jesus Christ Crucified by the virtue of the holy wound of your left hand send me Understanding to conquer my sins of Gluttony. One Our Father, Ave Maria, Glory Be...
On the holy wound of the left foot meditate on the third hard way of Our Lord to Caiphas asking for the gift of Counsel against covetousness. Saying O Jesus Christ Crucified by the virtue of the holy wound of your left foot send me Counsel to conquer my sins of Covetousness. One Our Father, Ave Maria, Glory Be...
On the holy wound of the right foot meditate on the fourth way of Our Lord to Pilate asking for the gift Fortitude against sloth which destroys the soul's power for good. Saying O Jesus Christ Crucified by the virtue of the holy wound of your right foot send me Fortitude to conquer my sins of Sloth. One Our Father, Ave Maria, Glory Be...
On the holy wound of the side meditate on the fifth way of Our Lord to Herod asking for the gift of Knowledge against anger which is a kind of insanity. Saying O Jesus Christ Crucified by the virtue of the holy wound of your side send me Knowledge to conquer my sins of Anger. One Our Father, Ave Maria, Glory Be...
On the crown of thorns meditate on the sixth way of Our Lord back to Pilate asking for the gift of Piety against envy. Saying O Jesus Christ Crucified by the virtue of your crown of thorns send me Piety to conquer my sins of Envy. One Our Father, Ave Maria, Glory Be...
On the Superscription THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS mediate on the seventh way of Our Lord to the cross asking for Fear helps against pride. Saying O Jesus Christ Crucified by the virtue of the Superscription above the cross send me Fear to conquer my sins of Pride. One Our Father, Ave Maria, Glory Be...
Taken more or less from:
Fr. Francois Coster Meditations of the whole history of the Passion
St. Bonaventure The Breviloquium
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