Gifts of the Holy Spirit (BK 026) ceramic tile 2

“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.” Thus begins one of the most well-known Roman Catholic prayers to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. + On Pentecost, fifty days after Christ’s Resurrection, the Holy Spirit descended amid a mighty wind and with tongues of fire on the Apostles and, perhaps, more than 100 others gathered together in Jesus’s name (Acts 2:1-4). + Ever since, the Sacrament of Confirmation has been the average Christian's “pentecost”, that is, the occasion on which they receive the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit—wisdom (sapientia), understanding (intellectus), counsel (consilium), fortitude (fortitudo), knowledge (scientia), piety (pietas), and fear of the Lord (timor Domini). + Here, the Holy Spirit in the traditional guise of a white dove is depicted descending against a golden equilateral triangle symbolising the Blessed Trinity in an unbroken rayed circle. Both gold, known for its indissolubility except by aqua regia, and circles are symbols of eternity. An arched green ribbon or scroll with the names of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit inscribed in Latin surrounds the whole. Tongues of flame, recalling Pentecost, separate the gifts’ names. + Originally designed as products for the Red Mass (q.v.), an annual Roman Catholic Solemn Mass of the Holy Spirit for legal professionals and government officials, our Gifts of the Holy Spirit items are equally appropriate for Pentecost and Confirmations. + Image Credit (BK 026): Antique image of the Holy Spirit from an early 20th-century devotional print (No. 827) originally published in chromolithography by B. Kühlen, at Mönchengladbach, Germany, from the designer’s private collection of religious ephemera. The original holy card, which was used as Confirmation Certificate, bears a handwritten date of 11 Marz [March] 1914.