1. "Veni, Sancte Spiritus!"
This, dear brothers and sisters, is the invocation that today, the Solemnity of Pentecost, rises insistently and confidently from the whole Church: Come, Holy Spirit, come and "give your faithful, who trust in you alone, your holy gifts" (Sequentia in sollemnitate Pentecostes).
Among these gifts of the Spirit there is one on which I would like to dwell this morning: the gift of fortitude. In our time, many exalt physical strength, even going so far as to approve of extreme manifestations of violence. In reality, man daily experiences his own weakness, especially in the spiritual and moral realms, yielding to the impulses of his inner passions and to the pressures exerted on him by his surroundings.
2. It is precisely in order to resist these multiple impulses that the virtue of fortitude is needed, which is one of the four cardinal virtues on which the entire edifice of the moral life rests: fortitude is the virtue of one who does not compromise in the performance of one's duty.
This virtue has little place in a society in which the practice of both caving in and accommodating, and of bullying and harshness in economic, social and political relations is widespread. Cowardice and aggression are two forms of lack of fortitude that are often found in human behaviour, resulting in the sad spectacle of those who are weak and cowardly with the powerful, and bold and overbearing with the defenceless.
3. Perhaps never before has the moral virtue of fortitude needed to be supported by the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gift of fortitude is a supernatural impulse, which gives vigour to the soul not only in dramatic moments such as martyrdom, but also in the usual conditions of difficulty: in the struggle to remain consistent with one's principles; in enduring offence and unjust attacks; in courageous perseverance, even amidst misunderstanding and hostility, on the path of truth and honesty.
When we experience, as Jesus did in Gethsemane, "the weakness of the flesh" (cf. Mt 26:41; Mk 14:38), that is, of human nature subjected to physical and psychic infirmities, we must invoke from the Spirit the gift of fortitude to remain steadfast and resolute on the path of goodness. Then we can repeat with St Paul: "I rejoice in my infirmities, in my outrages, in my necessities, in my persecutions, in the anguish I suffer for Christ's sake: when I am weak, it is then that I am strong" (2 Cor 12:10).
4. There are many of Christ's followers - pastors and faithful, priests, religious and lay people, engaged in every field of the apostolate and social life - who, in all times and even in our time, have known and know martyrdom of body and soul, in intimate union with the 'Mater dolorosa' at the side of the Cross. They have overcome everything thanks to this gift of the Spirit!
Let us ask Mary, whom we now greet as 'Regina Coeli', to obtain for us the gift of fortitude in every episode of life and at the hour of death.
[Pope John Paul II, Angelus 14 May 1979]
