The second gift of the Holy Spirit is understanding. This gift enables us to know more perfectly the mysteries of our holy religion.

The gift of understanding corresponds to the virtue of faith. This gift helps us to distinguish Catholic teaching from all other doctrine, and to rest in it.

Purify our hearts

St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas teach that the gift of understanding corresponds to the sixth beatitude, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.” “For there is a special cleanness in the mind and heart which, purged of evil phantasms, understands the truths of faith. Such an understanding sees God in His creatures on earth, and will behold Him hereafter in the heavenly vision.”

Father Francis Fernandez Carvajal wrote, “We need to purify our heart, for only the pure of heart can see God. Lack of purity, attachment to the goods of the earth, and giving the body all that it wants dull the soul’s interest in the things of God.”

Father Carvajal also pointed out that fostering interior recollection helps us to cooperate with the gift of understanding. Interior recollection means “not having our senses restless, not being curious about everything going on, not being oblivious of God.”

“We need mortification of the internal senses (imagination, memory, keeping useless thoughts at bay), and of the external senses (struggling to be conscious of God’s presence, seeing the hand of God behind the ups and downs of life).”

Wonderful effects

St. Teresa of Avila explained the effects of the gift of understanding: “It is like one who, without having learned anything or having taken the slightest trouble in order to learn to read, finds himself in possession of all existing knowledge; he has no idea how or whence it has come, since he has never done any work, even so much as was necessary for the learning of the alphabet.”

“This last comparison, I think, furnishes some sort of explanation of this heavenly gift, for the soul suddenly finds itself learned, and the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, together with other lofty things, is so clearly explained to it that there is no theologian with whom it would not have the boldness to contend in defence of the truth of these marvels.”

Examples of the saints

The saints learn the truth not only with their mind, but also with their heart. They know the truth not only from “outside-in,” but also from “inside-out.” The truth not only informs them but transforms them as well.

St. Alphonsus de Liguori recounted: “St. Thomas Aquinas was one day paying a visit to St. Bonaventure, and he asked him from what book he had drawn all the beautiful lessons he had written. St. Bonaventure showed him the image of the Crucified, which was completely blackened by all the kisses that he had given it, and said, ‘This is my book whence I receive everything that I write; and it has taught me whatever little I know.'”

Butler’s Lives of the Saints states, “Of the many noble characteristics of St. Thomas Aquinas, perhaps the two which may be considered with the greatest profit are his prayerfulness and his humility. He was ever wont to declare that he learned more at the foot of the crucifix than from books. ‘His marvellous science,’ says Brother Reginald, ‘was far less due to his genius than to the efficacy of his prayers. He prayed with tears to obtain from God the understanding of His mysteries, and abundant enlightenment was vouchsafed to his mind.'”

Imitating the examples of the saints, let us cooperate with the gift of understanding through mortification and prayer.

聖神七恩的第二恩是「明達」，幫助我們更明白和篤信聖教的奧理，辨識天主教道理與其它異端的分別，故此，無可避免地，像與「信德」血脈相連。

淨化心靈

聖奧斯定和聖多瑪斯，都把「明達」與「真福八端」中的「心裏潔淨的人是有福的，因為他們要看見天主」連繫一起 —— 因為「淨潔的心身驅除邪惡的虛幻，明辨達識真理；這樣的明達，藉世事看到天主，來日享見天福。」

方濟.嘉華祚神父寫道：「我們必需淨化心靈，否則，世俗或世事變成靈魂的累贅，以致看不到天主，對靈性之事失去興趣。」他同時指出，內在靈性的培育，能融匯在明達之恩。「內在靈性的培育，是指不讓我們煩燥不寧，莫要俗事遍尋，導致遺忘天主。」「我們要克制內心思維，防止無謂的幻想、思想和記憶。我們要常常意識到，天主在我們生命中每刻的臨在。」

奇妙的效能

聖女大德蘭解釋「明達」的恩賜是讓人在不經意中擁有必需的知識和智慧，而這些知識和智慧，又不一定源自以往的學習和經歷的體驗。就如一個從沒有學習字母筆畫的人突然懂得如何書寫。

一個靈魂，因看明達之恩，突然發現自己理解到聖三的奧蹟和其他的神聖事理。靈魂理解得那麼清晰，以致能比神學家更勇敢地去維護真道奧蹟。

聖賢的芳表

聖賢學習真理，不只用思想，也用心神；他們不只認識真理，也活出真理，皆因真理轉化了他們的身心。

聖雅風講述聖多瑪斯，說：「一天，當他請教聖文德有何書本可參攷那些精湛的教導時，聖文德指給他一尊因常親吻而變了顏色的苦像，答道：『這就是那書本。它教我寫作，它指導了我一切！』」

畢勒出神父的「聖人傳記」寫著：「聖多瑪斯芸芸諸德中，最使他受惠的，莫過於他熱切的祈禱，和一顆謙遜的心。他確認在苦架下學得的，比從書本得著的更多！列諾修士憶述：『聖多瑪斯的不平凡，來自他的祈禱，多於他的天份。他熱淚盈眶地向天主懇禱，領受對奧秘的明達，祈求天主的光照。』」

向聖賢學習，以克己和祈禱，共融於聖神的「明達」恩賜之中。