Christmas Stocking: the fruits of the Holy Spirit

Children used to hang their Christmas stockings hoping to find them filled with fruit, nuts and sweets in a time when on an average day they were too expensive to have, and even a single orange or an apple was a rare luxury.

The Holy Spirit provides free fruits year around. These fruits are the tangible and visible results of receiving and cultivating the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Fear of the Lord, Piety, Knowledge, Fortitude, Counsel, Understanding and Wisdom.

Here is how wonderfully filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit that everyone's "Stocking" could be:


Charity

Joy

Peace

Patience

Longanimity *

Goodness

Benignity

Mildness

Fidelity

Modesty

Countinence

Chastity


* Calmness in the face of suffering and adversity; forbearance.