On this day of the novena to the Holy Spirit, we petition for the gift of fortitude.

As before, we start with the prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

Fortitude is inner strength, a courage to face adversity. We also know this as the ability to endure and suffer through trials, troubles and tribulations.

We alcoholics know all these way too well.

Lack of true fortitude drove us to drink. Alcohol afforded us a false sense of fortitude. We needed to “fortify” ourselves before any stressful endeavor. Anything that we knew would be a source of anxiety was an excuse for a drink.

Alcoholics and addicts sometimes talk of a “hole in the soul” that their addiction filled. Upon recovery that hole is filled by the grace of God and His increased presence in it. Fortitude may be one of the most direct gifts of this “hole filling” presence of God. With an increased devotion to the Lord, and a transfer from alcohol and drugs to God for our spiritual fulfillment, we may find the inner strength needed to take on and handle our daily troubles.

Oh, Holy Spirit, bestow upon me the gift of fortitude so that I may see through my sufferings today and bear witness to the strength that faith and hope in You brings. I ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

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