Fruits of the Holy Ghost

What proceeds from man’s reason is a fruit ofreason. What proceeds from man by the working in him of a higherpower is the fruit of that higher power. Hence, the actionof a man which proceedsfrom him as the product of what isimplanted in him, like a seed, by the Holy Ghost, is the fruit ofthe Holy Ghost.

The beatitudes are perfect works; the fruits of the Holy Ghost are virtuous and delightful works. The beatitudes arefruits; but not all fruits are beatitudes.

The fruits of the Holy Ghost are enumerated by St. Paul(Gal. 5:22-23): charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness,long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity.

In general, the sensitive appetites tend to draw man togoods less than himself; the fruits tend to lift man to what isgreater than himself, not only as lying beyond the reach of sense,but beyond the reach of natural reason. Hence there is contrast andopposition between the works of the flesh and the fruits.