8.87. Didn’t some saints receive miraculous gifts like prophecy and healing? Aren’t modern charismatics just receiving the same gifts of the Spirit?
Yes, God has granted extraordinary spiritual gifts (charismata) to some saints in Church history—such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Padre Pio, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Vincent Ferrer—but these gifts were rare, Church-approved, and rooted in profound sanctity. They were not sought out, hyped, or displayed for public excitement.
By contrast, the modern Charismatic Movement, born of Protestantism and embraced by the Vatican II Church, promotes emotional, undisciplined, and doctrinally suspect manifestations, often with no moral preparation, no sacramental foundation, and no discernment. It is not the same spirit—and not the same gifts.
Below is a comparison between the authentic mystical gifts received by saints, and the false charismatic gifts promoted today.
| Category | Mystical Gifts to Catholic Saints | Modern Charismatic “Gifts” | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Origin | God’s will alone; never sought or manufactured | Sought through group gatherings, emotional prayer, laying on of hands | True gifts come to humble souls, not those seeking experiences |
| Recipients | Saints of proven heroic virtue and doctrinal purity | Anyone claiming “the Spirit,” regardless of belief or moral state | God gives extraordinary graces to those purified by suffering and obedience |
| Purpose | To confirm the truth of the Catholic Faith, call souls to repentance | To encourage feelings, unity, or “empowerment” across denominations | True gifts serve the Church, not individual emotion or ecumenism |
| Speaking in Tongues | Known foreign languages, as on Pentecost (Acts 2) | Babbling, unintelligible sounds with no interpretation | Modern glossolalia is not biblical or Catholic |
| Church Discernment | Carefully examined, often with years of theological review | Spontaneous, untested, assumed to be from God | Many charismatic phenomena are not from the Holy Ghost, but psychological or demonic |
| Humility | Saints often hid their gifts and suffered great trials | Gifts are flaunted, shared publicly, even commercialized | God gives graces to the humble, not to the spiritually proud |
| Fruit | Conversions, vocations, deeper love for sacraments and doctrine | Doctrinal confusion, loss of reverence, emotional dependence | “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:16) |
| Ecumenical Links | Saints converted heretics to the true Faith | Charismatics worship and “pray in tongues” with Protestants | This is religious indifferentism and a betrayal of the Faith |
Summary:
Yes, some saints received true mystical gifts—but these were rare, hidden, and always in harmony with the Catholic Faith. They were not the noisy, self-promoting, emotionally charged “gifts” of the modern Charismatic Movement.
The so-called modern “gifts of the Spirit” came from Protestant heretics, were never part of Catholic tradition, and have produced confusion, disobedience, and irreverence—not sanctity.
As St. Teresa of Avila warned:
“The devil grants counterfeit spiritual experiences in order to deceive souls and distract them from true virtue.”
Authentic spiritual growth happens through the Mass, Confession, prayer, penance, and study of doctrine—not through emotional highs or pseudo-mystical theatrics.