Yes; we owe this teaching to St. Thomas Aquinas. He himself tells us that he did not perceive the harmony and the beauty of this doctrine except after many years of study and reflexion (VIII. 6).
Among these virtues and gifts that perfect the mind in its knowledge of the truth, is there one which, in perfection, holds the first place?
Yes, and it is the virtue of faith upon which all the others depend; indeed, it is the rôle of the other virtues and gifts to assist in the knowledge of this truth.
Which is the most perfect after the virtue of faith?
After the virtue of faith the most perfect is the gift of wisdom.
In what does this perfection of the gift of wisdom consist, in particular with regard to the gift of knowledge?
It consists in this, that by the gift of knowledge we judge of things divinely by referring them to their immediate and created causes; whereas by the gift of wisdom we judge of all things divinely by referring them to the highest of all causes, that, namely, which itself is independent of all causes and from which all other causes depend.
It is then by the gift of wisdom that one attains to the highest degree of knowledge to be had on earth?
Yes.
Next - The Catechism of the Summa - SECOND SECTION - A DETAILED SURVEY OF MAN'S RETURN TO GOD - XII. OF THE GIFT OF WISDOM WHICH CORRESPONDS TO CHARITY; AND OF THE SIN TO WHICH IT IS OPPOSED (C)
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