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THE VIRTUES
A virtue is an
habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the
person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of
himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all
his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses
it in concrete actions......
THE HUMAN
VIRTUES
Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable
dispositions,
habitual
perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions,
order our
passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith.
They make
possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good
life.
The virtuous man
is he who freely practices the good.
The moral virtues are acquired by human effort.
They are
the fruit and seed of morally good acts;
they dispose all
the powers
of the human
being for communion with divine love.
Four virtues play a pivotal role and
accordingly are called "cardinal";
all the others
are grouped around them.
They are
prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance..........
--Prudence is the virtue that disposes
practical reason to discern
our true good in
every circumstance and to choose
the right means
of achieving it;
"the
prudent man looks where he is going."...........
It is prudence
that immediately guides the judgment of conscience.......
With the help of
this virtue we apply moral principles
to particular
cases without error
and overcome
doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid.
--Justice is the moral virtue that
consists in the constant and firm will
to give their
due to God and neighbor.
Justice toward
God is called the "virtue of religion".
Justice toward
men disposes one to respect the rights of each
and to establish
in human relationships the harmony
that promotes
equity with regard to persons and to the common good........
--Fortitude is the moral virtue that
ensures firmness
in difficulties
and constancy in the pursuit of the good.
It
strengthens the resolve to resist temptations
and to overcome
obstacles in the moral life.
The virtue
of fortitude enables one to conquer fear even fear of death,
and to face
trials and persecutions.
It
disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice
his life in
defense of a just cause.........
--Temperance is the moral virtue that
moderates the attraction of pleasures
and provides
balance in the use of created goods.
It ensures
the will's mastery over instincts and keeps desires
within the
limits of what is honorable.
THE
THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES
The theological virtues are the foundation of
Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special
character.
They
inform and give life to all the moral virtues.
They are
infused by God into the souls of the faithful
to make them
capable of acting as his children
and of meriting
eternal life.
They are
the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit
in the faculties
of the human being.
There are
three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.
--Faith is the theological virtue by
which we believe in God
and believe all
that he has said and revealed to us,
and that Holy
Church proposes for our belief,
because he is
truth in itself......
The gift of faith remains in one who has not
sinned against it.
But "faith
apart from works is dead":
when it is
deprived of hope and love,
faith does not
fully unite the believer to Christ
and does not
make him a living member of his Body.......
--Hope is the theological virtue by
which we desire the kingdom of heaven
and eternal life
as our happiness,
placing our
trust in Christ's promises
and relying not
on our own strength,
but on the help
of the grace of the Holy Spirit.........
The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration
to happiness
which God has
placed in the heart of every man;
it takes up the
hopes that inspire men's activities
and purifies
them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven;
it keeps man
from discouragement;
it sustains him
during times of abandonment;
it opens up his
heart in expectation of eternal beatitude..........
--Charity is the theological virtue by
which we love God above all things
for his
own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.
Jesus makes charity the new commandment.
By loving
his own "to the end",
he makes
manifest the Father's love which he receives.
By loving
one another,
the disciples
imitate the love of Jesus which they themselves receive...........
Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law,
charity keeps
the commandments of God and his Christ:
"Abide
in my love.
If you
keep my commandments, you will abide in my love."...............
The practice of all virtues is animated and
inspired by charity,
which "binds
everything together in perfect harmony";
it is the form
of the virtues;
it is the source
and the goal of their Christian practice.
Charity
upholds and purifies our human ability to love,
and raises it to
the supernatural perfection of divine love..............
The fruits of charity are joy, peace and mercy........
THE GIFTS AND FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.........
The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that
the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory.
The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "charity,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness,
faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity."
IN BRIEF
1833 Virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good.
1834 The human virtues are stable
dispositions of the intellect
and the will
that govern our acts,
order our
passions,
and guide our
conduct in accordance with reason and faith.
They can be
grouped around the four cardinal virtues:
prudence,
justice, fortitude, and temperance.
1835 Prudence disposes the practical
reason to discern,
in every
circumstance,
our true good
and to choose the right means for achieving it.
1836 Justice consists in the firm and
constant will to give God
and neighbor
their due.
1837 Fortitude ensures firmness in
difficulties and constancy
in the pursuit
of the good.
1838 Temperance moderates the attraction
of the pleasures of the senses
and provides
balance in the use of created goods.
1839 The moral virtues grow through
education,
deliberate acts,
and perseverance in struggle.
Divine grace
purifies and elevates them.
1840 The theological virtues dispose
Christians
to live in a
relationship with the Holy Trinity.
They have
God for their origin,
their motive,
and their object--God
known by faith,
God hoped in and
loved for his own sake.
1841 There are three theological virtues:
faith,
hope and charity.
They
inform all the moral virtues and give life to them.
1842 By faith, we believe in God
and believe all
that he has revealed to us
and that Holy
Church proposes for our belief.
1843 By charity,
we love God
above all things
and our neighbor
as ourselves for love of God.
Charity,
the form of all the virtues,
"binds
everything together in perfect harmony" (Col 3:14).
1845 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
bestowed upon
Christians are
wisdom,
understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of
the Lord.
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Ligurina-Maria
All information
taken in part from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
