1803
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if
there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."62
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
goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.63
I.
The Human Virtues
1804
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.
The
cardinal virtues
1805
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. "If anyone loves
righteousness, [Wisdom's] labors are virtues; for she teaches temperance and
prudence, justice, and courage."64 ( Wis 8:7.) These virtues are praised under other
names in many passages of Scripture.
1806
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."65 ( Prov 14:15. ) "Keep sane and sober for your
prayers."66 (1 Pet 4:7. ) Prudence is "right reason in action," writes St.
Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle.67 (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II, 47, 2. ) It is not to be confused with timidity
or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the
charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and
measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. the
prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this
judgment. 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.
1807
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. the just man, often mentioned in the
Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the
uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor. "You shall not be partial
to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your
neighbor."68 (Lev 19:15.) "Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing
that you also have a Master in heaven."69 (Col 4:1. )
1808
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. "The Lord is my strength and my song."70 ( Ps 118:14.) "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world."71
1809
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
temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and
maintains a healthy discretion: "Do not follow your inclination and
strength, walking according to the desires of your heart."72 ( Sir 5:2; cf. 37:27-31.) Temperance is
often praised in the Old Testament: "Do not follow your base desires, but
restrain your appetites."73 (Sir 18:30.) In the New Testament it is called
"moderation" or "sobriety." We ought "to live sober,
upright, and godly lives in this world."74
To
live well is nothing other than to love God with all one's heart, with all
one's soul and with all one's efforts; from this it comes about that love is
kept whole and uncorrupted (through temperance). No misfortune can disturb it
(and this is fortitude). It obeys only (God) (and this is justice), and is
careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery
(and this is prudence).75
The
virtues and grace
1810
Human virtues acquired by education, by deliberate acts and by a perseverance
ever-renewed in repeated efforts are purified and elevated by divine grace.
With God's help, they forge character and give facility in the practice of the
good. the virtuous man is happy to practice them.
1811
It is not easy for man, wounded by sin, to maintain moral balance. Christ's
gift of salvation offers us the grace necessary to persevere in the pursuit of
the virtues. Everyone should always ask for this grace of light and strength,
frequent the sacraments, cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and follow his calls
to love what is good and shun evil.
II.
The Theological Virtues
1812
The human virtues are rooted in the theological virtues, which adapt man's
faculties for participation in the divine nature:76 ( Cf. ⇒ 2 Pet 1:4.) for the theological virtues
relate directly to God. They dispose of Christians to live in a relationship with
the Holy Trinity. They have the One and Triune God for their origin, motive,
and object.
1813
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.77
Faith
1814
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 itself. By faith "man freely commits his entire self
to God."78 ( DV 5.) For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God's will.
"The righteous shall live by faith." Living faith "work(s)
through charity."79 ( Rom 1:17; ⇒ Gal 5:6.)
1815
The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it.80 ( Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1545.) But
"faith apart from works is dead":81 (Jas 2:26.) 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.
1816
The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also
profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: "All however
must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way
of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks."82 ( LG 42; cf. DH 14.) Service of and witness to the faith is necessary for salvation: "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father
who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my
Father who is in heaven."83
Hope
1817
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. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for
he who promised is faithful."84 (Heb 10:23. ) "The Holy Spirit . . . he poured out
upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified
by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life."85 (Titus 3:6-7.)
1818
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. Buoyed up by hope, he is
preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.
1819
Christian hope takes up and fulfills the hope of the chosen people which has
its origin and model in the hope of Abraham, who was blessed abundantly by the
promises of God fulfilled in Isaac, and who was purified by the test of the
sacrifice.86 ( Cf. ⇒ Gen 17:4-8; ⇒ 22:1-18.) "Hoping against hope, he believed, and thus became the father
of many nations."87
1820
Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the
proclamation of the beatitudes. the beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as
the new Promised Land; they trace the path that leads through the trials that
await the disciples of Jesus. But through the merits of Jesus Christ and of his
Passion, God keeps us in the "hope that does not disappoint."88 (Rom 5:5.) Hope
is the "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul . . . that enters . . .
where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf."89 (Heb 6:19-20. ) Hope is also a
weapon that protects us in the struggle of salvation: "Let us . . . put on
the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of
salvation."90 ( 1 Thess 5:8.) It affords us joy even under trial: "Rejoice in your
hope, be patient in tribulation."91 (Rom 12:12.) Hope is expressed and nourished in
prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads
us to desire.
1821
We can, therefore, hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love
him and do his will.92 (Cf. ⇒ Rom 8:28-30; ⇒ Mt 7:21. ) In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with
the grace of God, to persevere "to the end"93 ( Mt 10:22; cf. Council of Trent DS 1541.) and to obtain the joy
of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the
grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for "all men to be saved."94 (1 Tim 2:4.) She longs to be united with Christ, her Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven:
Hope,
O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for
everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is
certain, and turns a very short time into a long one. Dream that the more you
struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you
will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can
never end.95
Charity
1822
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.
1823
Jesus makes charity the new commandment.96 (Cf. ⇒ Jn 13:34. ) By loving his own "to the
end,"97 ( Jn 13:1. ) 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. Whence Jesus says: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved
you; abide in my love." and again: "This is my commandment, that you
love one another as I have loved you."98
1824
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."99 ( Jn 15:9-10; cf. ⇒ Mt 22:40; ⇒ Rom 13:8-10.)
1825
Christ died out of love for us, while we were still "enemies."100 (Rom 5:10. ) The
Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the
neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ
himself.101
The
Apostle Paul has given an incomparable depiction of charity: "charity is
patient and kind, charity is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or
rude. Charity does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Charity bears all
things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."102
1826
"If I . . . have not charity," says the Apostle, "I am
nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or even virtue, "if I . . .
have not charity, I gain nothing."103 (1 Cor 13:1-4.
) Charity is superior to all the virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues: "So faith, hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is charity."104 ( 1 Cor 13:13.)
) Charity is superior to all the virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues: "So faith, hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is charity."104 ( 1 Cor 13:13.)
1827
The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which
"binds everything together in perfect harmony";105 ( Col 3:14.) it is the form of
the virtues; it articulates and orders them among themselves; 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.
1828
The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the
spiritual freedom of the children of God. He no longer stands before God as a
slave, in servile fear, or as a mercenary looking for wages, but as a son
responding to the love of him who "first loved us":106
If
we turn away from evil out of fear of punishment, we are in the position of
slaves. If we pursue the enticement of wages, . . . we resemble mercenaries.
Finally if we obey for the sake of the good itself and out of love for him who
commands . . . we are in the position of children.107
1829
The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence
and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains
disinterested and generous; it is friendship and communion:
Love is itself the fulfillment of all our works. There is the goal; that is why we run: we run toward it, and once we reach it, in it we shall find rest.108
III.
The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit
1830
The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
These are permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the
promptings of the Holy Spirit.
1831
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel,
fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their
fullness to Christ, Son of David.109 (Cf. ⇒ Isa 11:1-2.) They complete and perfect the virtues of
those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine
inspirations.
Let
your good spirit lead me on a level path.110
For
all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God . . . If children, then
heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.111
1832
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."112
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 hope we desire, and with steadfast trust await from God, eternal life and
the graces to merit it.
1844
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.
GO TO:
SECTION ONE MAN'S VOCATION IN THE SPIRIT
CHAPTER ONE THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
PART THREE LIFE IN CHRIST
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST
PART FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholos (Acts 9:31)
SECTION ONE MAN'S VOCATION IN THE SPIRIT
CHAPTER ONE THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
PART THREE LIFE IN CHRIST
PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST
PART FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholos (Acts 9:31)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.
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