When I think about virtue or a virtuous person sometimes I imagine a dry, priggish, judgemental person who thinks they are better than other people.....Or, I think virtue? How BORING! But this is not truth... Viewing the world through the eyes of virtue helps with discernment and healthy decision making, which allows a person to do good and to see good actions in others. When through God's grace we develop virtue, we become further transformed into His image and likeness. In the words of St Gregory of Nyssa "The goal of the virtuous life is to become like God" What a thought! Now let's talk about the Virtues both Cardinal and Theological. What are they? How can we identify them working within us.
"A virtue is a 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 and to see this good in others. 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 Four Cardinal Virtues The Four Cardinal virtues play a pivotal role and are called "cardinal" because all the other virtues 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." These virtues are praised under other names in many passages of Scripture.
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; Prudence is about making good choices. Prudence is "right reason in action," writes St. Thomas Aquinas. It is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity. It guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent person 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.
Justiceis the virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give themself to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the "virtue of religion." Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of others 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.
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."and"In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Temperanceis 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."Temperance is often praised in the Old Testament: "Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites." In the New Testament it is called "moderation" or "sobriety." We ought "to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world.
The Theological Virtues There are three theological virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity. The theological virtues are the foundation of the Christian life and all activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the 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.
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. For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God's will. A "Living faith"works through charity. The gift of faith 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.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.
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.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.
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.96 By loving his own "to the end,"97 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.The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which "binds everything together in perfect harmony"; it is the source and the goal of Christian practice. Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and raises it to the supernatural perfection of divine love.