One time I was teaching a group of eighth-graders about sin. One boy raised his hand and said,
“I really don’t want to sin. Would it be all right if I locked myself in my room forever with the Bible and my parents would just slip pizzas under the door? That way I wouldn’t be tempted to sin.”
I laughed and responded,
“Although it is important to avoid sin, the goal of the moral life is about much more than just avoiding sin — it’s about growing in virtue!”
Virtue, as Aristotle said, is “excellence in being human.” What an awesome thought — I want to be an excellent human being — thus I must become virtuous! Aquinas defined virtue as “a morally good habit”. It is a positive character trait that becomes such a deep part of us that it makes good actions easy and habitual. When we have the virtue of kindness, we easily and automatically do kind deeds and say kind words. When we have the virtue of courage, we do not need to struggle to do courageous actions — they become second nature to us.
How do we acquire virtues? Two ways. Prayer, and practice. We can pray for the virtues, but God will not simply give them to us — rather, He will provide opportunities for us to practice them. When I pray for patience, I get a traffic jam — so that I can practice patience! If I pray for humility, I usually find myself in an embarrassing situation later on — so that I can grow in humility!
Just as someone who is playing a sport needs to practice kicking a soccer ball or swinging a baseball bat, so that the action becomes so deeply ingrained in their muscles that they can do it without thinking about it, so someone who wants to develop a virtue needs to practice it over and over again until it becomes so ingrained within the soul that it becomes a part of who we are.
There are four virtues that stand above the rest — they are known as the Cardinal Virtues. Every other virtue stems from these four. They are Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude.
Fortitude is the courage to do what is right despite difficulty. Fortitude helps us develop all the virtues, because it gives us the strength not to get discouraged when we fail and to persevere in virtue when we are weary. Fortitude allows us to proudly proclaim our faith in Christ, and to live it out boldly. Every obstacle such as worrying about human respect, physical or mental weakness, opposition from family or friends, or any other struggle can be overcome with this virtue of Fortitude.
Justice deals with giving everyone what we owe them. We owe God our love, worship, and adoration. We owe our neighbor kindness, respect, and help. We owe our families our faithfulness, dedication, and material support; we owe ourselves to take care of our physical and spiritual health. This virtue of Justice helps us to know what we owe to others, and to be generous and prompt in giving others what we owe them.
Temperance is using God’s gifts rightly. Food, sleep, recreation, sex, work, alcohol — all of these are gifts from God which, if used properly, can lead us to Him. Temperance helps us to know when to enjoy them and when to abstain from them; how much to use them and when we should forego them. If we abuse God’s gifts, we sin and become miserable (gluttony, drunkenness, lust, laziness) while if we use His gifts rightly, we find delight and joy in this life and in the life to come.
Prudence is often called the “charioteer” of the virtues — it tells us what virtue to use, and when to use it. For example, if an army is on a battlefield and is completely outnumbered, it wouldn’t be courageous to blindly rush into battle — rather, it would be foolish. Likewise, it wouldn’t be cowardice to retreat — it would be a wise decision. Prudence tells us when we should use courage.
Or, if someone had a deep desire to fast and abstain from sweets, but it is Easter Sunday, Prudence would tell this person that while the desire to fast is good, Easter should be a day of feasting. So Prudence directs our good intentions and tells us when and where we should exercise each virtue.
I don’t know about you, but I want to be an “excellent” human being — which means that I need to work on developing virtues. A virtuous man or woman is truly free, truly excellent, truly alive!
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Photo: Ian Stauffer, Unsplash / PD-US
1 thought on “Cardinal Virtues”
Thank you Fr. Gill for such a well written and informative article. Through a long life of experience, I have learned that because of our fallen natures and our inclinations toward selfishness, that human beings need supernatural help to achieve living a life of practicing the virtues. After reading Thomas Aquinas and understanding his concept of “Grace perfects nature” , I have come to the realization in my faith life that attaining a virtuous life can only be achieved by asking for God’s grace and aquiring it through the sacraments and prayer. We can not do it alone.