What is virtue What is Virtue A habitual

What is virtue?

What is Virtue? A habitual and firm disposition to do the good, according to Thomas Aquinas But what does that mean?

What is Virtue? - Habitual: “habits” are formed from repeated action - Firm: Deeply ingrained - Disposition: Way of being - Ordered toward the good (of self, others, and all things)

What does it mean to be a virtuous person?

What does it mean to be a virtuous person? Is virtue a one-time action? Will you one day suddenly become virtuous? Will it happen if you don’t want it to?

How do you become a virtuous person?

So how do you become a virtuous person? Practice!

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ” - Aristotle

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ our Lord, Amen.

What is virtue?

Virtues Cardinal and Theological

Cardinal and Theological Virtues Based on Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, Thomas Aquinas identifies 4 cardinal virtues and 3 theological virtues. Cardinal: cardo, Latin = “hinge” The cardinal virtues are the 4 virtues that are the source of all other virtues AKA the 4 virtues that all other virtues “hinge” on or the “door” to all other virtues

Cardinal and Theological Virtues Theological: theos, Greek = “God” - Faith, Hope, Charity (Love) The theological virtues are the 3 virtues that come from God’s grace They cannot be “earned” but can still be developed through developing one’s openness to God (and therefore one’s openness to receiving God’s grace)

Cardinal Virtues

Temperance - CCC 1809 ● Being able to order your passions according to what is good, true, and beautiful ● You are temperate when your feelings and passions react properly in respect to the things around you ● It’s about controlling yourself

Fortitude - CCC 1808 ● Persevering when the going gets tough ● It’s when you can pursue what is good no matter what the obstacles ○ Courage is fortitude in the face of fear ○ Endurance is fortitude in the face of pain ○ Patience is fortitude in the face of annoyance ○ Perseverance is fortitude in the face of boredom

Justice - CCC 1807 ● Regulates and governs your relationships with other people ● Giving other persons what is due to them ● What’s due to them? ○ If everyone is made in the image of God, then ________ is always due

Prudence - CCC 1806 ● The virtue of “reason in action” ● The ability to discern how to act in all situations ● Thinking about our actions in a way that takes the whole situation into consideration

Theological Virtues

Faith - CCC 1814 -1816 ● Acknowledging that there is more to reality than what we can know ● Recognizing that “more” when we see it ● Holding on to it with everything we’ve got!

Hope - CCC 1817 -1820 ● Assurance in the fact that you can’t do it all, but that God can - finding comfort in your dependence on Him. ● The way that you continue to be able to pursue God and holiness even though they seem unattainable and impossible

Charity (Love) - CCC 1822 -1829 ● The ability to love as God loves ● Charity is when you go from loving God because of what he does for you, to loving God simply because of who God is ● When you love God in this way, you can love your neighbor selflessly because you recognize that God Herself loves your neighbor

Portrait Essay - due Monday Looking at the portrait we have “drawn” of a virtuous person, I would like you to “draw” a self-portrait of yourself in comparison. In a 1 -page essay, I would like you to answer the following prompts: 1. Which parts of our portrait come easily to you? Which of the 7 virtues have you already begun to develop as a student? As a friend or classmate? As a family member? 2. What behaviors do you have that help to develop these virtues? 3. Which virtues have you ignored or cultivated in a negative way