VIRTUE

• habitual & firm

disposition to do the
good.
• allows the person not
only to perform good
acts, but also to give the
best of himself.
• Virtues are also God-given powers
• Holiness made easy.
• A good operative habit.
• The good use of our freedom
• The purpose of the LAW is to lead us
to virtue.
• Develops through obedience to just
laws.
• ACQUIRED VIRTUES – through
the light of reason; as a good
operative habit.

• INFUSED VIRTUES – through the

light of GRACE
 Theological Virtues
• The cardinal virtues & other
virtues are rooted in the
THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES
which are the very
foundations of Christian life.
• These are:
FAITH, HOPE, & LOVE.
FAITH
• Empowers us to believe in God & all that
God has said & revealed.

HOPE
• Helps us to desire heaven & eternal
happiness, trusting firmly in Christ’s promises
& relying, not on our own efforts but on the
help & graces of the Holy Spirit.
• It gives us the strength to carry on.
LOVE
• Enables us to love God above
everything for his own sake and
to love our neighbor as God
loves us.
• perfectly binds together all other
virtues.
• We cannot work for justice
without love.
• To be just is to be loving and vice
versa.
Cardinal Virtues
“ habits or powers developed by a person
through practice which are the source of
and controlling influence over, all other
virtues. All other virtues are specifications
and modifications of these...”
(Stravinskas 1965,176)

 They are:
Prudence, Justice,
Temperance, Fortitude
PRUDENCE
• Is good common sense.
• “Right reason in action” –St. Thomas A.
• Helps us to discover what is good in every
situation & helps us to choose the right
ways of achieving it.
• A prudent person always seeks the most
loving & just thing to do in a given
circumstance.
Prudence
• The exercise of conscience is always
guided by PRUDENCE.
• It is the capacity for DICERNMENT.
• It formulates & imposes the correct
dictates of reason.
• “What is the best way for me, in this
situation, to do the right thing?”
• The prudent person must
investigate the situation & take
counsel from others.
Prudence presupposes
the ff. qualities:

• Knowledge of moral principles

• Ability to make rational inferences
• Vision or foresight
• Ability to weigh circumstances
• Ability to anticipate obstacles &
plan to surmount them.
• Ability to decide.
Fortitude
• Gives us the firmness, strength, &
courage to deal with
temptations, difficulties, &
dangers in doing what is right
and true.
• It is spiritual courage to do what
is right, helping us conquer fear,
even of death in defending a
just cause.
Temperance
• Moderates the attraction of
pleasures & provides balance
in the use of created goods.
• Enables us to control our
appetites for these goods
(food, drink, sexual
pleasure…) & use them in
God-intended ways.
• Developed by acts of self-
denial.
Justice
• The moral &
cardinal virtue by
which we give
God & our
neighbor what is
their due by right.
4 TYPES OF JUSTICE:
1. Social Justice
• Applies the Gospel message of
Jesus to the structures, systems,
& laws of society in order to
guarantee the rights of
individuals.
• To contribute, participate in
the social, political & economic
institutions of society.
2. Commutative Justice
• the justice of exchange.
• calls for fairness in
agreements & exchanges
between individuals or
private social groups.
• requires respect of
persons in our economic
transactions, contracts or
promises.
Commutative Justice
requires that:

• You get what you pay for.

• It also obliges that you
pay what you get.
• Responsibly fulfill our
obligations.
3. Distributive Justice
• Is justice that guarantees
the common welfare.
• Involves sharing.
• Sees to the just distribution of
the goods of creation that God
intends for us all to use & share.
• The Universal Destination of
Earthly Goods – The right of
having a share of earthly goods.
PCP II:
• “God destined the earth and
all it contains for ALL peoples
so that all created things
would be shared by all under
the guidance of justice &
charity.”
• Basic human dignity requires
that each person has a right to
enough of the earth’s goods to
live a truly human life.
The Right to Private Property

• Has an intrinsically social

function.
• The person’s social
responsibility to share his
access to the goods of the
earth with those who
lack the most basic
necessity
Paul VI indicated the limits
the right to private property:
“Private property is not an
absolute & unconditional
right. No one is justified in
keeping for his exclusive use
what he does not need, when
others lack necessities.”
(Populorum Progressio., 23)
As social beings &
members of God’s
family,
we pay special
attention to the
weak & the poor.
Preferential option &
love for the poor
a fundamental
Christian option,
inspired by the
teachings & examples
of Jesus.
 Vs. a life of wanton
extravagance while a
great number of
people exist in
subhuman conditions.
St. Basil :
“He who takes the clothes from a
man is a thief. He who does not
clothe the indigent, when he can,
does he deserve another name
but thief? The bread that you
keep belongs to the hungry; to
the naked the coat that you hide
in your coffers; to the shoeless, the
shoes that are dusty at your
home; to the needy the silver that
you hide. In brief, you offend all
those that can be helped by you.”
The Role of the Government
• The responsibility to make sure
that everyone’s basic needs are
met.
• A major reason we pay TAXES:
to guarantee that all citizens will
get an education, have police &
fire protection, have access to
health care & disability
compensation in times of forced
unemployment, and the like…
 It is a matter of
Proper allocation of
budget & Ending of
Corruption.
4. Legal justice

• the other side of

distributive justice.
• Requires that citizens
obey the laws of
society.
Moral Virtues
• They govern our actions,
order our passions, and guide our conduct
according to our faith and reason

humility
• One considers his/her own defects.
• Has a lowly opinion of himself
• Willingly submits himself/herself to
God and to others for God’s sake
Filial Piety
• Respect for one’s parents and
ancestors
• Means to be good to one’s parents

Obedience
• The act of carrying out commands
• The moral habit by which one carries out
the order of his superior with the precise
intent of fulfilling the injunction
Chastity
• A form of temperance
• Controls according to the right of reason the
desire for and use of those things which
afford the greatest sensual pleasures

Veracity
• Moral truth
• Correspondence of the outward
expression given to thought with the
light of the thought itself
Patience
• Virtue of the mind
• The ability to wait calmly for
something to happen without
complaining or giving up.

Liberality
• A spirit of generosity for a proper and
worthy charity that may involve the
donation of our time, our money or
other possessions
Brotherly Love
• The happiness in response to another’s
success.
Meekness
• A form of temperance that controls every
inordinate resentment at another’s
character or behavior
Diligence
• The decision to fulfill all of the responsibilities
in our vocation or state of life
The moral virtues grow through:
1. Education --- Knowledge
2. Deliberate acts -- Action
3. Perseverance -- Practice

DIVINE GRACE
purifies & elevates them.
References/Sources:
• CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH
• A PILGRIM’S NOTES by Fr.
Fausto Gomez, O.P.