By Tom Thomas –
Virtues, this is the focus of the Holy Father’s General Audience of 13th March 2024. The Holy Father says, “The Roman philosophers called it virtus, the Greeks aretè. The Latin term highlights above all that the virtuous person is strong, courageous, capable of discipline and ascesis. Thus, the practise of virtues is the fruit of long germination, requiring effort and even suffering. The Greek word, aretè, instead indicates something that excels, something that emerges, that elicits admiration. The virtuous person therefore does not become warped by distortion, but remains faithful to his own vocation, fully realizing himself.”
What a wonderful definition. Virtus is then an aspirational attribute that a Christian would strive to have. But how can one acquire this quality? It seems extremely hard to acquire virtue while it is extremely easy to fall into vices. Is virtue an external or internal attribute?
The story I have read of two brothers, convicted of stealing sheep, who were branded on the forehead with the letters ST, to indicate “sheep thief” comes to mind. One brother couldn’t bear the stigma. He became bitter and moved away, never to return.
The other brother chose a different course. He said, “I can’t run from what I did, so I’ll stay here and win back the respect of my neighbours.” As the years passed, he built a solid reputation for integrity. One day a stranger saw him, now an old man, with the letters still on his forehead. He asked a townsman what they signified. “It happened a long time ago,” said the villager. “I’ve forgotten the particulars, but I think the letters are an abbreviation for ‘saint’” (adapted from “Our Daily Bread,” Aug., 1982).
I recollect that when declaring candidates for Sainthood the Catholic Church mentions their unique heroic virtues. Are Saints then different from us ordinary mortals? Not so. The Holy Father mentions, “We would be off-course if we thought that saints were the exceptions of humanity: a sort of restricted circle of champions who live beyond the limits of our species. Instead, from the perspective we have just introduced regarding virtues, saints are people who become themselves fully, who fulfil the vocation proper to every man or woman. What a happy world it would be if justice, respect, mutual benevolence, kindness of heart and hope were the shared normality, and not a rare anomaly! This is why, in these dramatic times of ours in which we often have to come to terms with the worst of humanity, the chapter on virtuous action should be rediscovered and practised by all. In a distorted world, we must remember the form in which we were shaped, the image of God that is forever imprinted upon us.”
I ponder upon these words, they sink deep. The Holy Father is telling us through them that if we live our vocation properly and with the right values of respect for all, then we can become a saint too. Even a layperson can aspire to be a saint. My late father received insights during his spiritual retreats over two decades and I find these words from his morning prayers, next to his well-worn-out Bible which he used to recite every day. “Hammer into my mind always that I am a Christopher. I am to preach the Gospel by my actions and attitude. I am to live with the conviction that I am called to be a Saint. The ways and means of becoming a Saint are already revealed to me and help me to practice them in letter and spirit. Kindly Bless me and guide me to lead an exemplary life of Holiness today as per your liking. Remove from me all unnecessary anxieties and worries. Grant me the Grace to lead an absolutely faultless and sinless life till the last minute of my life on earth. Call me to come to you with a grateful heart and a smiling face.” Dad did indeed live his life in his final years with exemplary holiness, a virtuous life by all accounts, and went the way he desired, with a grateful heart and smiling face.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church ( CCC) 1803 says, “ 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. 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 virtuous person must do good always, and not only at times. The Holy Father clarifies, “History shows us that even criminals have performed good deeds in moments of lucidity. These deeds are certainly inscribed in the “Book of God”, but virtue is something else. It is a goodness that stems from the slow maturation of a person to the point that it becomes an inner characteristic. Virtue is a habitus of freedom. If we are free in every action, and we are called to choose between good and evil each time, then virtue is what enables us to have a tendency towards the right choice.”
Therefore, I understand that virtue is a necessary and desirable quality for a Christian to have. How can we obtain this quality? The Holy Father tells us that this comes from God’s Grace and the Holy Spirit. “For the Christian, the first aid is God’s grace. Indeed, the Holy Spirit acts in us who were baptized, working in our soul to lead it to a virtuous life. How many Christians have reached holiness through tears, finding they could not overcome some of their weaknesses? But they experienced that God completed their work of good which for them had been only a rough sketch. Grace always precedes our moral commitment.” These words give me hope. I struggle with the vices (amply covered in detail by the Holy Father in previous weeks’ talks) in my innermost being, and only through the Grace of God and the Holy Spirit I can overcome them and direct myself toward a virtuous life.
The Holy Father ends the communication by saying, “… virtue grows and can be cultivated. And for this to happen, the first gift to ask of the Spirit is precisely wisdom. The human being is not a free territory for the conquest of pleasures, emotions, instincts and passions, without the ability to do anything against these sometimes-chaotic forces, that dwell within. A priceless gift we possess is open-mindedness. It is the wisdom that can learn from mistakes in order to direct life well. It also takes good will: the capacity to choose the good, to form ourselves with ascetic exercise, shunning excesses.” I understand better now the value of the ascetic practices we follow in the desert season of Lent- the prayers such as Stations of the Cross, the fasting from the things we like and the almsgiving – all this will help strengthen in me the spirit of wisdom to choose good from evil, and to enable me to live a virtuous life. And virtue needs to be cultivated, just like one who cultivates flowering plants. It takes great time, effort and discipline to do so, aided by the Grace of God.
I look deeper into this subject. I find the topic of Virtues is so important the late Pope Benedict has written an entire book on the subject. Saint Pope John Paul II’s first ever discourses to the public on 25th October 1978 were on virtues, taking off from Pope John Paul 1 left.
The following words sum up the importance of virtues:
“When we speak of virtues…we must always have in mind the real man, the actual man. Virtue is not something abstract, detached from life, but, on the contrary, it has deep “roots” in life itself, it springs from the latter and forms it. Virtue has an impact on man’s life, on his actions and behaviour. It follows that, in all these reflections of ours, we are speaking not so much of the virtue as of man living and acting “virtuously”; we are speaking of the prudent, just and courageous man…” St John Paul II, General Audience, 22 November 1978
This pursuit of virtue is not at all an easy one, as the words below tell me, but I must strive to live a virtuous life. I look forward to learning more about the different theological virtues and the cardinal virtues from the Holy Father in the coming weeks:
“One should not say that it is impossible to reach a virtuous life, but one should say that it is not easy. Nor do those who have reached it find it easy to maintain.” — Saint Anthony of the Desert