Virtues and Vices
by Father Joseph Rickaby, S.J.
The Virtues are:
(1) 'Gifts' of the
Holy Spirit, (2)
'Divine'/'Infused' Virtues,
(3) 'Acquired'/'Human' Virtues,
and (4) the Habit of
Synderesis. A
Virtue is a Habit of doing Right; a Habit of doing
Wrong is called a Vice. A Habit is a 'made' thing, 'made' by
the Free Human Acts of the Individual. It results of Acts whereof he is Master, to do or
not to do, and he 'Chooses' to do them. No one is born with Habits. A young child consequently has
neither Vices nor Virtues. But it has Propensities both
Virtuous and Vicious. These Propensities are partly common
to all Men, partly peculiar to individuals, depending in the latter case on the Bodily Nature inherited from Parents and Ancestors
according to what is called the Law of Heredity. Habits and Acts answer to one another; but a Person may do an Act,
Good or Evil, without having yet Formed the corresponding
Habit, be it of Virtue or Vice. Clearly, a Man may get drunk
without being a Habitual Drunkard, or give an Alms before he has mastered the
Virtue of Liberality. Otherwise no Virtue could ever be
Acquired; for the Act must precede the Habit, and the Habit of Virtue, or of
Vice, is the Gradual Result of a Series of Virtuous, or
Vicious, Acts. But, done without Habit, an Act is done Fitfully, Irregularly, with Difficulty
and Uncertainty, and much Imperfection.
Four Categories of Virtue
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Seven (7)
Gifts of the Spirit
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Seven (7)
Divine/Infused Virtues
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Four (4) Main
Acquired/Human/Cardinal Virtues
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Synderesis/
Natural Law
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Supernatural/ Divine Nature
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Human Nature
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Received at
Confirmation
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Received at Baptism
along with Sanctifying Grace
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Received at Conception and
developed throughout our Life
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Received at
Conception (static)
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Understanding
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Faith
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No Counterpart
to the Three (3)
Theological Virtues
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God writes His Name on the Soul of every Man at Conception. Synderesis is the Law of our Mind, because it is
a Habit containing the Precepts of the Natural Law, which are the First Principles of Human Actions
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Knowledge
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Hope
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Wisdom
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Charity
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Counsel
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Prudence
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Weakened/Damaged
Prudence
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Fortitude
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Fortitude
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Weakened/Damaged Fortitude
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Piety
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Justice
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Weakened/Damaged Justice
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Fear of the Lord
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Temperance
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Weakened/Damaged Temperance
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The Four (4) Main Acquired/Human Virtues are
still severely weakened due to Original Sin, and require Divine Aid
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Dominican Father Brian Mullady offers an excellent
synopsis of Virtue in the EWTN Radio Audio Clip available below. The
Outline of Father Mullady's Talk follows very closely the Table of
Virtues provided above. They compliment each other if simultaneously
viewed and heard.
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Links to pages on Virtues and
Vices
The Vice that is filling Hell to its limits
The Holy Spirit leads us in Two (2) Ways
Audio Clip on
the Habits and Virtue
by Dr. Theresa Farnan
Faculty, Mount Saint Mary's Seminary
Audio Clip on
the Virtues According to
Pope John Paul II
by Father Richard M. Hogan,
According to the Synthesis of
Pope John Paul II
Prayer to the Holy Spirit for His Gifts
by a Bishop Administering Confirmation
Almighty, Everlasting God,
Who has deigned to beget New Life in these thy servants by Water and the Holy Spirit,
and has granted them Remission of all their Sins,
send forth from Heaven upon them Thy Holy Spirit, with His Sevenfold Gifts:
The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding. Amen.
The Spirit of Counsel and Fortitude. Amen.
The Spirit of Knowledge and Piety. Amen.
Fill them with the Spirit of Fear of the Lord,
and Seal them with the Sign of Christ's Cross,
Plenteous in Mercy unto life everlasting.
Through the selfsame Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord,
Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God eternally.
Amen
The Praises of the Virtues
by Saint Francis of Assisi
Hail, Queen Wisdom! The Lord save you, - with your Sister, Pure, Holy Simplicity.
- Lady Holy Poverty, God keep you,
- with your sister, Holy Humility.
- Lady Holy Love, God keep you,
- with your sister, Holy Obedience.
- All Holy Virtues,
- God keep you, God from whom you proceed and come.
- In all the world there is not a person
- who can possess any one of you without first dying to
themselves.
- The person who practices one and does not offend against the
others
- possesses all;
- The person who offends against one,
- possesses none and violates all.
- Each and every one of you
- puts vice and sin to shame.
- Holy Wisdom puts Satan
- and all his wiles to shame.
- Pure and Holy Simplicity puts
- all the learning of this world, all Natural
Wisdom, to shame.
- Holy Poverty puts to shame
- all Greed, Avarice, and all the Anxieties of this life.
- Holy Humility puts Pride to shame,
- and all the inhabitants of this world and all that is in the
world.
- Holy Love puts to shame all the Temptations
- of the Devil and the flesh and all natural Fear.
- Holy Obedience puts to shame
- all natural and selfish desires.
- It mortifies our Lower Nature
- and makes it obey the Spirit and our fellow people.
- Obedience subjects a person
- to everyone on earth,
- And not only to people,
- but to all the beasts as well and to the wild animals,
- So that they can do what they like with the person,
- as far as God allows them.
Saint Francis of Assisi
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"The great Greek Historian, Lecky, said that the surest sign of Utter Degradation is when
Men speak of Virtues as if they were Vices,
and of Vices as if they were Virtues.
"They altered", he says, "the customary meaning of words in reference
to actions. Men looked on Deeds of Infamy and were not shocked. The Sin of the World and its Moral Corruption infected the air. Men
were Naked and not Ashamed, not because they were Innocent, but because no Sense of Guilt assailed them".
