The Virtues

Rules tell us what to do; virtues make us the kind of people who do it gladly. A virtue is a settled strength of character, a good habit so much our own that the right thing becomes easier, quicker and more joyful over time. The Catholic moral life is less about scraping past a list of prohibitions and more about growing into this kind of freedom.

What a virtue is

The Catechism defines a virtue as a habitual and firm disposition to do the good (CCC 1803). St Paul's list is a good picture of where the virtues point: whatever is true, honourable, just, pure, lovely and gracious (Philippians 4:8). A virtuous person does not only perform good acts now and then; they "tend toward the good" with their whole self, their mind, will and feelings (CCC 1803).

Think of a musician. Scales practised daily become fluency, and fluency becomes the freedom to play well without straining. The human virtues work the same way: they are acquired by repeated good acts and they order our passions and guide our conduct by reason and faith (CCC 1804). They give, in the Catechism's lovely phrase, "ease, self-mastery, and joy" in living a good life (CCC 1804).

The four cardinal virtues

Four human virtues are called cardinal, from the Latin cardo, a hinge, because the others turn on them (CCC 1805). The Book of Wisdom already names them together, saying that wisdom teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage, and that nothing in life is more profitable (Wisdom 8:7).

• Prudence is practical wisdom: seeing what is truly good in this situation and choosing the right means to it. It is not timidity. The Church calls it the "charioteer of the virtues", because it guides the others (CCC 1806).
• Justice is the firm will to give God and neighbour what is their due: respecting each person's rights and building fairness in families and society (CCC 1807).
• Fortitude, or courage, holds firm in difficulty and keeps going in the pursuit of the good, even in the face of fear, trial or death (CCC 1808).
• Temperance moderates our attraction to pleasure and keeps our desires within honourable limits, so that we enjoy created things without being ruled by them (CCC 1809).

Anyone of good will can grow in these, believer or not. But for a Christian they are also purified and lifted up by grace (CCC 1810).

The three theological virtues

Three further virtues are called theological because they come from God, are directed to God, and have God as their object (CCC 1812). We cannot acquire them by practice alone; they are poured into the soul as a gift, first at Baptism, and they give life to all the other virtues (CCC 1813).

• Faith is the virtue by which we believe in God and all that he has revealed, because he is truth itself. Living faith shows itself in love (CCC 1814–1816; Galatians 5:6).
• Hope is the virtue by which we desire heaven and eternal life as our happiness, trusting in Christ's promises and relying on the grace of the Holy Spirit rather than our own strength (CCC 1817–1821).
• Charity is the virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbour as ourselves for the love of God (CCC 1822–1829).

St Paul ends his great hymn to love by setting the three side by side:

So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

— 1 Corinthians 13:13

Charity is the greatest because it is the form of all the virtues: it binds them together and directs them to God (CCC 1826–1827). Without love, Paul says, even heroic deeds gain us nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1–3).

How virtues grow

The human virtues grow the way any habit grows: through education, deliberate acts and perseverance in effort (CCC 1810). Small faithfulness counts. Telling the truth when a small lie would be easier builds honesty; keeping a promise when it costs builds justice; one fewer hour on a screen builds temperance.

But the Church is realistic about our weakness. Wounded by sin, we do not easily keep our balance, and so we ask God for help. Christ's grace purifies and raises the human virtues; prayer, the sacraments and cooperation with the Holy Spirit are how we receive that help (CCC 1811). Grace does not replace our effort. It heals it and carries it further than it could go alone.

The gifts and fruits of the Spirit

The moral life of Christians is sustained by seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord, drawn from the prophecy of Isaiah (CCC 1830–1831; Isaiah 11:1–2). They are permanent dispositions that make us docile to the Spirit's promptings, a little like sails that let a boat catch the wind. The fruits of the Spirit are what that life looks like when it ripens: the Church's tradition counts twelve, charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and chastity (CCC 1832; cf. Galatians 5:22–23).

Going deeper

• The Ten Commandments: the shape of the life the virtues make easy.
• Confirmation: the sacrament that strengthens the gifts of the Spirit.
• The Examen: a daily prayer for noticing where you are growing.
• Read next in the Catechism: CCC 1803–1845, on the virtues and the gifts.