Virtues: What, Why & How [V1]
- theologysg
- Jul 28
- 15 min read
Updated: Aug 18
In this episode, we will consider what are virtues, why acquire and nurture them, and how to do so, as well as how virtues interact with our feelings and emotions.
St. Augustine defines “virtue” succinctly as the “order of love” [1]. When we love God rightly, it also makes us live rightly [2].
Let us ponder what the Bible [3], the Church and the Saints teach us about this crucial topic.
Play on Spotify to listen to the full podcast:
Opening Prayer – Prayer of St. John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor
O Mary,
Mother of Mercy,
watch over all people,
that the Cross of Christ
may not be emptied of its power,
that man may not stray
from the path of the good
or become blind to sin,
but may put his hope ever more fully in God
who is “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4).
May he carry out the good works prepared
by God beforehand (cf. Eph 2:10)
and so live completely
“for the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:12).
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Opening Song
Part 1: Virtues – What and Why
1.1 Loving God includes acquiring and nurturing virtues
St. Alphonsus Liguori, in his sermon “On the love of Christ”, points out that:
“All holiness and perfection of soul lies in our love for Jesus Christ our God, who is our Redeemer and our supreme good. It is part of the love of God to acquire and to nurture all the virtues which make a man perfect [4].”
To love God includes acquiring and nurturing virtues. They cannot be separated.
But what are virtues and what is the goal of a virtuous life?
To become like God in what way? In His character. As Jesus calls each of us, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48). In other words, this is the universal call to holiness.
In short, our love for God leads us to imitate Him in His character and holiness, and acquiring and nurturing virtues is the pathway to holiness.
That’s why the Saints, who loved and imitated Christ, are said to have lived a life of heroic virtue.
Or as St. Augustine said, a brief but true definition of “virtue” is the “order of love”. When we love God rightly, it also makes us live rightly [5].
1.2 Four reasons to live a virtuous life
There are four reasons to live a virtuous life.
First, love of God, as mentioned above.
Second, personal happiness – which is the necessary corollary of loving God. When we love God and live a life of virtue, we are truly happy. It is indeed a life of beatitude.
Third, bearing the burdens of many.
St. John Chrysostom explains this in the context of his commentary on Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:13 on being “salt of the earth”:
“For when he says: You are the salt of the earth, he is indicating that all mankind had lost its savour and had been corrupted by sin. Therefore, he requires of these men those virtues which are especially useful and even necessary if they are to bear the burdens of many [6].”
Each of us, as missionary disciples, are called to journey with others, to be in authentic small Christian communities with one another, to lead or influence others for Christ, and to serve others with our charisms.
In short, and as St. Paul exhorts us, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2).
Virtues are useful and even necessary, in order to be Christian burden-bearers.
Are you a Christian burden-bearer?
Fourth, and flowing from the third reason above, contributing to the good of others and the common good.
Continuing his commentary on being “salt of the earth”, St. John Chrysostom emphasizes that:
“For the man who is kindly, modest, merciful and just will not keep his good works to himself but will see to it that these admirable fountains send out their streams for the good of others. Again, the man who is clean of heart, a peacemaker and ardent for truth will order his life so as to contribute to the common good [7].”
As St. Paul aptly puts it, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10).
Indeed, we are made for a life of good works.
Men and women who sincerely seek, love and serve God know this in the core of their being and live it out [8].
Today, more so than ever before, we need to raise up a new generation of such devoted and magnanimous disciples [9].
We will now describe in brief, the three theological virtues and the four cardinal virtues.
1.3 Three theological virtues
The theological virtues “dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have God for their origin, their motive, and their object — God known by faith, God hoped in and loved for his own sake.” (CCC 1840) [10].
By baptism, the three theological virtues, which are supernatural gifts, are infused into our souls.
By faith, we believe in God and believe all that he has revealed to us and that Holy Church proposes for our belief.
By hope we desire, and with steadfast trust await from God, eternal life and the graces to merit it.
By charity, we love God above all things and our neighbour as ourselves for love of God [11].
These virtues are nurtured by formulating and keeping to a plan of life or norms of piety, in answer to the Universal Call to Holiness.
1.4 Four cardinal virtues
The four moral or cardinal (also called “human”) virtues and what they do are summarized below:
Prudence disposes the practical reason to discern, in every circumstance, our true good and to choose the right means for achieving it.
Justice consists in the firm and constant will to give God and neighbour their due.
Fortitude ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.
Temperance moderates the attraction of the pleasures of the senses and provides balance in the use of created goods [12].
See our previous post on Imitating the Saints where we illustrated these four cardinal virtues in the lives of the Saints [13].
Part 2: Virtues – How
Having understood what the virtues are and why acquire them, how do we acquire, increase and perfect the virtues?
And how are they related to our emotions and feelings?
2.1 What are “passions”?
The saints were not emotionless robots. They did not put aside or suppress their feelings and emotions in order to achieve a life of heroic virtue.
Instead, they began to use the concept of virtues, in conjunction with divine grace, to direct or re-direct their feelings and emotions to serve Christ and others.
We are called to do likewise.
In order to do this, we need a basic understanding of how our feelings and emotions interact with virtues and vices.
There is a technical term in our Christian patrimony called “passions”, which refers to the “affections” or “feelings” (see CCC 1771). As explained in the CCC 1763:
“Feelings or passions are emotions or movements of the sensitive appetite that incline us to act or not to act in regard to something felt or imagined to be good or evil [14].”
The “principal passions are love and hatred, desire and fear, joy, sadness, and anger” (CCC 1772) [15].
There are three important points to be made here.
First, passions make us human.
If we don’t feel, we are not human.
Christ Himself experienced many emotions, but in a manner perfectly integrated within Himself.
He felt aversion or abhorrence with the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees, and denounces them, even calling them “hypocrites” and “whitewashed tombs” [16].
He felt fear, great distress and his soul was sorrowful, even to death, in the Garden of Gethsemane [17].
He felt righteous anger, and consumed by zeal for his Father’s house, he drove out the moneychangers and those selling and buying in the temple [18].
When he saw Mary and others weeping over the death of Lazarus, he was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled”, and “Jesus wept” when they told him, “Lord, come and see” after Jesus asked where they had laid Lazarus. Arriving at the tomb, Jesus was “deeply moved again” [19].
St. Paul also exhorts us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” [20].
Second, passions are disordered by excess or defect.
One can feel too much, or feel too little (e.g. passive or apathetic).
For example, some people have anger management issues. They explode at small things or overreact to perceived wrongs.
On the flip side, some do not feel anger when they are supposed to, for example, in the face of actual injustice or glaring evil – and they do not speak up or act.
The former feel too much while the latter feel too little.
Third, passions, in themselves, are morally neutral [21]. However, they are “morally good when they contribute to a good action, evil in the opposite case” [22].
St. Paul teaches, “Be angry but do not sin” (Eph 4:26).
So it is clear that we are free, as humans, to feel anger.
But we are not to allow that anger to lead us to act such as to “grieve the Holy Spirit of God” whereby we act with “bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander… [and] malice” (Eph 4:30-31). If we succumb to such actions, the passion of anger would be morally evil in that it would have led us to bad action [23].
In contrast, the passion of anger can be good if they contribute to a good action, for example, when Jesus cleansed the temple, or when Saints respond to injustice or evil by speaking up or starting new ministries or movements.
2.2 Passions and virtues
In short, we are called to feel proportionately and act rightly. This is where the virtues assist us.
If what we feel is disordered, we are more likely to do disordered things.
“The upright will orders the movements of the senses it appropriates to the good and to beatitude” (CCC 1768).
In this regard, passions should be informed by reason and subject to the will.
For example, after a big argument or fight with someone, reflecting and praying about what happens (and reading Scripture passages on anger) reveals that one has overreacted. Sometimes, counselling and spiritual direction (or a community member speaking truth in love to us) is needed to reach this point. With the mind enlightened by the truth (informed by reason), one resolves to change such behaviour.
The virtue of Prudence helps with this process.
However, even after being enlightened by reason, after years of acting in accordance with disordered passions, the will takes time, grace and practice to learn to do the opposite, to act rightly and regularly.
The virtue of Justice helps with this.
Succumb regularly and habitually to acting according to disordered passions, and over time they become vices, e.g. wrath, gluttony, sloth, lust, pride, envy, greed, etc.
The virtues form us in habits that help our emotional responses find a mean:
In summary, passions are elevated by virtue, corrupted by vice, and perfected in Christ.
In Christ, “human feelings are able to reach their consummation in charity and divine beatitude” (CCC 1769). In this way, we are moved to doing the good not only by our will, but also by our sensitive appetite or our “heart” (CCC 1770; 1775).
2.3 Learn, act and repeat, with God’s grace
St. Dominic said that:
“A man who governs his passions is master of his world. We must either command them or be enslaved by them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil.”
In order to do this, we are called to acquire, grow and perfect virtues, and in turn, the Church teaches that the human virtues acquired by:
Education;
Deliberate acts; and
A perseverance ever-renewed in repeated efforts;
are purified and elevated by divine grace [26].
In short, learn, act, repeat, and depend on God’s grace.
By reading this article, you have already started the first step of learning.
The next step is to act, and do it repeatedly, with perseverance. If we do not succeed at first or at times, lean on the Sacraments and prayer, and try again and again, by grace sustaining and elevating our efforts.
With God’s help, over time, such repeated acts become habits or virtues, which “forge character” and “give facility in the practice of the good” [27], i.e. we will find it easier to do the good, and to lead a virtuous life.
Indeed, the “virtuous man is happy to practice them” [28].
Conclusion
May the Lord help us to desire to lead a virtuous life out of love for Him, and to give us the grace to learn, act and repeat such habits of virtue until they become part of our character and who we are – Saints in the making, devoted to a life of virtue and walking in good works!
Closing Prayer (of St. Thomas Aquinas (extract))
“Grant me to despise all transitory things, and to desire Thee alone; to subdue my flesh and purify my conscience; to honour Thy Saints, and to praise Thee worthily; to advance in virtue, and to end good actions by a happy death.
Plant in me, O Lord, all virtues: that I may be devoted to divine things, provident in human affairs, and troublesome to no one in bodily cares.
Grant me, O Lord, fervour in contrition, sincerity in confession, and completeness in satisfaction.
Deign to direct my soul to a good life: that what I do may be pleasing to Thee, meritorious for myself, and edifying to my neighbour.
Grant that I may never desire to do what is foolish, and that I may never be discouraged by what is distasteful; that I may never begin my works before the proper time, nor abandon them before they are completed.”
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
* Is there anything in this session which struck you or any thoughts, experiences or ideas which come to your mind? Please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you.
** Thank you for joining us on the A-Z of DiscipleSHIP. We look forward to having you with us again next month, as we study the letter “W”, on Will of God (Discernment of Spirits).
Recommended Closing Song
Recommended Reading / Resources
Catechism of the Catholic Church at 1803-1845, on the virtues (with the summary “in brief” at 1833-1845).
Catechism of the Catholic Church at 1762-1775, on the morality of the passions, including what “passions” are and how they relate to the moral life and to virtues and vices.
Pope St. Leo IX, The Battle of the Virtues and Vices: Defending the Interior Castle of the Soul (as this reviewer puts it, in The Battle of Virtues and Vices, Pope St. Leo IX masterfully personifies each virtue and vice, dramatizing the battlefield of spiritual warfare with effective imagery and holy advice).
Reflection and Sharing Questions
This month’s podcast considers what virtues are and why and how to acquire them, and how virtues interact with the passions. The key points may be summarized as follows:
“A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good”. Loving God includes acquiring and nurturing virtues. This is the pathway to holiness.
The love of God, personal happiness, to become a Christian burden-bearer, and to contribute to the good of others and the common good - these are the strong motivations for living a virtuous life.
There are three theological virtues and four cardinal virtues.
Feelings or passions are emotions or movements of the sensitive appetite that incline us to act or not to act in regard to something felt or imagined to be good or evil.
We are called to feel proportionately and act rightly. This is where the virtues assist us.
Passions are elevated by virtue, corrupted by vice, and perfected in Christ.
Human virtues acquired by education, by deliberate acts and by a perseverance ever-renewed in repeated efforts are purified and elevated by divine grace.
Have you answered the call to live a virtuous life? If not, what is stopping you?
Are you a Christian burden-bearer?
Which key 1-2 virtues or vices would you like to focus on working on first? Share them with your accountability partner(s), and pray with one another for the grace to begin.
Have you harnessed your passions or emotions for Christ?
Apply the principles learned in this episode on passions, virtues and vices and discuss the modern day concerns over teenagers and young people spending an inordinate amount of time or being addicted to electronic devices, gaming, the internet or social media, and increasing studies highlighting the problems associated with this, e.g. increasing loneliness or disconnect, anxiety or depression, reduced attention span and ability to interact socially, etc.
© Presented by the Catholic Theology Network (writers / contributors / sound): Dominic Chan (M.A., Theology, Augustine Institute), Nick Chui (MTS, JPII Institute for Marriage and Family, AU), Keenan Tan (M.A., Theology, Augustine Institute), Debra Dass (Diploma in Theology, CTIS), Marcia Vanderstraaten (Diploma in Theology, CTIS); cover art: Koh Azariah Augustine.
Footnotes
1. City of God, XV, 22. St. Augustine arrived at this definition of “virtue” after explaining that “… if the Creator is truly loved, that is, if He Himself is loved and not another thing in His stead, He cannot be evilly loved; for love itself is to be ordinately loved, because we do well to love that which, when we love it, makes us live well and virtuously.” In other words, when we love God rightly, it also makes us live rightly.
3. Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture references are taken from the RSV 2nd CE.
4. 2nd Reading from the Office of Reading, 1 August 2024 (Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori).
5. See footnotes 1 and 2 above.
6. From a homily on Matthew by St. John Chrysostom, bishop. Second Reading (Office of Readings, Sunday 20 August 2023).
7. Ibid.
8. Jesus describes the fundamental disposition of such faithful disciples: (1) “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, that those who enter may see the light” (Luke 8:16); (2) They are the ones “in the good soil… who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15).
9. As reported in the Catholic News, the Singapore Archdiocesan Assembly 2025 on 1 March 2025 ended with a decision by the delegates (consisting of some 700 priests, religious and lay persons) to take forward the five pastoral priorities earlier proposed by the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (“APC”). The five pastoral priorities are: (1) Lifelong formation of clergy and laity for evangelisation and mission; (2) Building communities of faith in parishes and across the Archdiocese; (3) Enhancing the differentiated co-responsibility of clergy and laity; (4) Building unity in diversity across all levels; and (5) Embracing synodality as a way of being Church. We need an army of missionary disciples, dedicated to pursuing a virtuous life and a life of good works, in order to achieve this.
10. Emphasis in italics added.
13. For completeness, see also CCC 1830-1832 on the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the twelve fruits of the Spirit.
14. CCC 1771 also explains that “By his emotions man intuits the good and suspects evil”. For an understanding on the meaning of “sensitive appetite” (and its two-fold classification as concupiscible appetite (and the six chief passions associated with it, namely, joy or delight, and sadness, desire and aversion or abhorrence, love and hatred) and irascible appetite (and the five chief passions associated with it, namely, hope and despair, courage and fear, and anger)), see the Catholic Encyclopedia on “Passions” provided on this Catholic Answers webpage.
15. For completeness, see also CCC 1830-1832 on the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the twelve fruits of the Spirit.
16. See Matt 23:1-36.
17. See Matt 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46.
18. See Matt 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48 and John 2:13-17.
19. See John 11:33-38.
20. Rom 12:15
21. See CCC 1767 (“In themselves passions are neither good nor evil”), and CCC 1773 (“In the passions, as movements of the sensitive appetite, there is neither moral good nor evil”).
23. This is why St. Paul advises, “do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil”, and to “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:26-27, 32).
24. These are the chief passions associated with concupiscible appetites (one of the two categories of sensitive appetites), which relates to what we feel towards the good, simply.
25. These are the chief passions associated with irascible appetites (one of the two categories of sensitive appetites), which relates to what we feel towards an arduous good.
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