The Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about virtues in sections 1803–1845, within the part devoted to living a life of vocation following Christ’s example. This section on virtues is nestled in Chapter 1, titled “The Dignity of the Human Person,” which emphasizes that a life lived in virtue means being in dialogue with and in service to others. The purpose of the virtues is to help us live out the Golden Rule: do unto others what you’d have them do unto you. We might add the reverse, too: don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want them to do to you. The message is the same.
Living virtuously is a state of mind, a disposition, and a foundational way of engaging with the world. Virtues are tendencies and good habits. Don’t forget that, at the same time, vices are these things, too: tendencies, dispositions, bad habits.
Living virtuously makes us better people, and being better people means helping others. Our goal should be to learn to live virtuous lives like it’s a good habit. Practice makes us as perfect as we can be, given that we’re human.
Christian Tradition puts forward four virtues, known as the cardinal virtues. This term has nothing to do with the men dressed in red who vote for the pope in a conclave. The word “cardinal” comes from the Latin word cardo, meaning “hinge.” These four virtues are the hinges around which all the other virtues pivot. They are central and essential, serving as the inner core from which the others come. Using the original terms, they are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Saint Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century called them the “principal” virtues because he said they are the key to the others.
Excerpted from Walking Toward Virtue: A Journey with Dante by Christopher M. Bellitto (828874). Available from Liguori Publications. To order, call 800-325-9521, or visit Liguori.org.