“God made man in His image, that is to say… clad with every virtue”
-St. Dorotheus of Gaza (Instructions, I.I)
“By nature do we possess the virtues, which are given to us by God. God placed them in man when He created him.”
-St. Dorotheus of Gaza (Instructions XII.134)
St. Dorotheus was a monk and an abbot in the Middle East in the 6th century. Although the virtues exist as part of man’s human nature, created in God’s image, they must still be cultivated. They exist within us in seed-form and must be brought to fruition.
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The four classic virtues described by Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. The Romans understood virtue to be habits that conform to reason and the order of nature. These four virtues are named in the Deuterocanonical Biblical books the Book of Wisdom 8:7 and 4 Maccabees 1:18-19. St. Ambrose is the first to use the term cardinal virtues.
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St. Paul lists the three theological virtues as faith, hope, and love (charity). St. Thomas Aquinas said that the theological virtues are infused in our soul by God. The cardinal and theological virtues together are often referred to as the seven virtues.
The Church also developed the seven capital virtues (humility, kindness, temperance, chastity, patience, charity, and diligence) to correspond as remedies to the seven deadly sins (vices) of pride, envy, gluttony, lust, wrath, greed, and sloth.
It was Evagrius of Pontus in the 4th century who first described the “patterns of evil thought,” or the vices, and it was Pope St. Gregory the Great in the 6th century who promoted the idea that the virtues are antidotes for the vices.
St. Maximus the Confessor, a 7th century monk, mystic, theologian, and ascetic, taught that we seek out pleasure to avoid pain, but in so doing we end up increasing our pain. We are trapped in a terrible cycle where sin leads to pain and death, and pain and death leads to sin.[i] Maximus scholar Demetrios Bathrellos concludes that “the one who manages to resist pleasurable temptations through continence and endure the painful ones with patience is perfect (Q. Thal. 58). That one can experience the only true and life-giving pleasure, the pleasure produced by God’s grace.”[ii]
In my view this is fascinating from a parts perspective. Our protector parts often seek out pleasure to avoid pain, but they also often seek out pain and even death to avoid further pain. Our parts can be caught in this vicious cycle. It is no small task to help our protector parts to resist temptations and cultivate virtue. St. Maximus believed that the passions were actually neutral – they could be used for good or bad purposes. In the Ambigua, Maximus suggests that anger can be transformed into love and concupiscence can be transformed into joy[iii]. This corresponds well with the idea that parts push for evil or unhealthy behaviors as a way to cope. When we understand this, and we positively connect with even “problematic” parts, we can help them learn new healthier ways to cope. We can therefore help our parts turn away from maladaptive vice and direct them to behaviors that will promote the ultimate good for the self-system. The key here is that we do not exile our passion-consumed and “vicious” parts; instead, we connect with them, understand them, relate to them, educate them, and redirect them, ultimately leading to unburdening of maladaptive behaviors and the cultivation of virtue.
St. Maximus saw the central focus of the ascetical life to be love. One reason Jesus resists the temptations of the devil (in the desert) is out of love for us. He has a right to power and worldly greatness, but He chooses love for us instead. His death on the cross is the ultimate example of Christ resisting pleasure and enduring suffering out of love. We are called to do the same out of an ordered love of self, neighbor, and God. In Christ, we are to transcend our fallen nature and are free to choose love, which might involve suffering or a denial of pleasure. This love, however, provides us with a deeper meaning in life and a more profound joy
From a parts work perspective, we can understand the inmost self as infused with the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. These supernatural virtues come from God and provide us with this ability to be Christ-like and transcend our fallen human nature. The inmost self, as it exercises these theological virtues of faith, hope, and love can encourage and direct our parts. This empowers our parts to grow in the cardinal virtues. Cultivating virtue on a human level is always a good thing, but the supernatural grace that comes from the theological virtues helps us toward that ultimate transformation that leads to theosis (or deification – see my Augustin 19, 2024 Kingdom Within titled Man’s True Nature for background on this).
As we unpack this, consider this example: the inmost self connects with a firefighter part, perhaps a part that uses food to manage negative emotions (impelling toward the vice of gluttony), it embraces that part with the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. If that part believes he is unworthy or useless, the inmost self offers faith in God’s promises and hope in the face of despair. The inmost self can understand the part and extend compassion. As a result of this experience, which might include an unburdening, the part is invited to and able to exercise the cardinal virtue of temperance.
When our parts are overwhelmed by difficult tasks and suffering, the inmost self offers consolation, calm, and compassion, which fosters the virtue of fortitude which may include courage, forbearance, and resilience. Faith, hope and love promote prudence rather than reactivity and justice rather than pettiness and cruelty.
It is my speculative hypothesis then that the theological virtues “reside in” or perhaps “flow through” the inmost self while the cardinal virtues are developed and cultivated and nurtured in all the parts of the self-system.
Time for Personal Reflection:
I invite you to a moment of recollection. This is a prayerful calling to mind of all your parts, becoming aware of the inmost self, our deep spiritual center, and opening of your heart to God’s presence.
As your parts rest in a kind of gentle internal quiet, notice your body relax, your shoulders drop, and your face soften. As your breathing both deepens and slows, you become more aware of that deep spiritual center, your inmost self. Notice how calm and restful that feels. Notice the presence of Jesus, the Word, who is Himself the perfect icon of the Father. Notice the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, whose love flows from the Father, through the Son, and into your heart.
Allow yourself to rest in that beautiful and perfect love that comes from our God.
Consider for a moment that Christ has offered you freedom from your fallen human nature. What does it mean that we can freely choose to love even when it is difficult or painful?
Recall for a moment that through your baptism you were sacramentally restored and became a child of God.
The evangelist St. John goes so far as to say, “Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God” (1 John 3:9).
You were born to participate in the divine life. You were born to become a human being in intimate relationship with the God who is Love. You are empowered to defeat any unnatural passions and to lead a virtuous life that leads to salvation.
We are called to imitate Christ and practice the virtues.
We are called to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Yes we make mistakes and fall short, but we can daily adopt our identity as a beloved child of God, called to a life of goodness in Him.
May God bless you on your journey this week!
Resources:
If you’re interested to learn more, here are a few resources you might want to check out:
- The Art of Living (2021) by Edward Sri, published by Augustine Institute – Ignatius Press.
- Back to Virtue (1992) by Peter Kreeft, published by Ignatius Press.
- Gregory Pine, O.P’s 7-minute video Focus on these Virtues if You Want to Grow Closer to Christ
- Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.’s 8-minute video The Moral Virtues
- Dominic Legge, O.P.’s 9-minute video The Theological Virtues
Christ is Among us!
Dr. Gerry Crete is the author of Litanies of the Heart: Relieving Post-traumatic Stress and Calming Anxiety Through Healing Our Parts which is published by Sophia Institute Press. He is the founder of Transfiguration Counseling and Coaching, Transfiguration Life, and co-founder of Souls and Hearts.
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Dr. Gerry on the air…
Dr. Gerry was a guest on The Morning Quest, on AM 1160 in Atlanta on transgenderism and gender dysphoria. Check it out here between the 42:30 and 49:20 marks.
Do you accompany others in their formation and want to connect with Dr. Gerry?
If you are a Catholic therapist, counselor, coach, spiritual director, priest, or some other kind of formator who professionally accompanies others individually – and you want to work on your own human formation as a man or woman, your own flourishing – check out our Formation for Formators (FFF) community. In the FFF go deeper than continuing education or professional development. We go to the heart of the formator in his or her own formation. And Dr. Gerry helps us do that.
In the FFF, Dr. Gerry discusses these Kingdom Within reflections – he will discuss this one on Wednesday, December 11 from noon to 1:00 PM Eastern Time with our FFF members on Zoom. If you are already an FFF member, look in the “Events” tab of our Mighty Network for the link.
Also, Dr. Gerry hosts an office hour in the FFF for FFF members every third Wednesday from noon to 1:00 PM; the next one is on December 18, 2024 from noon to 1:00 PM. If you are an FFF member, click on the “Events” tab in our Mighty Network for the link.
Dr. Gerry’s advanced FFF group titled Journey into Your Heart will start on Friday, March 14, 2025 and meet on alternate Fridays (roughly) from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM Eastern time for five months, for a total of ten sessions. This is limited to nine participants. Here is that group description:
We all experience the effects of Original Trauma which may include post-traumatic stress and chronic anxiety. Join Dr. Gerry Crete in an Advanced Experiential Group, a real journey into the heart, based on his book Litanies of the Heart: Relieving Post-Traumatic Stress and Calming Anxiety Through Healing Our Parts. Each meeting will focus on a chapter of the book where we will have time for the reflection questions and discussion, the meditation, group processing, and an additional experiential parts work activity led by Dr. Gerry. Special attention will be given to the integration of intellectual, spiritual, and human formation as we explore how we and others we care for have coped with challenging past experiences. The meditations and parts work activities will focus on reducing anxiety through somatic, cognitive, imaginative, contemplative, and spiritual exercises. You will need a copy of the book Litanies of the Heart which is available at Sophia Institute Press. Paperback, Kindle, and Audible versions are also available at Amazon.
Dr. Gerry’s advanced FFF group is for those Catholic formators and FFF members who have completed a Foundations Experiential Group in the FFF or have IFS Level 1 training or equivalent. Check out the FFF on our landing page here, and get all our group descriptions and registration information here.
Did Dr. Gerry’s book Litanies of the Heart change your life? Tell him about it.
Shalom World, a Catholic web-based TV network has asked to interview Dr. Gerry about his book, Litanies of the Heart. As part of the show, the hosts would like to interview a reader who can describe the positive impact of the book, how it helped them for a few minutes via Skype. If you’d like to share your experience, reach out to Dr. Gerry directly at gerry.soulsandhearts [insert @ symbol here] gmail.com.
Dr. Peter’s next values statement Zoom workshop will be on Monday, December 2, 2024
On Monday, December 2, 2024 from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM Eastern time, Dr. Peter will lead our fourth values statement writing workshop, all about the nitty-gritty, step-by-step process of writing a values statement. If you are on Dr. Peter’s email list, I will send that link out tomorrow; if you are new to this series and you’d like to get on board with more than 120 other Catholics, email Dr. Peter at crisis@soulsandhearts.com and I will get you on the email list.
Here are recording from the previous workshops:
- Writing your Personal Vision Statement Guidance on writing a vision statement with examples.
- Values Workshop 1: What are values? How do we approach parts and values? How some values can and should change over time in dynamic ways, as we value both ends and means.
- Values Workshop 2: Aspirational values and natural values – how both are important. And how to identify and write your values.
- Values Workshop 3: On choosing your own personal values, connecting your values back to your vision, and I share the seven values in my personal values statement and we discuss the process of writing the values statement.
Pray for us
Please keep Souls and Hearts in your daily prayer intentions. We need it. And we are praying for you. Thank you doing your own human formation work. It benefits all of us in the mystical Body of Christ.
[i] Q. Thal. 21 (Questions Addressed to Thalassius)
[ii] Demetrios Bathrellos, “Passions, Ascesis, and the Virtues,” in The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor, ed. Pauline Allen and Bronwen Neil, First Edition. (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 288.
[iii] Amb. Io. 1 (Difficult Passages Addressed to John)