The Necessity of Virtue

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As I prayed over On the Canticle of Canticles, by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, this morning, I came across a wonderful passage. He was explained that there are definitive characteristics that identify a beautiful soul. Of course, each of the noticeable markers is a virtue!
"Certainly, her [the soul's] beauty is made up of charity and justice and patience. And what of voluntary poverty? What of humility?...In her one sees fear of the Lord, prudence, temperance, fortitude, and whatever other virtues there may be, pearls as it were, adorning the bride with undying luster." (From Chapter 17)
So, I am convinced more than yesterday (and the day before, and the day before) that virtues have the potential to bring self-mastery and beauty back into this world. Without forming habits like charity, justice, patience, voluntary poverty, humility, piety, prudence, temperance, and fortitude, our culture will certainly continue swiftly toward its own ruin. My prayer is this: that more people will recognize the transformative power of virtue in the near future.

However, it is not only my prayer that virtue will reclaim its place in our world. God has recently blessed me with several opportunities to share teachings and reflections about virtue with several different audiences. So, there is work to be completed.

Without going into too much detail, here is a brief list of virtue-building opportunities just in this month.
  • "Becoming Virtuous Teachers," a retreat for the faculty of a parish school in my diocese.
  • "Preparing for Virtuous Combat," the third part of a middle-school retreat on virtue at my parish's school
  • "An Overview of the Spiritual Masters," a six-hour faith formation course to acquaint adults with spiritual writers and different aspects of Catholic spirituality. The center-piece of the course will be the authors' identification of virtue as a critical aspect of everyday spiritual life.
I pray that God will speak through me to the audiences; and that His glory will increase through these settings. All that I have been called to do is for His greater glory (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam)!

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