Conferences on the Virtues
By Fr. Bruno Cocuzzi, ocd
Number 20
The Virtue of Fortitude
As we said in
one context or another quite a few conferences ago, the purpose of the virtues
is to “perfect us”. For a Catholic, or
any baptized Christian there can be no other “perfection” than as
“children-of-God-by-adoption”. That
requires several virtues, because of the “structure” of our “humanity”. We’ve mentioned the four Cardinal Virtues
and have already finished treating of two of the four, Prudence and Temperance,
along with the virtues “affiliated” with them.
The other two are Justice and Fortitude.
When we spoke
of that “structure” before, we distinguished the “faculties” of the Soul,
namely the Will, the Intellect, and the Sensory Appetites,
which are subdivided into the Concupiscible and the Irascible. We said also that each of the cardinal
virtues “resides” in one of those four faculties. The virtue of Justice resides in the Will, which is the Rational
Appetite, and its purpose is to “perfect” us in our relationships with all Others,
God and our fellow human creatures; Temperance, which resides in the
Concupiscible Sensory Appetite perfects us to some extent in regard to
what we “owe” ourselves as human beings adopted into God’s Family. Fortitude, which resides in the Irascible
Appetite, does the same to the remaining extent necessary.
The reason why
we need both Temperance and Fortitude to perfect us in regard to what we “owe”
ourselves as God’s human, adopted children with a specific well-defined
“destiny”, lies in the fact that there are two ways in which we are likely to
go astray as “functioning” entities (when considered in ourselves alone,
leaving aside for the time being what we “owe” all others). Because of our “wounded” human nature -- the
direct result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, our first Parents – our
sensory appetites are in disarray. Each
of our senses tends to seek its own specific kind of “enjoyment” irrespective
of the good of our entire “baptized” human organism. Each of our senses tend to avoid its specific kind of “pain” irrespective
of the good of our entire “baptized” humanity.
(Corresponding to the pleasure and the pain perceived by the bodily
senses, however, there is a “pleasure” and a “pain” which are perceived by the
“Ego”).
Now we see
where the Virtue of Fortitude fits in.
The “purpose” of the Irascible sensory appetite is to help us avoid pain
of sense by either “side-stepping” what threatens to inflict pain of sense or
by aggressively “nullifying” the agent that threatens the harm. The Virtue of Fortitude restores order to
the Irascible [pain avoiding] sensory appetites by keeping them, also, under
the control of “reason-informed-by-Faith”, and thus, also directed (ordered to)
the overall True Good of one’s “baptized” humanity. (There are, again, virtues “affiliated” with Temperance which do
the same thing for the corresponding “irascible appetite” of the Ego).
The reason I
keep repeating, “baptized humanity” is to help us remember that the “moral
virtues” which “perfect” us as children-of-God-by-adoption differ significantly
in many respects from the “moral virtues” that would perfect us as “mere” human
beings. In virtue of Baptism we are a
“new creation”. Because we share in
God’s own proper Life by the created participation in His Divine Nature that is
Sanctifying Grace, our True Good in this earthly phase of our lives differs
significantly in many respects from what the “noble” Greek philosophers Plato
and Aristotle discerned to be the Authentic Good of mere, untransformed, human
nature. In the opinion of St. Thomas,
the Praeceptor Ordinis (Teacher of the Order) for Discalced Carmelites,
their (especially Aristotle’s) teaching on the “natural” moral virtues cannot
be improved upon.
When we say
above that the appetites of sense [and ego] are disordered, we mean that the
Will has been so weakened by original sin that it cannot keep the appetites “in
line”. But the matter is complicated by
the fact that the Intellect is “darkened” by Original Sin, so even were the
Will able to impose itself to some extent on the appetites, the reason
would still be in error about where lies our True Good. And, as we have seen, that is where the
Virtue of Prudence fits in. To complete
the picture, we recall that the appetites of sense and of the Ego operate in
and through our “natural” passions, so that when the virtues are fully formed,
the “passions” are “pacified” and “set at rest”, as our Holy Father, St. John
of the Cross, teaches.
I hope you
don’t mind my going through that brief “review of what we said in some of our
early conferences in this series. It is
so easy to lose sight of the “overall picture” while plodding through a
“forest” of details and specifics.
THE
VIRTUE OF FORTITUDE…
Appropos of
what we have stated above, St. Thomas has this to say: The Will is prevented in a twofold manner
from pursuing the “rectitude” proposed by reason: One way lies in its being drawn away by the prospect of enjoyment
to something other than what right reason demands. This obstacle is removed by the virtue of Temperance. The other way lies in its being repelled
from choosing something that right reason demands, because of some difficulty
it would be obliged to undergo. To
remove this obstacle, fortitude of mind is required, by means of which
difficulties are resisted, as is the case wherein through bodily fortitude
[strength], physical obstacles are overcome and repelled.
The author of
my textbook continues this train of thought:
Hence, just as the cardinal virtue of Temperance is necessary to hold in
check and moderate the concupiscible appetite with regard to the pursuit and
enjoyment of vehement delights, so also a cardinal virtue is necessary with
regard to the toleration and the surmounting of grave difficulties. It is Fortitude that strengthens the soul
against the revulsion perceived in the irascible appetite and overcomes it,
such that, in spite of feeling repelled, one continued to persevere in good.
We simply
cannot do without Fortitude. The path
that leads to the goal for which we strive [perfection as disciples of Jesus]
is strewn with difficulties. It is,
after all, the way of crosses: we need
strength to carry them after Him. The
“quality of soul: which is fortitude must be a virtue because we have to
be able “habitually” [by permanent spontaneous tendency] to rely on that
strength “on the spur of the moment” when and as the need arises in the pursuit
of what Faith dictates. The specific
role of Fortitude is to conquer danger and difficulty in doing the Will of
God. Thus it is the middle ground
between fear and overconfidence. It is
particularly necessary in overcoming the greatest of all fears: the fear of death. Fortunately for us, situations wherein someone has to
choose between the Will of God and immediate bodily death are few and
far between. But of course, the
prospect of any kind of “death of self” inherent in fidelity to the Will of God
evokes the passion of fear, as we all well know by personal experience.
All of that is
pretty much summed up in the DEFINITION OF FORTITUDE: The virtue which strengthens the soul
against grave danger to bodily life, so that it does not desist from pursuing a
difficult, necessary good in conformity with right reason.
It must be
pointed out that the difficult good which one is deterred from pursuing
because of danger or harm inherent in the effort must be a “necessary” good, to
wit, a good that pertains to the salvation of our souls, such as fidelity to
the truths of our Faith and fidelity to the Will of God for us in our
particular vocation in life. (Our Holy
Mother St. Teresa often said that she would prefer to be cut to pieces rather
than to offend God).
To tolerate a
great deal of pain or to expose oneself to bodily harm in any endeavor that is
not conducive to our perfection as Children-of-God-by-adoption (i.e., holiness
of life) would be utter foolishness.
Actually, it is much worse than that.
To expose oneself to bodily harm (or any kind of harm) without a
proportionate, justifying reason is a sin against the Fifth commandment, at
least. More often than not it would be
a sin of imprudence, pride and vainglory.
If the individual so exposing himself to serious harm has dependents
(and I guess we all have them in one way or another), it would be a sin of
injustice as well.
The Acts proper
to Fortitude are two: The first and principal
act is to bear up under or to control fears so as to remain unmoved by
dangers. The other, secondary act is to
rein in “aggressive” tendencies.
Fortitude is concerned mainly with overcoming fears rather than
suppressing aggression because dangers “naturally” tend to subdue “boldness” on
our part by “augmenting” our fears. To
explain this, St. Thomas remarks that:
(1) “to
endure” implies an invasion by some greater force, whereas to control
aggressiveness implies an “assault” upon some weaker force, and therefore it is
more difficult to accomplish the former than the latter.
(2) Whoever
“endures” already senses imminent danger; whoever is “aggressive”
perceives a still future danger, and it requires less strength to be
unmoved by a still future prospect of harm than by a present one.
(3) “to
endure” implies an “interval of time”, whereas “aggression” is experienced in
“sudden bursts”. Again, it is more
difficult to remain “immobile” in the face of a greater force than to make a
“sudden assault” upon a weaker one.
FORTITUDE: A CARDINAL VIRTUE…
Like all
cardinal virtues, Fortitude possesses to an outstanding degree a condition
common to all the virtues: to remain
“firm” (or to act with “firmness”). By
means of Fortitude, the soul is fortified not only against giving in to the
powerful attraction of “delights” but also against giving in to the powerful
temptation to retreat from “good” when imminent evils and dangers threaten,
including the greatest danger of all to our bodily well being: death.
It stands to reason, then, that whoever has this virtue can rely on its
special help in standing firm against the onslaught of the “vices”, for whoever
can resist very powerful forces, can obviously withstand less powerful ones.
Marvelous as
Fortitude is, it is still not the greatest of virtues. The “human/Divine good” proposed by
reason-informed-by-Faith is what distinguishes “Christian virtue”. That Supernatural good is found
“essentially” in the infused virtue of Prudence, “effectively” in the infused
virtue of Justice (the realm of human relationships), and only “conservatively”
in the infused virtues of Fortitude and Temperance (in the realm of one’s
individual, intra-bodily-psychic-spiritual relationships). Clearly, it is a greater thing to stand firm
against the danger of death than against the attractive power of sensual
delights. Thus, in descending order of
“greatness and importance”, we have:
Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance.
SOME
OBSERVATIONS…
According to
the author of my textbook, “it is easy (?) to draw the following conclusions:
(1) In
and of themselves, “dangers” (actual pain or threat of pain) are NOT the
“matter” of Fortitude unless moral integrity requires that they be
endured. It’s immediate purpose is to
“strengthen” the Will’s “hold” on GOOD; its more remote purpose is to enable
one firmly to pursue “legal justice” (the common good), and its ultimate
purpose is to enable one to attain God Himself.
(2) Principally
and directly the “matter” of Fortitude concerns the dangers
that become “imminent” in a “just struggle” (my author says war),
whether it be to preserve the “common good” or to preserve a “particular
good”. By a “particular, just” struggle
is meant the “war” one wages “to defend” one’s other virtues (good qualities of
soul) such as justice, faith, chastity, religion. Examples would be instances where a judge’s life would be
threatened in order to induce him to render an unjust judgment, or where threat
or harm would be brought to bear upon a Christian to force him to deny his
Faith, or where a similar threat would be brought to bear upon a woman to force
her to consent to illicit sexual relations.
Secondarily
and indirectly the matter of Fortitude concerns other kinds of
“dangers”, such as sickness, tempests, incursion of robbers, etc., even though
these, of themselves, do not lie in wait for someone “just because” he is
pursuing a good and holy purpose.
However, they may be “endured” for virtuous motives (at least
because it is fitting for a “person of strength” to do so), such as when one
tends a friend who is ill with an infectious disease, or who does not shrink
from undertaking a journey for a good and holy purpose in spite of danger of
shipwreck or pirates. (You can tell it
was some years ago that St. Thomas wrote these words).
(3) One
does not have Fortitude but only a false appearance thereof (a) who
exposes himself to the danger of
death out of vanity, (b) a thief or robber who runs the risk of
being caught and punished, (c) who wages an unjust war, or (d) who engages in a
duel. Such a one is, rather, reckless
and cruel, because he overcomes fear and endures danger for the sake of an evil
or unjust purpose.
MORE
OBSERVATIONS…
1. One
who possesses the virtue of Fortitude experiences delight of soul or of
spirit on the one hand because of the PERCEPTION both of the fact
that one is acting virtuously and of the GOOD which is attained –
whether immediate or remote – by the virtuous action. On the other hand, such a person also experiences pain or
sorrow in soul or spirit from the concomitant PERCEPTION that one might
lose his/her life in the process, or have to endure bodily torture (physical
pain, a flogging, wounds to the body).
But the pain of sense is always more keenly felt than the spiritual
delight of acting virtuously, unless, of course, by some special grace of God,
a “divine” enjoyment is infused into the soul.
2. The
“matter of Fortitude tends to present itself in sudden, unexpected
circumstances. But not because the
person of Fortitude wants it that way.
Indeed, one who possesses the virtue tends to try to foresee the dangers
he/she is likely to encounter in the pursuit of holiness and thinks about how
best to resist or endure them. Thus the
acts proper to Fortitude tend to manifest themselves suddenly and unexpectedly
because it is only “on the spur of the moment” that what is “second nature” or
“habitual to us is revealed.
3. One
who possesses the virtue of Fortitude often makes use of the passion of “anger”
as a means of putting it into practice.
However, not in those instances when an evil is “endured”, but in
“making an assault” upon the agent threatening to inflict harm. But this “anger” is not “out of control”, it
is completely in the control of reason.
_ _ _ _ _
We’ve come to a
“natural break” in the treatment of Fortitude in my textbook, so I can call it
quits for this month. Next in order
come:
1. THE
act of Fortitude, or Martyrdom.
2. The
vices opposed to Fortitude
3. The
virtues “affiliated” with Fortitude, which are: Magnanimity, Magnificence, Patience and longanimity, Perseverance
and Constancy.
The treatment
concludes with “The Gift of Fortitude and the Precepts of Fortitude. However, I have no idea at the moment how
many conferences it will require to treat of all that adequately.
* * * * * * * * * * *
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