Choice virtues

Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III, chapters 1-15

21 November 2011

Fr John Christy, Fr Arokiadoss Lourdusamy and Fr Mackley Gomes

Video summary

Virtues perfect our daily life. Among these are Meekness, Temperance, Integrity and Humility. These virtues make our life beautiful. We need to have virtues in our life.

CHOICE OF VIRTUES

Each one should choose virtues according to our call and according to our personal charism. We must not look out for popular virtues but best virtues according to our vocation.

• St. Francis of Assisi – Poverty
• St. Dominic – Preaching
• St. Elizabeth – Self Abasement

When every we live by a virtue we would be attacked by “vices”. We need to practice contrary virtues to overcome those vices. A person with Pride and Anger should practice contrary virtues like Humility and Meekness to overcome those vices.

EVALUATING THE VIRTUES

• Time and again we need to evaluate our virtues to perfect our life better.
• We need to have good opinion of the people who follow certain virtues even though they do it with imperfections.
• Exceptional gifts like Ecstasy and Rapture can help but they are in no way necessary to serve God.
• Instead of practicing tough virtues we can start from virtues which are little and easy. 
• Virtues like patience, meekness, self mortification, humility, obedience, poverty, chastity, tenderness, diligence and Holy fervour can help us.

PATIENCE

• It is a virtue that helps us to deal with dishonour and honour in the same manner.
• To be humiliated by others is the test for our virtue of patience.
• We need to extent our patience universally.
• We have to be patience for great things and also those little things which accompany those.
• Pains make us perfect.

SPECIAL TESTS FOR PATIENCE

When evil happens we have to patiently wait for its results. When we are falsely accused we have to do three things:

• Accept and correct if it is true.
• Deny it if it false.
• Never bother if it continues and more over never try to make them accept your explanations.

ENCOURAGEMENT
• We have to always remember that within each one’s soul there is Jesus Christ.
• There is absolutely no need for us to be worried of anything.
• We can perform great acts with patience amidst afflictions.
• Allow your suffering along with Jesus who suffered for us.

HUMILITY
• Humility drives the devil away from us and retains the fruits of the Holy Spirit
• Humility helps us to overcome from the vain glory from earthly possessions.
• All the wonderful things we have should lead us closer to God otherwise they are vain.
• We need to count our blessing.
• The more we know the blessing and the greater we love God.
• We have to remember always “No good originates from us”.
• All that is good in us comes from God.
• Humble our hearts rather than lowering our eyes.
• When God desires to give us grace it is our pride that refuses it.
• Our Generosity is in trusting God unconditional love and mercy.
• Our acts of humility that are offensive to charity is certainly false.
• Worldly people hold prudence, courage and liberality in high esteem.

PRESERVING OUR GOOD NAMES
• Humility prevents us from seeking praise, honour and glory.
• But charity and Humility requires us to desire for our good name and preserve it.
• Preserving our good reputations urges us to go forward with strength.
• We must try not to too carefully safe gourd our reputation.
• If someone harms our good reputations, let us not be worried.
• It will return to us more beautifully and strongly.

MEEKNESS AND PEACE OF MIND

Jesus says: “Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart”. Humility perfects us with respect to God; Generosity perfects us with respect to neighbour.

• “When humility and meekness are good and true, they preserve us from the 
• inflammation and swelling that injuries usually cause in our hearts.”
• If we are proud and enraged when we are stung, it is a sure sign that in us neither humility nor meekness is genuine but only apparent and superficial.

ANGER

• It is better to attempt to find a way to live without anger than to pretend to make a 
• moderate, discreet use of it.
• We must repair our anger instantly by a contrary act of meekness. Fresh wounds are 
• quickest healed.
• We must develop polite conversation with strangers, our neighbors and our own family.
• Fits of anger against us tend to pride and spring from self-love.
• A gentle, loving rebuke has far greater power to correct a person, than rage and passion.

CARE ABOUT OUR AFFAIRS

• Care need not disturb our inner peace. Worry and anxiety always do.
• A job done too eagerly and hurriedly is never well done.
• Worry and anxiety disturb the reason and good judgment and so prevent us from doing well the very things we are worried about.
• “Undertake all your affairs with a calm mind and try to dispatch them in order one after the other.”
• “In all your affairs rely wholly on God's providence.”
• “Be sure that if you have firm trust in God, the success that comes to you will always be that which is most useful to you.”

Annecy

Reported by: Arokiadoss

Journeys and guides

Introduction to the Devout Life

Part First, Chapters 1 to 8

A report of the group discussion involving

Fr. John Christy, Fr. Lourdusamy Arokiadoss and Fr. Mackley Gomes

Virtue is the most pleasing thing to God.

• A genuine and a living devotion to God presuppose love of God.
• Devotion is spiritual agility and vivacity by which charity works in us.
• Devotion is queen of virtues since it is the perfection of charity.
• True devotion is love in action.
• Chartity is a spiritual fire when it bursts into flames then it is called true devotion.

There are beautiful comparisons made between charity and devotion
Charity Devotion
Milk Cream
Plant Blossom
Precious stone Lustre
Rich ointment odour

Devotion is possible for every vocation.

• The world tries to say that devout people are unhappy by which trying to make devotion undesirable, but devout people are happy and loveable. In fact they are like spiritual sugar.
• Jacob’s ladder is the true picture of devout life.
• True devotion adorns and beautifies one’s vocation and occupation

Altarpiece, Immaculate Conception Church (1619) Panaji Goa

True devotion never harms rather is perfects things. As honey bees extract honey from the flowers without hurting them or disturbing them, so true devotion brings out the best in every situation.

There is no journey without a guide for our journey. A faithful friend and a guide is a true medicine for our life and immortality.

Qualities of a good guide

1. S/he must be full of charity
2. S/he must be a person of Knowledge.
3. S/he must be a person of prudence.

The one who is guided should have the following:

1. Simplicity
2. Humility
3. Confidence

The spiritual journey starts with purifying our souls. And it's an ongoing process.
We are always victorious provided we have the willingness to fight.
Soul should rise from sin to devotion
Eg. As the dawning of the Sun ( is not sudden but gradual)

The first purgation is of Mortal sin. There should be renewal of the heart and conversion of the soul.
Second purgation is the affection of sin.
We try to live in the effect of the sin and not the affection of the sin.
We need to purify ourselves from all its affection.
We also need to have strong and living conviction of the evils of sin.

Ruins of Augustinian Convent (1622), Holy Hill Panaji, Goa

The value of a general confession:

• summons us to know ourselves 
• assumes wholesome sorrow 
• calms our minds 
• excites us to good resolutions 
• Provides our spiritual director with the opportunity to advise us better and helps us to reveal ourselves with confidence.

Eg, just like when we dislike someone we dislike also his relatives, in the same manner when hate sin we will also dislike the occasions that lead to sin

Affection for sin always leaves us with a ‘wearines in spiritual life’, which makes us fall again. We need to increase our repentance and contrition.

Report by Arokiadoss
Photography by Joe Boenzi