Fortitude

“Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 1808).

Christ (He Qi)

We are a weak society.

Whatever you may think of the COVID-19 pandemic and the various government responses to it, one thing is for sure, coming out of that pandemic we have become somehow weaker – less resilient.

Prior to the pandemic, if a person was a little sick, they would often push through and attend to their work and schooling and manage to continue along with their lives.  After the COVID-19 pandemic, we are less likely to push through.  We are more worried about how our illness might make another person ill.  We are more diligent about seeking proper medical attention.  And we are more serious about making sure that we take all the necessary precautions.

Now, though this often irks me, as I remember how robust we used to be prior to the pandemic, I am nonetheless generally supportive of the rights of people to feel that they are doing the right thing and staying safe and keeping vulnerable people in our society safe.

But one thing that it does bring to mind is the idea of Fortitude. 

In Paragraph 1808 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, there is a definition of Fortitude.  “Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defence of a just cause. ‘The Lord is my strength and my song.’ (Psalm 118:14).  ‘In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’” (John 16:33).

And fortitude is essential in finding and staying close to God.  You see, we are constantly under attack.  The attacks may be physical – through illness and injury – but most often they are spiritual and we barely even notice.  When we are under spiritual attack, we are most likely to be feeling that we are completely safe.  When we are first offered a temptation it seems so attractive to us.  We have only to consider the example of Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Satan did not stand in front of her in all of his deformity and offer death.  Instead, he offered a half truth covered in lies.  And how attractive it looked to Eve – that temptation.  It looked marvellous and spectacular.  Imagine – being like God. The only problem with that temptation was that it was totally false.  Eve was ALREADY like God.  She was made in His Image.

And lacking in fortitude, she could not stand firm in the face of temptation.  And this is why weakness worries me.

Saint Augustine famously said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”

And Thomas J, Olmsted write in :Manual for Men: at page 99, “The virtue of fortitude always calls for a certain overcoming of human weakness and particularly of fear. Man, indeed, by nature, spontaneously fears danger, affliction and suffering. Therefore courageous men must be sought not only on battlefields, but also in hospital wards or on a bed of pain. Such men could often be found in concentration camps or in places of deportation. They were real heroes.”

And I am thinking about that today – with Fortitude…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.