Choose a topic from Part 2B:
1. We have considered fortitude as a virtue. We are tospeak of fortitude now as one of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.Fortitude as a virtue disposes a person to firmness in good,despite great dangers. Fortitude as a gift of God moves a man tosteadfastness in perils, and gives him confident hope of eternalfife at the last. The gift makes the exercise of the virtue easier,richer, more confident.
2. The gift of fortitude moves man to virtuous living,which is difficult, and gives him a spiritual desire for "theworks of justice" (as virtuous deeds in general are called).This spiritual desire is comparable to the bodily desire of a manfor food and drink. Thus, the gift of fortitude stands incorrespondence with the fourth beatitude (Matt. 5:6): "Blessedare they that hunger and thirst after justice."
"Spiritual persons ought to be equally ready to experience sweetness and consolation in the things of God, or to suffer and keep their ground in drynesses of spirit and devotion, and for as long as God pleases, without their making any complaint about it."
St Philip Neri
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"Every man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars."
Thomas á Kempis
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"For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God?"
Thomas á Kempis
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