Posted on 02/28/2013 8:31:56 PM PST by Salvation
Lesson 10 from the Baltimore Cathechism
The chief supernatural powers that are bestowed on our souls with sanctifying grace are the three theological virtues and the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.
These virtues are called theological virtues because they have God for their proper object.
The three theological virtues are faith, hope, and charity.
So there abide faith, hope, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (I Corinthians 13:13)
Faith is the virtue by which we firmly believe all the truths God has revealed, on the word of God revealing them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.
Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed. (John 20:29)
Hope is the virtue by which we firmly trust that God, who is all-powerful and faithful to His promises, will in His mercy give us eternal happiness and the means to obtain it.
But hope that is seen is not hope. For how can a man hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:24-25)
Charity is the virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.
If I should speak with the tongues of men and angels, but do not have charity, I have become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And if I have prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, yet do not have charity, I am nothing. (I Corinthians 13:1-2)
The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him; the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:2-3)
The gifts of the Holy Ghost help us by making us more alert to discern and more ready to do the will of God.
Some of the effects in us of the gifts of the Holy Ghost are the fruits of the Holy Ghost and the beatitudes.
The twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost are: charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, and chastity.
But the fruit of the Spirit is: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, modesty, continency. (Galatians 5:22-23)
The eight beatitudes are:
(See Matthew 5:3-10.)
Besides the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity there are other virtues, called moral virtues.
These virtues are called moral virtues because they dispose us to lead moral, or good lives, by aiding us to treat persons and things in the right way, that is, according to the will of God.
The chief moral virtues are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance; these are called cardinal virtues.
And if a man love justice, her labors have great virtues. For she teacheth temperance and prudence and justice and fortitude, which are such things as men can have nothing more profitable in life. (Wisdom 8:7)
These virtues are called cardinal virtues because they are like hinges on which hang all the other moral virtues and our whole moral life. The word "cardinal" is derived from the Latin word "cardo" meaning hinge.
Prudence disposes us in all circumstances to form right judgments about what we must do or not do. Justice disposes us to give everyone what belongs to him. Fortitude disposes us to do what is good in spite of any difficulty. Temperance disposes us to control our desires and to use rightly the things which please ourselves.
He that followeth justice and mercy shall find life, justice, and glory. (Proverbs 21:21)
Some of the other moral virtues are:
Besides these, there are many other moral virtues.
Baltimore Catechism for Lent Ping!
My kids have benefited greatly from it.
Sadly, their peers' religious instruction is as bad as mine was.
My book was a medium blue and I loved learning the answers.
Same here. My parents initially started us on the the Baltimore Catechism, but then dropped it, deferring to the lesson plans of the (liberal) CCD teachers. I learned nothing after that. Not until I discovered websites like Catholic Answers. I've learned a lot there. I ought to just go back to the Baltimore Catechism and read it.
Catholic Answers is fabulous. I listen to them on-line all the time. Doesn't hurt to review the Catechism from time to time, either. We homeschooled, so I was constantly reviewing, along with the kids.
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