Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities,
that interferes with the
individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin
from
which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.
Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.
Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume
more than that which one
requires.
Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.
Anger is manifested in the individual who
spurns love and opts instead for
fury. It is also known as Wrath.
Covetousness is the desire for material wealth
or gain, ignoring the realm of
the spiritual. It is also called Greed.
Slothfulness is the avoidance of physical
or spiritual work.
Contrary, Heavenly, and Cardinal Virtues
In this world of iniquity, they are a few gleams of hope in the mire of
our
shameful indulgences. Various formulations of Virtue have been proposed
over the ages.
The Cardinal Virtues:
prudence, temperance, courage, justice
Classical Greek philosophers considered the foremost virtues to be
prudence, temperance, courage, and justice. Early Christian Church
theologians adopted these virtues and considered them to be equally
important to all people, whether they were Christian or not.
The Theological Virtues:
love, hope, faith
St. Paul defined the three chief virtues as love, which was the essential
nature of God, hope, and faith. Christian Church authorities called them
the
three theological virtues because they believed the virtues were not natural
to man in his fallen state, but were conferred.
The Seven Contrary Virtues:
humility, kindness, abstinence, chastity, patience,
liberality, diligence
The Contrary Virtues were derived from the Psychomachia ("Battle for the
Soul"), an epic poem written by Prudentius (c. 410). Practicing these virtues
is alleged to protect one against temptation toward the Seven Deadly Sins:
humility against pride, kindness against envy, abstinence against gluttony,
chastity against lust, patience against anger, liberality against
covetousness, and diligence against sloth.
The Seven Heavenly Virtues:
faith, hope, charity, fortitude, justice, temperance, prudence
The Heavenly Virtues combine the four Cardinal Virtues: prudence,
temperance, fortitude -- or courage, and justice, with a variation of the
theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.
The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy
Continuing the numerological mysticism of Seven, the Christian Church
assembled a list of seven good works that was included in medieval
catechisms. They are: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, give
shelter
to strangers, clothe the naked, visit the sick, minister to prisoners,
and bury
the dead.
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