On The Cardinal Virtues

56 Q. Name the Cardinal Virtues.

A. The Cardinal Virtues are Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance.

57 Q. Why are Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance called Cardinal virtues?

A. Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance are called cardinal virtues because all the moral virtues are founded and hinged around them. (in Latin, cardo means hinge)

58 Q. What is Prudence?

A. Prudence is the virtue that directs each action towards its lawful end and consequently seeks the proper means in order that the action be well accomplished in all points of view and thereby pleasing to Our Lord.

59 Q. What is Justice?

A. Justice is the virtue which disposes us to give everyone what belongs to him.

60 Q. What is Fortitude?

A. Fortitude is the virtue which renders us courageous to the point of not fearing danger, not even death, for the service of God.

61 Q. What is temperance?

A. Temperance disposes us to control the inordinate desires that please the senses and makes us use temporal goods with moderation.

The Gifts of the Holy Ghost

1 Q. Name the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.

A. The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost are, Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and the Fear of the Lord.

2 Q. What purpose do these gifts serve?

A. The gifts of the Holy Ghost serve to establish us in Faith, Hope and Charity, and to render us prompt in the exercise of those acts of virtue necessary towards attaining the perfection of a Christian life.

3 Q. What is Wisdom?

A. Wisdom is a gift by which the mind is lifted up from earthly and transitory things, enabling us to contemplate things eternal, that is to say, God Himself, the eternal truth, and to relish and love Him, in which consists all our good.

4 Q. What is Understanding?

A. Understanding is a gift which facilitates, as fas as this is possible to mortal man, the understanding of the truths of faith and of the mysteries of God, which we are unable to know by the natural light of the intellect.

5 Q. What is Counsel?

A. Counsel is a gift by which, amidst the doubts and uncertainties of human life, we are enabled to recognise those things that redound more to God's glory, to our own salvation, and to that of our neighbour.

6 Q. What is Fortitude?

A. Fortitude is a gift which inspires us with valour and courage to observe faithfully the holy law of God and of the Church, by conquering all obstacles and all the assaults of our enemies.

7 Q. What is Knowledge?

A. Knowledge is a gift enabling us to estimate created things at their proper worth, and to learn how to use them rightly and to direct them to our last end, which is God.

8 Q. What is Piety?

A. Piety is a gift enabling us to venerate and love God and His Saints, and to preserve a pious and benevolent mind towards our neighbour for the love of God.

9 Q. What is the Fear of the Lord?

A. The Fear of the Lord is a gift which makes us respect God and fear to offend His Divine Majesty, and which detaches us from evil while inciting us to good.

The Beatitudes

1 Q. Name the Beatitudes?

A. The Beatitudes are eight: (1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (2) Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land. (3) Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. (4) Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled. (5) Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. (6) Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. (7) Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God. (8)Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

2 Q. Why did Jesus Christ propose the Beatitudes to us?

A. Jesus Christ proposed the Beatitudes to us to make us detest the maxims of the world, and to invite us to love and practise the maxims of the gospel.

3 Q. Who are they whom the world calls happy?

A. The world calls those happy who abound in riches and honours, who lead a pleasant life, and who meet with no occasions of suffering.

4 Q. Who are the poor in spirit whom Jesus Christ calls blessed?

A. The poor in spirit are, according to the gospel, those whose hearts are detached from riches; who make good use of riches should they have any; who do not seek them too eagerly, if they have none; and who suffer the loss of such things with resignation when deprived of them.

5 Q. Who are the meek?

A. The meek are those who act tenderly towards their neighbour, bear patiently with his defects, and accept the offences and injuries they receive from him without contention, resentment, or vengeance.

6 Q. Who are they that mourn, yet are called happy?

A. They that mourn, yet are called happy, are they who suffer tribulations with resignation, and who mourn over sins committed, over the evils and scandals that prevail in the world, over Paradise because it is so distant, and over the danger there is of losing it.

7 Q. Who are they that hunger and thirst after justice?

A. They that hunger and thirst after justice, are those who ardently desire to increase daily more and more in divine grace and in the exercise of good and virtuous works.

8 Q. Who are the merciful?

A. The merciful are those who love their neighbour in God and for God's sake, compassionate his miseries, spiritual as well as corporal, and endeavour to succour him according to their means and position.

9 Q. Who are the clean of heart?

A. The clean of heart are those who retain no affection for sin aqnd keep aloof from it, and who above all else avoid every sort of impurity.

10 Q. Who are the peace-makers?

A. The peace-makers are those who preserve peace with their neighbour and with themselves, and who endeavour to bring about peace and concord between those who are at variance.

11 Q. Who are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake?

A. They who suffer persecution for justice' sake are those who patiently bear derision, reproof, and persecution for the sake of the faith and of the law of Jesus Christ.

12 Q. What do the various rewards promised by Jesus Christ in the Beatitudes denote?

A. The various rewards promised by Jesus Christ in the Beatitudes all denote under different names the eternal glory of Paradise.

13 Q. Do the Beatitudes procure us the glory of Paradise alone?

A. The Beatitudes not only procure us the glory of Paradise, but are also the means of leading a happy life, as far as this is possible here on earth.

14 Q. Do those who follow the path of the Beatitutdes receive any reward in this life?

A. Yes, certainly; those who follow the path of the Beatitudes do receive a reward even in this life, inasmuch as they enjoy interior peace and contentment, which is the beginning, even though an imperfect one, of the happiness of heaven.

15 Q. Can those who follow the maxims of the world be called truly happy?

A. No, because they have no true peace of soul, and are in danger of being lost eternally.