The Theological Virtues

The theological virtues are three dispositions that God infuses into the soul: faith, hope and charity. They are called “theological” because they have God for their origin, their motive and their object: it is he who gives them, it is on his account that they are exercised, and it is he whom they attain. Received with sanctifying grace, they make man able to live in relationship with the Trinity. Saint Paul names them together and points out the greatest: “So now faith, hope and charity abide, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

Faith

By faith, man believes in God and holds true all that he has revealed, because God is truth itself. It adheres to what it does not see, on the word of the one who cannot deceive: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Hope

By hope, man desires the Kingdom of heaven and eternal life as his happiness, placing his trust in the promises of Christ and relying on the help of the Holy Spirit. It keeps the soul turned toward the promised good and sustains it to the end: “For in this hope we were saved.” Romans 8:24

Charity

By charity, man loves God above all things, because he is the supreme good, and his neighbour as himself for the love of God. Christ made it the great commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbour as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39

It is the greatest of the three, and gives the other virtues their form and their completion, binding them all into a single life turned toward God: “Above all, put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” Colossians 3:14