The Theological Virtues

The supernatural virtues which guide and direct us to God are called theological virtues. These are faith, hope,charity.

These theological virtues are not acquired by any actor effort of man. They are supernaturally infused; theyare poured into the soul by almighty God. The existence and nature of these virtues are made known to us by divine revelation. Hence these virtues are essentially distinct from the moral and intellectual virtues. The theological virtues are supernaturallyinfused; the moral and intellectual virtues are acquired. And we must be careful to distinguish the supernatural theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, from the natural virtues which are known by the same names.

St. Paul says (I Cor. 13:13), “Now, there remain faith, hope, charity, these three.” Faith enlightensthe intellect by imparting knowledge of supernatural truths.Hope directs the will to its supernatural last end as to something that requires effort and cooperation with grace, but as something attainable. Charity unites the will with God,its end and object; charity sets the soul into the love and friendship of God.

The three supernatural virtues called theologicalvirtues are all infused into the soul as habits; they are infused by almighty God; they are infused together at one and the same instant. Yet in the operation of these virtues we discern priority:faith gives knowledge which arouses hope, and hope tends to set up union with the end desired. Thus faith precedes hope, and hopeprecedes charity. But on the score of perfection, charity comes first, for it is more noble and valuable to embrace the desired object than merely to know it or hope for it. Says St. Paul*(loc. cit.),* “Now, there remain faith, hope, charity,these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”