Fortitude

The Cardinal Virtue that makes a woman ready to fall in the battle for the Good

It’s not enough to know the good. We have to be ready to do it!

My frustration with the general conversation about feminism and womanhood, and why I started writing about it, has to do with the question of Fortitude.

Will we really continue endlessly talking about what a woman should do, going round and round, ricocheting between “I long to devote myself to others” and “I’ll miss out on pursuing excellence,” thinking, arguing… ?

But all that is actually cowardice! A lack of Fortitude, of bravery, of a fighting spirit.

The man or woman of Fortitude “abandons the tense, egocentric hold of a timorous anxiety.” ~ Josef Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues. (affiliate link)

Fortitude is the virtue we need.

Knowing the Good (Prudence), knowing what and who the Good is for (Justice), ordering the Good within ourselves, finding the mean and rejecting indulgence and self-punishment (Temperance) — all that is not enough.

Fortitude is doing it! By God’s grace.

In a way, The School for Housewives is the School of Fortitude!

Do you think I’m here to offer conventional tips for less-excellent, low-achieving gals? I’m here for the spirited woman, the woman ready to fight.

“For the sake of love’s perfection [the Christian]… is ready to be slain by the sight of the Lord (‘No man beholdeth me and liveth’ — Ex. 33, 20).” ~ Josef Pieper

Do you dare to be called by the world, “just a housewife”? Will you “fall in battle,” if necessary (the interior and also global battle over the well being of those in our trust) to carry out what you know to be Good? (I’m here to help, don’t worry!)

(Read about all the Cardinal Virtues here.)

Jael, Maarten van Heemskerck, c.1560

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My book on how to live with the Liturgical Year: The Little Oratory

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As with everything here at the SFH, the best thing is for you to take what I’m saying — ideas that come from my experience of 45 years of marriage and raising seven children — and apply them to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!