Teresa of Avila says that fortitude
ranks first and foremost
among the prerequisites of perfection.

Jesus Christ — model of fortitude

By Paul Kokoski 

Today we are living, morally, in what some have called a crisis of faith.1 This is due, in no small measure, to the rapid advancement and influence of secularization and moral relativism which has permeated modern society. In order to reverse this trend a certain rediscovery of the traditional virtues is essential for mankind.

Jesus Christ is the pattern for the whole moral life in that “Christ the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals man to himself and makes his supreme calling clear.”2 Christ, in his perfect love, is the model of all virtue in its radiant moral beauty. This essay focuses on the cardinal virtue of fortitude in that, from its description and the many examples taken from the life of Christ: his incarnation, his hidden life, his public ministry and his Passion and death, one can appreciate the very life to which every man is called.

Fortitude is one of the four cardinal virtues. The others are prudence, justice, and temperance. Sometimes called “natural” or “human,” these virtues are attained and maintained by practice. In cooperation with God’s grace they work to perfect the soul. “The intellect is controlled by prudence, the will by justice, the irascible appetite by fortitude and the concupiscible appetite by temperance.”3

Fortitude is the virtue by which man is inclined to face those evils which he most dreads and to resist the motions of mere recklessness; it involves the control, not the absence of fear. Determination, courage and steadfastness are necessary components.

Fortitude is also one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. As such it is a permanent disposition which quickens the soul to respond swiftly and naturally to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Fortitude strengthens the soul to do good even in the face of death. As has been pointed out, “even those injuries which are not fatal are prefigurations of death; this extreme violation, this final negation, is reflected and effective in even lesser injury. Thus all fortitude has reference to death.”4 Martyrdom is fortitude’s greatest accomplishment as it brings about the fruits of Baptism without necessity of one officially receiving the sacrament itself in what the Church calls the Baptism of Blood. When one can stand up and face dread without fear of losing one’s life “the true significance of the expression ‘heroic virtue’ first becomes evident . . . [here] the natural forces of endurance fail. They are replaced by the Holy Spirit of fortitude.”5

Fortitude can be active. “The readiness to meet the supreme test by dying in patient endurance so that the good may be realized does not exclude the willingness to fight and to attack.”6 Thus it is that Christ drove out the money-changers from the temple with a whip. Again, while standing before the high priest one of the guards nearby gave Jesus a sharp blow on the face. Jesus did not turn the other cheek, but answered, “If I said anything wrong produce the evidence, but if I spoke the truth why hit me?”7 Thus the injunction of the Sermon on the Mount to turn the other cheek,8 signifies “the readiness of the soul to bear, ‘if it be necessary,’ such things and worse, without bitterness against the attacker.”9

Fortitude can also be passive. When the only possible form of resistance becomes endurance, exemplified in Christ’s Passion in fulfillment of scripture, fortitude is put to the supreme test. “It is one of the fundamental laws of a world plunged into disorder by original sin that the uttermost strength of the good manifests itself in powerlessness.”10 Passive fortitude, exemplified in almost all Christ’s actions, is usually more demanding than active fortitude. Unlike the person on the attack who feels a certain superiority, the defensive person has a tendency to feel that his enemy is more powerful. Also, while the attacking person may forsee certain difficulties, the passive person more intimately feels those difficulties. Further, to resist usually involves longer periods of perseverance.11

St. Thomas holds that fortitude comprises four elements: magnanimity, munificence or magnificence, patience and constancy.

Magnanimity, “is the noble and generous disposition to undertake great things for God and the neighbor.”12 Christ gave all of himself and all that he had, in submission to the Father’s will for the salvation of man. Magnanimity should not be confused with ambition, which our Lord warns against while correcting his disciples who argued over who among themselves was the greatest. Magnanimity involves asserting oneself to the point where one is not afraid to take risks. Thus Jesus did not hesitate in healing and performing other good works on the Sabbath despite the protests of the religious authorities.

Munificence, in contrast to parsimony, involves an atmosphere of liberal giving that reflects the glory of God. Against greed Jesus teaches that “in giving alms you are not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”13 One also recalls the widow’s mite in this regard.

“Patience is a Christian virtue that makes us withstand with equanimity of soul, for the love of God, and in union with Jesus Christ, all physical and moral suffering.”14 For suffering to be truly meritorious it should be offered unbegrudgingly and in a spirit of atonement for past sins. Patience reaches its most heroic level when one suffers purely for the sake of pleasing God. Jesus speaks of his own desire to suffer “I have a baptism to receive. What anguish I feel till it is over!”15

Constancy in effort consists of “struggling and suffering to the end, without yielding to weariness, discouragement, or indolence.”16 Constancy, exemplified in Our Lord’s Passion, is the true measure of virtue. It is acquired by prayer, ascetic discipline and mortification.
The truly brave man suffers not for the sake of suffering but “to preserve or to acquire a deeper, more essential intactness.”17 Real fortitude presupposes a trusting commitment, not in oneself but in the power of God, for as the Gospels remind us “Whoever loves his life will lose it.”18 Fortitude is thus rooted in a humility that allows one to move forward knowing that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor powers, neither height nor depth nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”19

In the economy of salvation the Incarnation itself is an event that exhorts us to fortitude. Aware of his mission, Jesus submits his will to the Father and becomes Man. This self-emptying is described thus: “Although he was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather he emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men.”20

Christ’s entire life was a self-offering to the Father’s will. This is why “from His birth He eagerly seeks poverty, mortification and obedience; why He submits to persecution and exile; why during thirty years He hides Himself in the most complete obscurity, in order to merit for us the grace that would enable us to sanctify our most commonplace actions and to inspire us with a love of humility.”21 Thus, amidst the many details of our daily life, he teaches us the practice of the virtue of courage and fortitude.

At the beginning of his public life Jesus expresses great fortitude in his long fast of forty days and forty nights. During this fast in the desert, which recalls the temptation of Israel, Jesus is tempted three times during which he remains obedient to the Father’s will. During the first temptation Jesus resists using his power merely for his own benefit to relieve human need. During the second temptation Jesus refuses to put God to the test by demanding from him an extraordinary display of his power. During the third temptation Jesus, in refusing to worship Satan, expresses the proper worship all men should have toward God. In his victory over Satan Jesus teaches us that proper trust in oneself must always be expressed at a deeper level in subordination to God.

Fortitude is evident in Jesus’ preaching “where contrary to the preconceptions of the Jews, he announces the advent of a kingdom altogether spiritual, founded on humility, sacrifice, self-denial, as well as on the love of God.”22 Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the beatitudes which, in their originality and profundity, “are a sort of self-portrait of Christ, and for this very reason are invitations to discipleship and to communion with life in Christ.”23 The beatitudes are not merely a series of rules and regulations, as seen in the Old Law, but interior attitudes and dispositions calling us to communion with the Blessed Trinity. The beatitudes are a sharp contrast to the religious thinking of Christ’s time which regarded human affliction and sorrow as the punishment of personal sin. Further, the beatitudes make much greater demands on man than the Old Law of Moses which Jesus came not to abolish but to fulfill. In the beatitudes and elsewhere Jesus encourages us to seek that which endures forever; “do not be afraid of those who kill the body but can do no more.”24

Elsewhere in his preaching we see the courage and authority of Christ. While speaking resolutely against anger, retaliation, impurity, divorce and taking false oaths, Jesus, at the same time, unfolds the true demands of the Ten Commandments. Fortitude is shown forth in the bold denouncement of scandal: “What terrible things will come on the world through scandal! It is inevitable that scandal should occur. Nonetheless, woe to that man through whom scandal comes!”25 Fortitude is also revealed in the vigor with which Jesus condemns the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees warning of the many ways in which they “present to view a holy exterior while hypocrisy and evil fill [them] within.”26

Again fortitude is present “in the jealous care wherewith He avoids popularity of a questionable character and eschews the royalty offered to Him.”27

The Church itself is founded on the authority and certain fortitude of Christ where Jesus declares to Peter, “I for my part declare to you, you are ‘Rock,’ and on this rock I will build my Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it.”28 Immediately afterwards Jesus admonishes Peter for failing to judge by God’s standards.29 Thus, fortitude is present “in the manner, at once sweet and forceful, with which [Christ] trains His Apostles, correcting their prejudices, their defects, and rebuking him whom he had chosen as the leader of the twelve.”30

In addition, “from then on Jesus began to indicate to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly there at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and to be put to death.”31 Such determination “sets us the example of the calm and steady courage which we must have in all our relations with others.”32

Fortitude is manifest most keenly perhaps in Our Lord’s Passion. From the outset Jesus declares his acceptance of the Passion to be in conformity with the Father’s will. During his agony in the garden at Gethsemani while experiencing sorrow and distress Jesus remained, prostrate in prayer, determined and steadfast: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Still, let it be as you would have it, not as I.”33 After an angel appeared to strengthen him, he prayed with such intensity that “his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.”34

When the chief priests and temple guards arrive with Judas, Jesus is serene. He has accepted what scripture has revealed of him, telling Judas “friend, do what you are here for.”35 When one of those who had accompanied Jesus cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant, Jesus heals the man while teaching that “those who use the sword are sooner or later destroyed by it.”36 Thus, at his own arrest he remained the good Samaritan and the good Shepherd. Despite this all of his disciples deserted him, leaving him alone in his fortitude with the Father.

When accused by the chief priest and elders Jesus made no reply. Likewise, when before Pilate he remained silent despite the many false charges brought against him. In fortitude he refused to throw himself on the mercy of Pilate, choosing instead to remain calm and dignified.

Like a lamb being led to the slaughter he was led out to the praetorium where he was crowned with thorns, mocked, struck and spat on. He was then made to carry his own cross. Through it all Jesus persevered.

From the cross Jesus rejects the drug that would cloud his mind to the reality of the crucifixion.37 He also, from the cross, gives salvation to the penitent thief. Further, he forgives his enemies and persecutors with the words “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.”38 Despite his agony Jesus is fortified to such an extent so as to continuously focus himself entirely on his love for his Father and others.

Finally, Jesus’ fortitude shines forth in the “calm resignation wherewith he commends his spirit into the hands of God, his Father, and gives up the ghost. He thereby teaches us [heroic] patience amidst the severest trials.”39

As a testimony to Jesus’ courage “The centurion who stood guard over him, on seeing the manner of his death, declared, ‘clearly this man was the Son of God!’ “40 Throughout his passion Jesus did not yield to weariness or discouragement but remained constant in his efforts. So it is that we are also called to be sons of God though in an adopted sense; by practicing the virtues and living the moral life in the mold of Christ. Christ is the perfect model by which we are also to “be made perfect as [our] heavenly Father is perfect.”41

Christ is the pattern of the moral life. He is the inspiration of all the hopes of Mankind. In him, the old law of Moses comes to completion in the new law of love, grace and freedom. This new law is summed up in the golden rule and is expressed clearly both in the beatitudes and the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. With the new law comes new demands. Thus it is that the “great teacher of Christian mysticism, Teresa of Avila, says that fortitude ranks first and foremost among the prerequisites of perfection.”42 Nowhere is this more evident than in the example of Christ, model of fortitude. We see this to be true in his hidden life, his public life and perhaps most vividly in his Passion and death. 

1 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, The Ratzinger Report (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985), p. 83.
2 Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes. (United States: Dominican publications, 1992), p. 22.
3 Rev. Adolphe Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life (Belgium: Desclee & Co., 1930), p. 478. (Hereafter cited as The Spiritual Life.)
4 Josef Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966), p. 117. (Hereafter cited as The Four Cardinal Virtues.)
5 Ibid., p. 137.
6 Ibid., p. 133.
7 Catholic Biblical Association of America, Saint Joseph Edition The New American Bible (New York: Catholic Book, 1970), John 18:23. (Hereafter cited according to the book within.)
8 Matt. 5:39.
9 The Four Cardinal Virtues, p. 132.
10 Ibid., p. 131.
11 The Spiritual Life, p. 507.
12 Ibid., p. 510.
13 Matt. 6:3.
14 The Spiritual Life, pp. 511-512.
15 Luke 12:50.
16 The Spiritual Life, p. 514.
17 The Four Cardinal Virtues, p. 119.
18 John 12:25.
19 Rom. 8:35.
20 Phil. 2:6-7.
21 The Spiritual Life, p. 508.
22 Ibid., p. 509.
23 John Paul II, The Splendour of Truth (Quebec: Editions Paulines, 1993), p. 16.
24 Luke 12:4.
25 Matt. 18:7.
26 Matt. 23:28.
27 The Spiritual Life, p. 509.
28 Matt. 16:18.
29 Matt. 16:23.
30 The Spiritual Life, p. 509.
31 Matt. 16:21.
32 The Spiritual Life, p. 509.
33 Matt. 26:39.
34 Luke 22:44.
35 Matt. 26:50.
36 Matt. 26:52.
37 Mark 15:36.
38 Luke 23:34.
39 The Spiritual Life, p. 509.
40 Mark 15:39.
41 Matt. 5:48.
42 The Four Cardinal Virtues, p. 137. 

Mr. Paul Kokoski is an undergraduate student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he is pursuing a degree in philosophy. In addition, Paul is a correspondence student with the Catholic Distance University in Hamilton, Virginia. This is his first article for HPR.