In the last post on moral theology, I discussed the ontology of human freedom: that true human freedom is only found insofar as man freely chooses to enact the truth about the good and enjoys doing so. The saint is the human person fully alive and fulfilled.
Here, I will flesh out the "enjoys doing so" part of the equation. See, it isn't sufficient for human perfection to simply "do the right thing." The goal is to enjoy doing the right thing. That requires habitual enacting of virtue in a way that one finds pleasure in avoiding the sin, or even more, one finds the vice/sin abhorrent and repulsive. And yes, our attitudes and "feelings" towards vice and virtue are malleable. They can change in one way or the other, for good or for ill. That is a major part of moral theology, which is a subset of theological anthropology. In a certain sense, we are what we do and what we enjoy doing.
There are three major categories of a man's current moral state with respect to any particular virtue: vice, continence, and the actual state of virtue. This is part of the ontology of human freedom, because it expresses the individual's metaphysical relation to the virtue in question.
The state of vice is the case where an individual human person severely lacks the ability to enact a given virtue. Instead, one habitually commits a vice contrary to that virtue. In this state, one is a slave to a given sin or vice. Let's say that one wants to become temperate in their use of some real good like food or drink or other pleasures but finds it really hard and constantly gives in to temptation by over eating or getting drunk. One's positive will is controlled by one's lower passions, which inhibits one's true freedom. You know you shouldn't, but you feel like you can't help it; you want to be temperate, but you are almost forced to act a certain way due to the overwhelming desire you feel. Even worse, you could actually have been convinced by society or yourself that the action is perfectly fine or even good and you relish the vice, with perhaps even malicious delight. Think of a killer who literally finds pleasure in the act of murder: no remorse, just satisfaction for having inflicted domination over life by death. Or, less dramatically, think of a glutton who has long ago utterly abandoned the desire to control one's appetite but instead dedicates oneself to the pursuit of endless eating even to the detriment of one's own health and to the exclusion of all other pursuits. That is even worse than wanting to stop but being too weak. But those are the two stages, if you will, of the vicious life (life of vice): the state of habitually choosing to act or de facto enacting a vice rather than the contrary virtue.
The state of continence is a midpoint on the way from vice to virtue. A continent person is able to live the virtue to a fairly successful degree, but due to an attachment to the vice still lingering in the soul, the person finds it difficult and painful to do the right thing. In other words, one would like to--in the moment--engage in the sinful action and desires the temporary pleasure associated with it, but chooses to deny that desire for the sake of what one knows to be the truth about the good. It takes moral strength to do the virtuous thing, and the person finds it difficult, but they are fighting the good fight. That is continence, and I am sure that many of us are familiar with both vice and continence. I am sure we can all think of examples in our own life where we were either a slave to a given vice or rejected it but found it utterly difficult and were constantly tempted to give in. Those are the stages of vice and continence, respectively. They are common human experiences.
So, what then, is the state of virtue, and what do we do to attain it? First of all, as the last post on moral theology said: we must know the truth so that we can choose it. In the state of vice, we either don't know the truth or we reject the truth and choose vice. In the state of continence, we know the truth and we choose the truth, but it hurts. In the state of virtue, we know the good--either explicitly or connaturally (almost instinctually)--and we enjoy doing it. To use the temperance example, think of a person who actually enjoys eating healthy food and literally hates eating junk food, finding it repulsive, and actually prefers to eat the healthy option. Many of us are merely continent in that regard: we may choose the healthy option when we care enough to deny what we really want, but the annoying person who seems to enjoy that salad more than we do our loaded pizza: yeah, that person is probably the more virtuous. Ugh! (I'm with you! The struggle is real!)
Okay, so let's say we know the truth about the good and thus know what the virtuous thing is to do, but we are currently in a state of vice. What do we do about it? How do we move beyond vice to at least continence and eventually to virtue? There are two main ways: habitual choice and grace. In the first instance, having come to realize the truth about the vice and the virtue, one must choose to start acting continently. One must start saying "no" to the passions that dominate one, refusing to be mastered by carnal desire. It may start small: "okay, today I am going to have less of the food I like and more of the food I don't like. I'll eat fewer potatoes and more broccoli." It isn't easy, but you start to exercise the will, which, like muscle, grows in strength the more it is exercised.
After repeated practice, one slowly but surely becomes more in control of one's appetites and begins to gain self-mastery. The temptation becomes less and it becomes easier to act rightly. Then, one is moving through the state of continence towards the state of virtue. When one begins to thoroughly enjoy the good and habitually acts according to the good and finds delight in doing so (not self-righteous delight, but inner peace and a real love for the right thing), then one has attained the state of virtue with respect to that particular virtue.
When one, through prayer, conversion, the grace of the sacraments, contemplation, etc. opens oneself fully to the will of God, it is possible that one receives the grace to skip over the state of continence and go directly to the state of virtue. It might not be that common, but it isn't entirely uncommon. Ultimately, because we don't create ourselves, we can't heal ourselves. The more we open ourselves up to God's grace, the more we pray, the more we contemplate divine truth, the more we are conformed interiorly to the truth about the good and the more we want to be good. We can be given new eyes that for the first time see the heinousness of vice and the beauty of virtue to such a degree that we utterly long for the virtue. That's why prayer is so important. The pious reception of the sacraments are so important. They enable an infusion of grace to transform us from within to enable us to become a new creation.
That is possible. I guarantee you that many Catholics who have gone to confession regularly, spent time in Eucharistic Adoration, and who learned about moral virtues have experienced this sort of transformation. The more we learn and perceive the beauty of virtue, the less we are tempted by the lie of vice. That's why proclaiming moral truth is so important: it isn't to beat people over the head. It is to provide and opportunity for people to learn the same truths that rocked our own world and dispelled our own ignorance and inflamed in us a greater love for the truth about the good.
Saints want others to become saints, because they want others to experiences the happiness, the beatitude of living a virtuous life in the grace of God. If you've ever overcome a vice that you now deplore, you know what I'm talking about. It is common for recovering alcoholics to encourage others to continue the path. It is common for former sinners to become advocates for virtue. Those who were slaves to pornography who moved from lust, to continence, to chastity (only having sex with one's legitimate spouse), want to help others do the same, because they know how much better it is to be in the state of virtue than the state of vice or even the state of continence. There is a peace, a happiness in virtue that one can never attain in vice, because the vice is a lie. Virtue is the power to enact the truth about human nature, to act according to the original, God-given design for knowledge and love that is so often clouded by sin and error. Being a saint is the epitome of happiness, because it is the perfection of human nature to a degree that reaches even beyond nature into the realm of divine intimacy. And it is worth it.
In the next post on moral theology, I will go through the sources of the moral character of an act: the object, the end/intention, and the circumstances.
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