What is Penance

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Did you know there is a virtue of penance? What does that mean? Fr. Nathan Mudd offers a short catechesis on what the virtue of penance is and how to grow in it. • Note of clarification: In the homily, it is said, A virtue is like a habit, in that it grows by repeated acts, but it is not the same as a habit. It is true that theologians often refer to virtues as habits. However, the way in which the word habit is used in common language does not match the theological definition. • St Thomas Aquinas defines habit by (https://www.newadvent.org/summa/2049....) quoting Aristotle, Habit is a disposition whereby that which is disposed is disposed well or ill . . . either in regard to itself or in regard to another and that it is ordered toward acts.(https://www.newadvent.org/summa/2049....) • Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti...) defines Habit as a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior and an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary. • When St. Thomas Aquinas says that virtue is a habit, https://www.newadvent.org/summa/2055....) he states, For the act of virtue is nothing else than the good use of free-will. Therefore, he is not using habit as Webster and our everyday language uses it for those actions which we have repeated so often we carry them out involuntarily; he is using it in a precise way for the disposition to good acts which we have created in ourselves by good use of our free-will, that is, by voluntary acts. • For this reason, we can say A Virtue (theologically speaking) is not a habit (commonly speaking) although we can identify the two when we are speaking precisely theologically. • For more on the distinction of habits and virtues, check out this video: Habits: A First Look - Aquinas 101 (https://aquinas101.thomisticinstitute...) • God Bless You, and may the Mercy of God keep you. • Fr. Nathan Mudd, CPM • Keep the Faith . . . But Not to Yourself. • ============================================================= • Please LIKE and Share this video as well as Subscribe to our Channel. • For more info/media, visit: • http://www.FathersofMercy.com • / fathersofmercy • / fathersofmercy • The Congregation of the Fathers of Mercy, which was founded in 1808, originally under the title of “The Missionaries of France.” The community was founded for the purpose of re-evangelizing the people of France after the Catholic Faith had been subjected to years of attacks and persecution during the French Revolution. It is now exclusively an American community. The Generalate of the Congregation is located in Auburn, Kentucky. The primary apostolate of the Fathers of Mercy is to conduct parish missions and retreats throughout the United States and other countries when called upon. • The congregation also staffs rural parishes in the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky. • =============================================================== • Grant, almighty God, through the yearly observances of Holy Lent, that we may grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ and by worthy conduct pursue their effects. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

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