In this episode of Deep in Christ, JonMarc and Fr. Peter Grodi dig a little deeper into the fourth cardinal virtue of Temperance, which Aquinas describes as “serenity of spirit” arising from man’s inner order.

Unlike the other virtues, Temperance turns inward toward man’s inner life of drives, desires, and passions. These powers of human nature are fundamentally good and purposeful, as they were created by God, but they have been disordered by original and personal sin.

Through Temperance — in the context of the other virtues of Prudence, Justice, and Courage — we discover how we are to properly work to restore this primordial order, and how we are to authentically “love” and care for ourselves not egoistically or self-referentially, but rather as an act of Justice and obedience to our creator.