Reflections of Garden of Virtue: A Visual Tour of the Garden
Welcome to Garden of Virtue
Discover inspiring stories from the lives of the Saints, revolutionize your understanding of the virtues, and connect to the Divine. As you ponder these excellences and the men and whom who exemplified them, may you be inspired to incorporate them into your own life.
Garden of Virtue
The Garden Explained
In the Garden, there are 9 total statues: 7 of saints, each representing a virtue. Saints are persons in heaven, who lived heroically virtuous lives while on earth, offered their life for others, or were murdered for their faith and who are worthy of imitation.
There are over 64 different virtues which include humility, kindness, purity, diligence and patience among many others. The 7 listed in this garden are part of the 64 virtues but are the 7 that all the other virtues originate. (come from). Faith, Hope & Charity are the Theological virtues which are related to God and revealed and infused in us by God at baptism.
They are exemplified in: Faith - St Therese of Lisieux, Hope - St Elizabeth Ann Seton, Charity - St Maximillian Kolbe.
The other 4 virtues are Moral Virtues which each of us can acquire through our own effort under the guidance of reason and with the help of divine grace from God; the individual finds greater strength and facility to practice these virtues. These virtues are: Wisdom (Prudence) by St Thomas Aquinas, Courage (Fortitude) by St Kateri Tekakwitha, Justice by St Padre Pio, and Temperance by St Clare of Assisi.
Finally, the last two statues are the Statue of Our Mother Mary with the Child, Jesus and Jesus on the Cross. These are the centerpiece of the Garden. They reveal the Mother holding Jesus and facing the Cross; she knowing and accepting that her Child will be crucified and Jesus recognizing his future suffering for the salvation of our souls.
We learn from the Saints on how to be virtuous so that we will participate in Carrying the Cross of Christ. We must never forget our Lord’s challenge: “You must be made perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Through the practice of virtue, assisted by God’s grace and the aid of the saints and angels, we can meet the challenge.
Growing in Virtue
Focusing on the Virtue of Fortitude
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: “Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause.” Simply put, fortitude is the virtue by which we continue to move forward in the face of difficulty.
Fortitude and courage often go hand-in-hand, because difficulties, challenges, and changes can often be frightening things. Chesterton nails it here. When we have nothing to be afraid of, we don’t need courage. Back in Advent, we learned that Chesterton said something very similar about the virtue of hope. Courage tends to lie dormant until we call it into action. Take some time today to reflect on the thing that might be causing fear or anxiety in your life. How will you be courageous and steadfast in the face of these challenges?
Come, Holy Spirit! Pour out upon us a spirit of courage and fortitude this Lent!
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