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Far too often, the life of virtue can seem like a dreary affair, the mere avoidance of vice. But for Chesterton, as for the great Saints throughout history, virtuous living was a blazing adventure. Chesterton wrote, “Men should always love virtue before they love duty; the reverse method produces dried souls, incapable of joy.” In his life and writing, Gilbert not only exemplified the virtues, but challenged others to grow in them. This Lent, we will focus on a different virtue each week while contemplating the wit and wisdom of the Apostle of Common Sense. Read Chesterton’s words, meditate on scripture, and take the time to reflect on the ways Our Lord is calling you to grow in holiness.
Grow in virtue. Grow with Chesterton.
Watch our podcast episode about this series:
Far too often, the life of virtue can seem like a dreary affair, the mere avoidance of vice. But for Chesterton, as for the great Saints throughout history, virtuous living was a blazing adventure. Chesterton wrote, “Men should always love virtue before they love duty; the reverse method produces dried souls, incapable of joy.” In his life and writing, Gilbert not only exemplified the virtues, but challenged others to grow in them. This Lent, we will focus on a different virtue each week while contemplating the wit and wisdom of the Apostle of Common Sense. Read Chesterton’s words, meditate on scripture, and take the time to reflect on the ways Our Lord is calling you to grow in holiness.
Grow in virtue. Grow with Chesterton.
Our Iconography
The symbol of the torch represents all the virtues combined. "Your light must shine before others..." (Mt. 5:16). When we try to live a life of virtue and seek out others who inspire us by their virtuous actions, we become filled with the light of Christ and become glowing manifestations of the glory of God.
During the first week of Lent, we focus on Fortitude, or courage. Here, we find the sword and shield an obvious and fitting choice. Chesterton would most likely agree! We are in a constant battle, says St. Paul in Ephesians, against the forces of darkness. What better symbol for courage and fortitude than the spiritual Armor of God?
Next, in week two, we reflect on Prudence, that virtue of reason and well-formed conscience that aids us in making the right decision. We are inspired by the parable of the ten virgins (Matt 25:1-13), and take the burning oil lamp as a symbol to remind us to be wise. To know best how and when to act, we must first be properly prepared.
During the third week of Lent, we meditate on Justice, the virtue that helps us to give what is due to God and to our neighbor. A widely known symbol of justice is a blindfolded woman holding balanced scales. We chose to simply use scales, because a Chestertonian approach to the virtues is never blind.
Beginning on Laetare Sunday, we turn to Chesterton’s thoughts on Temperance. Chesterton balks at the idea that “temperance” focuses only on total abstinence from alcohol or other pleasures. Being temperate means to avoid extremes in all things, and the key to it is moderation.
The fifth week of Lent begins our focus on the Cross—the most recognized symbol of the virtue of Faith. Simply to look at a cross and ponder Christ is to act upon the virtue of Faith: believing in God and all that He has revealed to us. We are drawing closer to the Cross during this last week before the Triduum.
We will call upon the virtue of Hope during Holy Week. As members of the Church Militant, the resurrection IS our hope. The resurrection of Christ firmly anchors our hope for Heaven, and the symbolism is clear. When we are at our darkest moments, hiding in the upper room, terrified of what happens next, we remain secure in the hope that Christ makes all things new and we will one day join Him in glory.
During the Easter Octave, we reflect on Charity. The greatest example of God’s love for us is Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, but we’ll reflect more on how we can share the gift of Christ’s love with others. We chose the image of the Sacred Heart because Christ’s Heart burns for us. It burns for us out of Love so that we may love. Only the love of God, the Heart of Christ, can truly satisfy us.