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[Fr Constantin Alecse]

LIST OF VIRTUES IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
Complied by Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes

Introduction by Father Nektarios Serfes

As Orthodox Christians we all learn to be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ when we seek to live the Ten Commandments, as well as the Beatitudes, and pray as our Lord taught us to pray. The saints themselves also taught us that each of us can acquire the fruits of the Holy Spirit. We have as well a great deal of virtues that all of us are to try to spiritually acquire in our Christian lives. We can now say that Christianity is a life – long pursuit of virtue. The Orthodox Church teaches that the body, as well as the soul, must be trained and disciplined because man is a unity of soul and body. The virtues, often called the fruits of the Holy Spirit are known to us such as the following:

Faith – The weakness and absence of faith in God is rooted in sin, impurity and pride.

Hope – Hope is the assurance of the good outcome of our lives lived by faith in God.

Knowledge – Knowledge of God is the aim and goal of man’s life, the purpose of his creation by God.

Wisdom – The wise man is the one who sees clearly and deeply into the mysteries of God.

Honesty - To be truthful at all times and lacking hypocrisy.

Humility (Meekness) – The wise man is the one who sees clearly and deeply into the mysteries of God.

Obedience – To see reality as it actually is in God. It means to know oneself and others as known by God.

Patience (Diligence) – To put up with one’s self and others, growing gradually in the grace of God through the daily effort to keep His commandments and to accomplish His will.

Courage – To not be afraid, even unto martyrdom.

Faithfulness – The spiritual person is faithful to his calling, fulfilling every good resolution, and bearing fruit patiently with the gifts and talents given by God.

Temperance (Self-Control, Chastity) - To be moderate in all things. Like patience, it comes from the grace of God; one must seek it from the Lord.

Generosity (Kindness) – It is shown by care and concern for the well-being of others.
Gratitude (Contentment) - The spiritual person is the one who is grateful for everything.

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Love – The greatest virtue of all is love. If we do not love one another, we cannot love God, for God is love.

Each us humbly should ask ourselves have we spiritually acquired any of these virtues? We have been created in the likeness of God or in according to the image and likeness of God. St. John of Damascus wrote, ‘The expression according to the image indicates rationality and freedom, while the expressions according to the likeness indicate assimilation to God through virtue.’ All of the human virtues are then attributes of God. They are the divine properties which should be in all human persons by the gift of God in creation and salvation through Christ our Lord. To acquire the virtues is to reacquire the divine likeness of God.

All of us then should spiritually set the goal which we must aim, something which we can only acquire by the degrees through the grace of God. Our God will help us acquire these virtues through the divine likeness of God. At the same time our goal has to be gradual attainment of spiritual perfection on earth, of the freedom form the passions, of all virtues.

St. Peter of Damascus (Damaskos) gives us a long list of the Christian virtues:

“Self-restraint, courage, justice, faith, hope, love, fear, religious devotion, spiritual knowledge, resolution, strength, understanding, wisdom, contrition, grief, gentleness, searching the Scriptures, acts of charity, purity of heart, peace, patient endurance, self-control, perseverance, probity of intention, purposiveness, sensitivity, heedfulness, godlike stability, warmth, alertness, the fervor of the Spirit, meditation, diligence, watchfulness, mindfulness, reflection, reverence, shame, respect, penitence, refraining from evil, repentance, return to God, allegiance to Christ, rejection of the devil, keeping of the commandments, guarding of the soul, purity of conscience, remembrance of death, tribulation of soul, the doing of good actions, effort, toil, an austere life, fasting, vigils, hunger, thirst, frugality, self-sufficiency, orderliness, gracefulness, modesty, reserve, disdain of money, unacquisitivenes, renunciation of worldly things, submissiveness, obedience, compliance, poverty, posessionlesness, withdrawal from the world, eradication of self-will, denial of self, counsel, magnanimity, devotion to God, stillness, discipline, sleeping on a hard bed, abstinence from washing oneself, service, struggle, attentiveness, the eating of uncooked food, nakedness, the wasting of one’s body, solitude, quietude, calmness, cheerfulness, fortitude, boldness, godlike zeal, fervency, progress, folly for Christ, watchfulness over the intellect, moral integrity, holiness, godlike zeal, fervency, progress, folly for Christ, watchfulness over the intellect, moral integrity, holiness, virginity, sanctification, purity of body, chasteness of soul, reading for Christ’s sake, concern for God, comprehension, forgiveness of debts, good management, skillfulness, acuity, fairness, the right use of things, cognitive insight, good-naturedness, experience, psalmody, prayer, thanksgiving, acknowledgment, entreaty, kneeling, supplication, intercession, petition, appeal, hymnody, doxology, confession, solicitude, mourning, affliction, pain, distress, lamentation, sighs of sorrow, weeping, heart-rending tears, compunction, silence, the search of God, cries of anguish, lack of anxiety about all things, forbearance, lack of self-esteem, disinterest in glory, simplicity of soul, sympathy, self-retirement, goodness of disposition, activities that accord with nature, activities exceeding one’s natural capacity, brotherly love, concord, communion in God, sweetness, a spiritual disposition, mildness, rectitude, innocence, kindliness, guilelessness, simplicity, good repute, speaking well of others, good works, preference of one’s neighbor, godlike tenderness, a virtuous character, consistency, nobility, gratitude, humility, detachment, dignity, forbearance, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, discrimination, accessibility, courtesy, tranquility, contemplation, guidance, reliability, clearsightedness, dispassion, spiritual joy, sureness, tears of understanding, tears of soul, a loving desire for God, pity, mercy, compassion, purity of soul, purity of intellect, prescience, pure prayer, passion-free thoughts, steadfastness, fitness of soul and body, illumination, the recovery of one’s soul, hatred of life, proper teaching, a healthy longing for death, childlikeness in Christ, rootedness, admonition and encouragement, both moderate and forcible, a praiseworthy ability to change, ecstasy towards God, perfection in Christ, true enlightenment, an intense longing for God, rapture of intellect, the indwelling of God, love of God, love inner wisdom, theology, a true confession of faith, disdain of death, saintliness, successful accomplishment, perfect health of soul, virtue, praise from God, grace, kingship, adoption to sonship--altogether 228 virtues. To acquire all of them is possible only through the grace of Him who grants us victory over the passions.

Sources: A LIST OF THE VIRTUES, by St. Peter of Damaskos, Orthodox Heritage, Vol. 04, Issue 08, August 2006, Brotherhood of St. Poimen, p. 12..

Orthodox Wiki: http://orthodoxwiki.orgVtirues

May we all humbly seek to attain to these virtues by the grace and love for mankind of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs glory together with the Father and the Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.
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Fr Constantin Alecse
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