Follow

VirTrue: Continence (Continentia) a Part of Faith

VirTrue - Helping Man Grow in Truth and Virtue

🎙️ Intro Welcome to VirTrue, where we work together to turn away from vice and adopt the virtuous life we are called to. I’m your host, Jethro Higgins. Today we’re talking about Continence, a sub-virtue of Faith. 📖 Virtue Description Continence is the virtue by which you refuse to follow disordered desire, even while you still feel it. You still feel the pull.You still recognize the attraction.But you do not consent. Faith is not just knowing what is true.It is acting on that truth even when your emotions resist it. Continence is where that happens. As St. Thomas Aquinas teaches: “The continent man, though he has evil desires, does not follow them, but follows reason.” Continence is not the absence of desire.It is the refusal to follow desire when it leads away from God. There is tension here. Part of you wants one thing.Another part knows what is right. Continence is choosing what is right. It is not yet perfect harmony.But it is real strength. It is the moment you begin to govern yourself instead of being governed. ⚠️ Vice of Deficiency: Dissoluteness What It Is Dissoluteness is giving yourself over to desire without restraint. You feel it.You follow it. The will does not hold the line. Why It Fits Continence resists disordered desire.Dissoluteness surrenders to it. Where continence gathers the soul under reason, dissoluteness scatters it. As St. Augustine said: “I was scattered among many things.” What It Looks Like * Acting on impulse without pause * Choosing comfort over discipline * Speaking without restraint * Living as if what feels good is what is good Over time, the will weakens.You stop governing yourself. ⚠️ Vice of Excess: Insensibility What It Is Insensibility rejects even good and rightful pleasures. It does not struggle with desire.It suppresses it. Why It Fits Continence orders desire under reason.Insensibility tries to eliminate desire altogether. As Aquinas teaches: “Insensibility… declines pleasures which are in accordance with nature.” What It Looks Like * Rejecting rest when it is needed * Distrusting joy * Treating pleasure as inherently bad * Imposing unnecessary harshness This is not discipline.It is distortion. Desire is not evil.It must be ordered, not destroyed. 🔥 My Life For me, continence has been a real battle. With ADHD, impulse control is not natural.But it is possible. One of the biggest helps has been the nightly examen. Reviewing my day, identifying disordered desires, and bringing them into the light has made a real difference. I do this by following the Nightly Examen in my Daily Roman Missal and journaling about my shortcomings in my Saintmaker Catholic Planner. I once brought a recurring sin to confession. The priest didn’t tell me to crush it through force.He told me to notice it whenever it appeared and to pray. That changed everything. Awareness, guided by reason, began to weaken the pattern. Not by destroying desire, but by ordering it. As a younger man, I tried to declare war on my desires. That always failed. Because desire is not the enemy. Disorder is. Daily Roman Missal Saintmaker Catholic Planner 🌍 The Secular Perspective The world does not believe in continence. It tells you to follow your desires.To define yourself by them. But uncontrolled appetites do not lead to freedom.They lead to chaos. You are not your impulses. You are a child of God. Anything that tries to redefine you away from that must be governed. A life ruled by appetite is unstable.A life ordered by reason brings peace. 🌿 Example Saint: St. Ignatius of Loyola Champion of Discernment St. Ignatius shows us that desire must be ordered, not destroyed. After his conversion, he embraced extreme penance.But he learned that harshness weakens the soul. Why He Fits * Discipline without destruction * Right use of created goods * Desire governed by reason * Balance rooted in discernment He taught that we should not cling to or reject created things, but use them insofar as they lead us to God. Holiness is not found in rejecting what is good.It is found in ordering it. 💬 Tell Me What You Think Share your experience with continence. Where do you feel the tension between desire and reason? Like, share, and subscribe to help spread virtue. 🌿 Continuing the Journey Through Faith Chastity is not an isolated virtue. It is one branch growing from the theological virtue of Faith. When faith orders the intellect toward divine truth, the rest of the person begins to come into right order as well. Chastity governs sexual desire according to that truth, but the Christian life requires the full integration of all the sub-virtues flowing from faith. To better understand the foundation of this virtue, return to: * Faith (Fides) → The Theological Virtue of Faith As we continue growing in virtue together, remember that these virtues are deeply connected: * Chastity (Castitas) → Ordering sexual desire according to reason, divine revelation, and authentic love * Continence (Continentia) → Strengthening self-control and resistance to disordered desire * Religion (Religio) → Rendering proper worship and obedience to God * Reverence (Reverentia) → Forming respect for God, the human person, and the dignity of the body * Obedience (Obedientia) → Submitting the will to rightful authority and divine law * Decorum (Decorum) → Ordering outward behavior so our lives reflect truth inwardly * Affection (Affectus) → Rightly ordering the emotional life toward authentic love rather than impulse Together, these lively virtues help restore the human person through faith, hope and charity. And they continue preparing us for the broader journey through the seven virtues, the cardinal virtues, and the full Christian life rooted in Jesus Christ. 🙏 Act of Continence O my God, You have given me desires and the reason to govern them rightly. I confess that I am often drawn toward what is not ordered to my good. Yet I resolve, with Your grace, not to follow disordered desire. I will restrain my appetites and subject them to right reason. I will not be ruled by impulse, but will choose what is true and good. Strengthen me to hold firm when I am tempted,and to remain steadfast even when the struggle is strong. By Your grace, I will govern myself according to Your will. Amen. 🙏 Prayer Lord, bless us with faith, hope, love, prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice that we may live as you intended man to live, in all virtue and righteousness. Help us to flee from sin, and avoid all temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Protect us with a spiritual hedge in front of us, behind us, above us, below us, to our right, and to our left, within us, and all around us, and seal it with the blood of your precious Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to keep you in everything that we think, say, and do. Amen. Go out and fill the world with virtue. Deus Vult. Follow Us on Social Media and Popular Podcast Networks: Get full access to The Social Catholic at socialcatholic.substack.com/subscribe