Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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CHRISTIAN FORTITUDE

The virtue of fortitude, based on faith and motivated by the love of God. Many adversities confront those who would devoutly follow Christ, as he foretold. But they are not heavy, for the suffering, though real, is lightened by love. When someone is in love, that person does not feel overwhelmed by the sufferings endured for the sake of the beloved. One makes little of them. And so the New Law is not oppressive. "My yoke is easy," Christ promised, "and my burden light" (Matthew 11:29). It is love that makes it so.