Temperance

Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will's mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable.

For several reasons:

• Because not everything pleasurable is good or fitting. An electronic gadget may be very desirable, but stealing it makes us thieves, which is evil. Lying on the couch for hours may feel pleasant, but laziness and losing one's job are harmful. Drugs and poisons may offer temporary sensations, but they destroy the person; temperance provides the self-control to reject them.
• At other times, desires are for good things, but they must be enjoyed within reasonable limits. For example, food and drink are good and necessary, but one must stop at the right point through temperance.
• Furthermore, no one truly wants to act entirely on whim, for experience shows that without self-control, a person becomes tyrannical and enslaved to their impulses.

When what is right and duty-bound is difficult or unappealing, one must make the effort to accomplish it by practicing the virtue of fortitude.

In this case, the counsel is straightforward: control yourself! When one feels an urge toward something that is not good, the moment has arrived to restrain oneself. This is precisely the domain of temperance.

Self-mastery sounds appealing in theory, but it is challenging when temperance has not been cultivated. If one habitually indulges every whim, doing the opposite will be very difficult. If one leads a life of soft comfort, overcoming that ease will be painful. In contrast, self-control becomes natural to someone who has acquired the habit of mastering their desires.

There are several main areas of practice:

• Sobriety in food and drink.
• Moderation in material goods and possessions (poverty of spirit).
• Moderation in sexual desires (chastity) is an essential part of temperance.
• Finally, temperance is exercised by restraining whims and excessive comfort, curbing anger and impatience, and moderating an inordinate craving for entertainment.

There are many:

• Temperance makes the greatness of man more visible by elevating him above brute animal instinct: man is a free being who is not enslaved to do merely whatever he feels like, but enjoys true freedom over his appetites.
• Temperance is an attractive quality: a person who knows how to master his appetites brings an atmosphere of distinction around him that makes his presence pleasant and noble. Conversely, it is repelling to encounter people who are gluttonous, drunken, or obsessed with sexuality; they repel others.
• Controlling one's appetites helps preserve noble ideals: the human heart is always guided by some desire. The greater this ideal is, the more the dignity of man grows. By contrast, if fleeting pleasures dominate the will, man remains chained to them and will advance toward higher goals only with immense difficulty. Self-mastery helps one choose lofty goals and refuse to exchange them for momentary indulgences.
• Temperance fosters a sober, modest, and understanding soul; it imparts a natural modesty that is always attractive, because the lordship of the intelligence is evident in one's conduct.
• Temperance is, furthermore, an indispensable quality for avoiding sins, since the majority of sins are the consequence of allowing oneself to be swept away by disordered desires. Thus anger, lapses of charity, thefts, lies... Every sin involves a disordered inclination that was not mastered. In other words, temperance helps defeat the devil: in every temptation, the devil seeks to make man yield to an appetite that harms his soul. Therefore, whoever acquires the habit of mastering his desires is far better equipped to vanquish the assaults of the evil one.
• Temperance is necessary in order to pray: prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God. Raising it from where? From material things, from earthly affairs that we habitually see, hear, and handle. These things capture our attention above all when they appeal to our appetites. Consequently, if one is accustomed to mastering one's desires, it will be far easier to detach from them when one wishes to direct one's thoughts toward the Lord.
• The most curious practical benefit is this: temperance is indispensable for staying out of prison! The vast majority of crimes and felonies are the consequence of failing to exercise self-control in some passion.

In summary, temperance enables us to choose what is truly good, freeing us from the slavery of selfish impulses; it fosters victory over temptation; and it sustains prayer.

It also makes a person humanly pleasant and enriches family and social coexistence.

No, by no means. They mutually reinforce each other: one masters pleasures, the other masters fears. Both help man to master himself. Perhaps a young person might not feel particularly drawn to moderation, which is characteristic of temperance. Youthful vitality urges one to launch into great undertakings, and talk of restraint does not always sound appealing. May young people indeed be truly bold and daring! This does not conflict with temperance, for this virtue moderates appetites, not ideals; it aims to master fleeting desires, not to lower one's goals. We desire to possess self-mastery, but we have no wish to possess small ideals.

No. Temperance restrains one's desires; generosity willingly sacrifices those desires for the good of another. The temperate person exercises self-control; the generous person gives of themselves. Both virtues mutually strengthen one another.

There must be no moderation in our love for God: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." Here there are no limits. One can never love God too much.

There are several clear reasons to moderate one's love for created things, and not to moderate one's love for God:

• Temperance moderates attraction toward created goods, which are merely relative goods and must never be loved above all things. By contrast, God is not a created good, and He is infinitely worthy of being loved above all things.
• The human heart becomes enslaved and forfeits its dignity when it is excessively attached to material possessions or sensible pleasures. By contrast, man is ennobled and elevated when he directs his thoughts, affections, and desires toward God Himself.
• If man allows himself to be driven purely by material goods and sensible pleasures, he resembles animals. Meanwhile, the union of love with God ennobles us and unites us with divinity. Temperance helps us because it moderates attraction to material goods, preventing man from becoming like a beast. By contrast, drawing near to God does not require moderation, but boundless encouragement.
• The good of the soul is superior to the good of the body. If man is overly preoccupied with material goods, he inevitably neglects spiritual life. Temperance helps place all things in their proper hierarchy.
• Love for God is capable of enfolding and purifying all other legitimate loves, but not vice versa. For instance, one can work conscientiously out of love for God.