Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/534

 VIRTUE

472

VIRTDE

The earliest picture of Mary is that found in the ceme- tery of PrisciUa; it represents the Virgin as if about to nurse the Infant Jesus, and near her is the image of a prophet, Isaias or perhaps Micheas. The picture belongs to the beginning of the second century, and compares favourably with the works of art found in Pompeii. From the third century we possess pictures of Our Lady present at the adoration of the Magi; they are found in the cemeteries of Domitilla and Calixtus. Pictures belonging to the fourth century are found in the cemetery of Saints Peter and Mar- cellinus; in one of these she appears with her head uncovered, in another with her arms half extended as if in supplication, and with the Infant standing be- fore her. On the graves of the early Christians, the saints figured as intercessors for their souls, and among these saints Mary always held the place of honour. Besides the paintings on the walls and on the sarcophagi, the Catacombs furnish also pictures of Mary painted on gilt glass disks and sealed up by means of another glass disk welded to the former (cf . Garucci, Vetri ornati di figure in oro, Rome, 1S58). Generally these pictures belong to the third or fourth century. Quite frequently the legend MARIA or MARA accompanies these pictures. Towards the end of the fourth century, the name Mary becomes rather frequent among Christians; this serves as another sign of the veneration they had for the Mother of God (cf. Martigny, Diet, das antiq. chret., Paris, 1877, p. 515). No one will suspect the early Chris- tians of idolatry, as if they had paid supreme worship to Mary's pictures or name; but how are we to explain the phenomena enumerated, unless we suppose that the early Christians venerated Mary in a special way (cf. Marucchi, Elem. d'archeol. chret., Paris and Rome, 1899, I, 321; De Rossi, Imagini scelte deUa B. V. Maria, tratte dalle Catacombe Romane, Rome, 1863)? Nor can this veneration be said to be a cor- ruption introduced in later times. It has been seen that the earhest picture dates from the beginning of the second century, so that within the first fifty years after the death of St. John the veneration of Mary is proved to have flourished in the Church of Rome.

For the attitude of the Churches of Asia Minor and of Lyons we may appeal to the words of St. Irenieus, a pupil of St. John's disciple Polycarp (adv. ha?r., V, 17, P. G. VII, 1175); he calls Mary our most eminent advocate. St. Ignatius of Antioch, part of whose life reached back into apostohc times, \viote to the Ephesians (c. 18-19) in such a way as to connect the mysteries of Our Lord's hfe most closely with those of the Virgin Mary. For instance, the virginity of Mary, and her childbirth, are enumerated with Christ's death, as forming three mysteries unknown to the devil. The sub-apostolic author of the Epistle to Diognetus, writing to a pagan inquirer concerning the Christian mysteries, describes Mary as the great antithesis of Eve, and this idea of Our Lady occurs repeatedly in other writers even before the Council of Ephesus. We have repeatedly appealed to the words of St. Justin and Tertullian, both of whom wrote be- fore the end of the second century. As it is admitted that the praises of Mary grow with the growth of the Christian community, we may conclude in brief lliat the veneration of and flevotion to Mary began even in the time of the Apostles.

The works trcatinj]: the various qiiestiona concerning the name, the birtli, the Hfe, and the death of Mary, have been cited in the correHponding part.s of this article. We add here only a few name.H of writer.^ or of collectors of works of a more general char- acter: B0UHA8SB, Summa aurca de laudihus B, Maria Viri/inis. omnia romplectens qua; de aloriosa Virgine Deipara reperiutUur (1.3 vols.. Paris, 1866); Kurz, Mariologie oder Lehre der htthit- lischen Kircke iiher die altersetiff-ite Jitngfrau Marin (Ratisbon, 1881); MAn\rci, Bihliotheca Mariana (Rome, 1648); Idkm. Palyanthea Mariana, republished in Summa aurea, vols, IX and X; Lkhnrr, Die Mnrienverehrung in den erslen Jahrhundericn (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1886).

A. J. Maas.

Virtue.— The subject will be treated under the fol- lowing heads: I. Definitions; II. Subjects; III. Di- visions; IV. Causes; V. Properties.

I. Definitions. — .\ccording to its etymology the word virtue (Latin virtus) signifies manliness or cour- age. "Appelata est enim a viro virtus: viri autem propria maxime est fortitudo" ("The term virtue is from the word that signifies man; a man's chief quaUty is fortitude"; Cicero, "TuscuL", I, xi, 18). Taken in its widest sense virtue means the excellence or perfection of a thing, just as vice, its contrary, de- notes a defect or absence of perfection due to a thing. In its strictest meaning, however, as used by moral philosophers and theologians, it signifies a habit .super- added to a faculty of the soul, disposing it to eUcit with readiness acts conformable to our rational nature. "Virtue", says Augustine, "is a good habit consonant with our nature." From Saint Thomas's entire Question on the essence of virtue may be gathered his brief but complete definition of virtue: "habitus operativus bonus", an operative habit essen- tially good, as distinguished from vice, an operative habit essentially evil. Now a habit is a quahty in itself difficult of change, disposing well or ill the sub- ject in which it resides, either directly in itself or in relation to its operation. An operative habit is a quality residing in a power or faculty in itself indiffer- ent to this or that line of action, but determined by the habit to this rather than to that kind of acts. (See Habit.) Virtue then has this in common with vice, that it disposes a potency to a certain deter- mined activity; but it differs specifically from it in that it disposes it to good acts, i.e. acts in consonance with right reason. Thus, temperance inclines the sen- suous appetite to acts of moderation conformably to right reason just as intemperance impels the same appetite to acts of excess contrary to the dictates of our rational nature.

II. SuBJECT.s OF Virtue. — Before determining the subjects or potencies in which the different virtues reside, it will be necessary to distinguish two kinds of virtues: those which are virtues absolutely {simpli- ciler) and those which are virtues only in a restricted sense (secundum quid). The latter confer only a faculty for well-doing, and render the possessor good only in a restricted sense, e. g. a good logician. The former, in addition to the facility for well-doing, cause one to use the facility rightly, and render the possessor unqualifiedly good. Now the intellect may be the subject of those habits which are called virtues in a restricted sense, such as science and art. But the will only, or any other faculty only in so far as it is moved by the will, can be the subject of habits, which are called virtues in the absolute sense. For it is the proper function of the will to move to their respective acts all the other powers which are in any way rational. Thus the intellect and sensuous appetite as moved by the will are the subjects of prudence and temperance, while the will itself is the subject of justice, a virtue in the absolute sense.

III. Divisions of Virtue. — Virtues may be divided into intellectual, moral, and theological.

A. Intellectual rirtHfs.^Intellectual virtue maybe defined as a habit perfecting the intellect to ehcit with readiness acts that are good in reference to their proper object, namely, truth. As the intellect is called speculative or practical according as it confines itself to the sole contemplation of truth or con.^iiders truth in reference to action, the intellectual virtues may be classified according to this twofold function of the mental faculty. The speculative intellectual virtues are wisilom, science, and imderstanding. Wis- dom is the knowledge of conclusions through their highest causes. Thus iiliilosophy, and i)aTt icuhirly metaphysics, is properly designated as wisdom, since it considers trutli of the natural order according to its highest principles. Science is the knowledge of con-