Fortitude - Attack and Endurance
What is Fortitude?
The Virtue of Fortitude is to do what is right even when you don’t want to, endure what is evil without giving up, or giving, and it’s be willing to sacrifice what is lesser for the sake of what is greater – in its greatest form it is the virtue of the martyr – one who is willing to sacrifice his life for the love of Christ.
There are two basic acts of fortitude: Attack and endurance. By attack I mean doing what is right and good, even when you don’t want to, or when it is monotonous, or especially when it is arduous. Because when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Stand up to things that are bad and change what is evil. Resist temptations. Defend the good – speak up, defend what is Right and Good. And be ready to sacrifice what is lesser for the sake of what is greater
Endurance
The second basic action of Fortitude is to Endure, that is Remain good in the face of evil
Once we have done all we can to change a bad situation, and there is no more we can do for the moment or at all; then we Accept the things we cannot change with trust in God; Offer them up and Unite them to the suffering of Christ; have a confidence and hope He will work this for your greatest good and the greatest good of others and Endure without becoming evil yourself whether it be a
Chronic illness
The death of a loved one
Being failed by a loved one
Being wronged by another
Bearing with a difficult person
Enduring difficult family or professional situations
The crosses come in many shapes and sizes but we must remember that
Romans 8:28 God works all things for good for those who cooperate with Him.
Patience and fortitude
Patience is a special form of fortitude whereby we endure hardships cheerfully. Patience enables us to bear physical and emotional sufferings without being overwhelmed by sorrow. Patience harnesses the emotions to help us take advantage of the good of suffering. Remember, evil is evil. Pain, sorrow and suffering are good if we take advantage of them. They can empty us of disordered attachments and increase our Faith, Hope and Love which is our capacity to receive more of the life of God. Secondly, Patience helps us leverage our suffering, to unite our suffering that of Jesus on the Cross to help save souls and change world events. Paul writes in Col. 1:24 I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. And in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church. So how do we endure cheerfully? I’m not joking – smile more. This was the advice Mother Teresa gave. "I remember some time ago a very big group of professors came from the United States and they asked, “Tell us something that will help us.” And I said “Smile at each other.” I must have said it in a very serious way, I suppose, and so one of them asked me, “Are you married?” And I said, “Yes, and I sometimes find it very difficult to smile at Jesus because He can be very demanding."
Overcoming fear
We need fortitude to help us do what is difficult and overcome fear. One of our greatest fears is speaking about our faith. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you must begin by sharing your faith. Begin with a genuine curiosity and interest in the other and the art of asking good questions, seeking to know understand love and care for them. But at some point we need the courage to ask more challenging questions such as: “Are you perfectly happy in life? And if not, why not? What do think is missing? Or “What do you want most out of life? Then be willing to challenge them If their answer is anything less than union with God who alone satisfies our infinite desires. Then invite them to more… invite them to encounter God in prayer and be willing to show them how to pray by talking God from the heart, reading and reflecting on Scripture or praying Rosary with you. We also need fortitude to patiently persevere with people. We did not change over night and neither will most people. Have patience with them and persevere in friendship. Basically we need fortitude and patient endurance to commit to praying the rosary every day and going deeper in prayer and then going out of my comfort zone to enter into deep friendship and invite others into the life of prayer.
The two greatest weapons
Our two greatest weapons to helping others to Jesus are praying the Rosary every day and offering sacrifices and our personal crosses for their deeper conversion. 1000s of people have been submitted to our prayer list. They are counting on us as an army joined together under our Queen to persevere in the Rosary and sacrifice offered for these souls and if we do we will see more and more of our friends and loved ones coming to Jesus. But we must persevere.
St Faustyna in the Diary (287) writes: My Jesus, when I look at this life of souls, I see that many of them serve You with some mistrust. At certain times, especially when there is an opportunity to show their love for God, I see them running away from the battlefield. And once Jesus said to me, Do you, my child, also want to act like that? I answered the Lord, “Oh, no, my Jesus, I will not retreat from the battlefield even if mortal sweat breaks out on my brow; I will not let the sword fall from my hand until I rest at the feet of the Holy Trinity! Whatever I do, I do not rely on my own strength, but on God’s grace. With God’s grace a soul can overcome the greatest difficulties.