Heavenly Virtues

The center dome of St. Mark’s Basilica celebrates the concluding mystery of the life of Jesus: his Ascension to heaven and is a mosaic masterpiece which conveys a poignant message through the spiritual language of symbols. The awe inspiring glory is conveyed with concentric rings, the very center a star-studded circle with Christ clad in gold and silver with his right hand raised in a blessing gesture. He is seated on an arc of light, his feet resting on a second smaller arc, and he is being drawn heavenwards by four flying angels surrounding him. Outward from there are first, the Virgin between two angels and the twelve apostles gazing upwards. Then beyond them are sixteen female figures in a "dancing sequence" personifying “The Virtues:” Hope, Faith, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance, Prudence, Humility, Gentleness, Contrition, Abstinence, Mercy, Patience, Chastity, Modesty, Constancy and Charity. Charity is crowned and in royal garments and as suggested by the inscription surrounding her, she is the “mother of all the virtues.”
The importance of charity as a virtue corresponds to the what the Book of Mormon teaches, "charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endurth for ever." (Moroni 7:47)
In explaining the gift of charity, Paul also stress its importance, he taught those who possess this supernal gift of charity, "believeth all things." "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away (1 Corinthians 13:1-8)."

We are admonished to "let virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly," (D&C 121:45) and to live a "Christ Centered" life. Virtue is defined as moral excellence, a character trait or quality valued as being good. It is the conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical or upright principles or codes. The opposite of Virtue is Vice. Various formulations of Virtue have been proposed throughout the ages.

The Cardinal Virtues:
Classical Greek philosophers considered the foremost virtues to be prudence, temperance, courage, and justice. Early Christian Church theologians adopted these virtues and considered them to be equally important to all people, whether they were Christian or not.
The Theological Virtues:
St. Paul defined the three chief virtues as faith, hope and love or charity, which was the essential nature of God. (1 Corinthians 13) Christian Church authorities called them the three "theological virtues" because they believed these virtues were not natural to man in his fallen state, but were conferred at Baptism.
The four "cardinal virtues" are not the same as the three "theological virtues:" faith, hope, and charity but together, they comprise what is known as the "seven cardinal virtues," also known as the "heavenly virtues."
The Seven Heavenly Virtues:
The "Heavenly Virtues" combine the four "Cardinal Virtues:" prudence, temperance, fortitude or courage, and justice, with a variation of the "Theological Virtues:" faith, hope, and charity. Restraint is the keystone of the seven "Holy Virtues."
The Seven Contrary Virtues:
The "Contrary Virtures" are humility, kindness, abstinence, chastity, patience, liberality and diligence. The Contrary Virtues were derived from the Psychomachia ("Battle or Contest for the Soul"), an epic poem written by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (c. AD 410) entailing the battle of good virtues and evil vices. The intense popularity of this work in the Middle Ages helped to spread the concept of holy virtue throughout Europe. Practicing these seven virtues is considered to protect one against temptation from the seven deadly sins, with each one having its counterpart. Due to this they are sometimes referred to as the "Contrary Virtues:" humility against pride, kindness against envy, abstinence against gluttony, chastity against lust, patience against anger, liberality against greed, and diligence against sloth.

Other holy virtues are created through selfless pursuits. Plato believed that the separate virtues can't exist independently, and offers as evidence the contradictions of acting with wisdom (prudence), yet in an unjust way, or acting with bravery (fortitude), yet without knowing (prudence).
Aristotle defined a virtue as a balance point between a deficiency and an excess of a trait. The point of greatest virtue lies not in the exact middle, but at a golden mean sometimes closer to one extreme than the other. For example, courage is the mean between cowardice and foolhardiness, confidence the mean between self-deprecation and vanity, and generosity the mean between miserliness and extravagance.

Temperance as a virtue is moderation in action, thought, or feeling and the wise use of restraint. It is developing the habit of moderation in the indulgence of the appetites or passions. The cardinal virtue of "Temperance" is the symbol of "moderation, self-knowledge, and self-restraint. “Think moral thoughts.” Greeks upheld the ideal of self control or sophrosyne, which means prudence and moderation but its complex meaning is very difficult to convey in English yet was so important to the ancients. It is perhaps best expressed by the two most famous cautionary maxims of the oracle at Delphi: "Nothing in excess" and "Know thyself."

By making Christ the divine center of our lives and looking to him in all ways we can grow to become more like him.

"Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let "virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly;" then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
"The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever." (D&C 121:45-46)