Victory Over Vice

The one passion in man that has deeper roots in his rational nature than any other is the passion of anger. Anger and reason are capable of great compatibility, because anger is based upon reason, which weighs the injury done and the satisfaction to be demanded. We are never angry unless someone has injured us in some way — or we think he has.

Fulton Sheen claims that since all seven deadly sins led Christ's enemies to nail Him to the Cross, we can find in the example of His suffering and death sure means to overcome each of those sins, plus the key to understanding-and to nurturing in our own soul-each corresponding virtue.

So, for example, in these pages filled with wisdom and hope, Bishop Sheen teaches us not only how to conquer our gluttony; he shows us how to satisfy our spiritual hunger. We learn not merely how to overcome pride; we discover what we must do to grow humble.

From Christ's holy response to each of the seven deadly sins that led to His Crucifixion, Bishop Sheen draws a lesson in how you and I must deal with those same sins, whether we meet them in others or in ourselves.

Day after day, Christians struggle to do good, to avoid evil, and to take up with patience and love the crosses that threaten to crush them. For those of us who still know more of sin than sanctity, Fulton Sheen's revelation of the light that vice sheds on virtue affords a way to understand even better, and a means to attain it.

If you abide by the holy counsel of these pages, enduring virtue will soon be yours: you will have achieved your own long-sought-after victory over vice.