ABSTRACT
Aquinas’s account of the virtues is rich and complex, and his discussion of them is situated in an intricate network of medieval lore.2 This lore includes the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, at least three of which are twins of the intellectual virtues: courage, piety, fear, counsel (consilium), wisdom, scientia (generally translated as ‘knowledge’), and understanding. In addition, Aquinas also weaves into his account the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit (faith, charity, joy, peace, patience, long-suffering, goodness, benevolence, meekness, moderation, continence, and chastity) and the seven beatitudes: Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice; blessed are the peacemakers, the meek, the poor in spirit, the mourners, the merciful, and the pure in heart. Finally, Aquinas completes his account of the virtues by contrasting them with their opposed vices, focusing in particular on the list the medievals knew as the seven deadly sins, a list at least as old as Cassian and given particular form by Gregory the Great. In order from worst to least, these are pride, envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust.
