May 25, 2025

I found this quote by St. Augustine:
“What grace is meant to do is to help good people, not to escape their sufferings, but to bear them with a stout heart, with a fortitude that finds its strength in faith.”
It made me angry. Grave, fortitude, and faith are not given to us to meekly accept the status quo and suffer in silence. They are all calls to fight for what is right, good, and kind.
Almost like an answer to St. Augustine, there was a quote from St. Ambrose:
“One of the duties of fortitude is to keep the weak from receiving injury; another, to check the wrong motions of our own souls; a third, both to disregard humiliations, and to do what is right with an even mind.”
Yes! To me, that is the quintessence of fortitude! It is courage and perseverance in always keeping one’s integrity. As Brené Brown said,
“Integrity is choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy.”
In my books, that is precisely what true fortitude is!