Κεφ. ΠΘ'
The Virtues of the Soul
The soul's three parts—rational, appetitive, and spirited—each manifest specific virtues when properly ordered.
According to our wise teacher, the rational soul has three parts. When virtue arises in its reasoning part, it's called prudence, understanding, and wisdom. But when virtue arises in the appetitive part, it's called self-control, love, and abstinence. When it arises in the spirited part, it's called courage and patient endurance; when it pervades the whole soul, it's called justice.
The Work of the Virtues
Each virtue performs a distinct function in the spiritual life, from battling vices to achieving inner harmony.
The work of prudence is to lead the campaign against opposing powers, defend the virtues, battle against the vices, and manage morally neutral things as circumstances require. The work of understanding is to properly order everything that helps us reach our goal; the work of wisdom is to contemplate the inner principles of bodily and incorporeal realities. The work of self-control is to look without passion on things that stir irrational images within us. The work of love is to respond to every image of God almost as it would to God, the original, even when demons try to defile those images. The work of abstinence is to cheerfully shake off every pleasure of the palate. Not fearing our enemies belongs to courage, while willingly persevering through hardships belongs to patient endurance. The work of justice is to bring the parts of the soul into a certain concord and harmony.12
Read the original Latin
Τριμεροῦς δὲ τῆς λογικῆς ψυχῆς οὔσης κατὰ τὸν σοφὸν ἡμῶν διδάσκαλον· ὅταν μὲν ἐν τῷ λογιστικῷ μέρει γένηται ἡ ἀρετή, καλεῖται φρόνησις καὶ σύνεσις καὶ σοφία. ὄταν δὲ ἐν τῷ ἐπιθυμητικῷ, σωφροσύνη καὶ ἀγάπη καὶ ἐγκράτεια. ὅταν δὲ ἐν τῷ θυμικῷ, ἀνδρεία καὶ ὑπομονή· ἐν ὅλῇ δὲ τῇ ψυχῇ, δικαιοσύνη. Καὶ φρονήσεως μὲν ἔργον τὸ στρατηγεῖν πρὸς τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις, καὶ τῶν μὲν ἀρετῶν ὑπερασπίζειν, πρὸς δὲ τὰς κακίας παρατάττεσθαι, τὰ δὲ μέσα πρὸς τοὺς καιροὺς διοικεῖν· συνέσεως δὲ τὸ πάντα τὰ συντελοῦντα ἡμῖν πρὸς τὸν σκοπὸν ἁρμοδίως οἰκονομεῖν· σοφίας δὲ τὸ θεωρεῖν λόγους σωμάτων καὶ ἀσωμάτων· σωφροσύνης δὲ ἔργον τὸ βλέπειν ἀπαθῶς τὰ πράγματα τὰ κινοῦντα ἐν ἡμῖν φαντασίας ἀλόγους· ἀγάπης δὲ τὸ πάσῃ εἰκόνι τοῦ Θεοῦ τοιαύτην ἑαυτὴν ἐμπαρέχειν οἵαν καὶ τῷ πρωτοτύπῳ σχεδόν, κἂν μιαίνειν αὐτὰς ἐπιχειρῶσιν οἱ δαίμονες· ἐγκρατείας δὲ τὸ πᾶσαν ἡδονὴν τοῦ φάρυγγος μετὰ χαρᾶς ἀποσείσθαι· μὴ δεδιέναι δὲ τοὺς πολεμίους καὶ προθύμως ἐγκαρτερεῖν τοῖς δεινοῖς τῆς ὑπομονῆς καὶ τῆς ἀνδρείας ἐστί· δικαιοσύνης δὲ τὸ συμφωνίαν τινὰ καὶ ἁρμονίαν τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς μερῶν κατεργάζεσθαι.
Notes
The Praktikos companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent