The Cardinal Virtue of Temperance

Enables one to be moderate in the pleasure and use of created goods

Heavenly Father, You surround me with good things. I ask for the grace to use Your gifts rightly, allowing You to control my desires for the things You put into my life.

• Temperance moderates one’s desires and pleasures
• It is concerned with the greatest sensible pleasures that attract man: eating, drinking (pleasures of the table), and sexual gratification
• Temperance strikes a balance: It does not destroy passions but moderates them
• The morally immature person is unreasonable and resistant to correction