Published: 2021-12-16

Devotion as Relational Virtue According to St. Thomas Aquinas

Piotr Roszak , Tomasz Gutowski
Gdańsk Studies
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.26142/stgd-2021-006

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyze the devotion in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas where it is treated as a virtue and a gift of the Holy Spirit. First, the understanding of devotion as a relational moral virtue, being for Aquinas a willing attitude of human will to the service of God, will be presented. The significance of this virtue can be found when juxtaposed with another virtue that is part of justice, namely piety, which gives due honor to parents and the country. This reference to pietas becomes meaningful in the context of considering the gift of piety as a new level of man's relationship with God, who is the Father of all people. Finally, the relationship between the gift of piety and the blessing of the meek will be shown, that is, the meekness (mansuetudo), which is the proper attitude towards anger. This Thomas interprets not as weakness, but as the strength of a man shaping his choices not under the pressure of feelings, but in freedom.

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Roszak, P., & Gutowski, T. (2021). Devotion as Relational Virtue According to St. Thomas Aquinas. Gdańsk Studies, 48, 93–103. https://doi.org/10.26142/stgd-2021-006

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