True Courage

November 23, 2010 Length: 1:01

St. Peter of Damascus on courage in the spiritual life.

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Our general understanding of being courageous is that it means conquering our fears, and possibly performing a heroic deed. This is all true, but St. Peter of Damascus tells us that courage extends to the spiritual life:

Courage does not consist in defeating and oppressing one’s neighbor, for this is overbearingness, which oversteps the bounds of courage. Nor again does it consist in fleeing terrified from the trials that come as a result of practicing the virtues; for this is cowardice and falls short of courage. Courage itself consists in persisting in every good work and in overcoming the passions of soul and body.

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