Putting On the Virtue of Gentleness
November 30, 2022

Gentleness enables the missionary to control anger and to channel it properly. This is the principal theme of the conference that St. Vincent gave on March 28, 1659.¹ Here he states that gentleness involves various steps. The first step has two stages. In the first stage a person represses the spontaneous movement that he feels toward anger, trying to remain calm and reasonable. This is difficult, St. Vincent tells his listeners, but it is possible, since, while the movements of nature precede those of grace, grace can conquer them. The second stage consists in directing one’s anger appropriately. It may at times be important to correct, to chastise, to reprove, just as Jesus did with his disciples.

¹CCD XII, 182ff.

Source: Fr. Robert P. Maloney, C.M. A Further Look at “Gentleness”

Let us pray

Lord, grant that we may act not because we have been overcome by anger, but because we have become its master.

Scripture

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

Colossians 3:12