A virtue is a habit or established capacity to perform good actions according to a moral standard. A Catholic school is the ideal place to practice and prepare to live a virtuous life.

Many elements of Catholic character and virtue are developed in Dufferin-Peel schools. In the coming year, our schools will focus on these particular virtues: 

Faith…is an attitude which encourages us to involve God in our lives and helps us to maintain and develop our relationships with God and with others both when things are going well and when they are not.

Empathy……is the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes and the capacity to feel what the other person is feeling.

Conscience… is the voice of God within us.  A developed conscience helps us make decisions that encourage and support truly loving relationships.

Hope… is the virtue of relying on God.  It keeps us searching for true happiness, sustains us during hard times, and keeps us from being discouraged.

Self-Control… is regulating your thoughts and actions so that you stop any pressures from within or without and act the way you know and feel is right.  Developing loving habits helps us to respond lovingly to others in our choices and actions.

Respect… is seeing the goodness in others.  It helps us to see others as God sees them, to accept them as they are, and to treat them with dignity.

Kindness… is the act of loving and giving generously to others as God does. Our empathy for others is transformed into action, an action that extends beyond concern for ourselves.

Love… God wants us to serve and to see the goodness in everyone we meet.

Acceptance… is the ability to respect the dignity and rights of all persons, even those whose beliefs and behaviours differ from our own. Everyone should strive to love and respect their neighbour, as they love and respect themselves.

Fairness… is the ability to be open minded and act in a just and fair way.  Fairness allows us to treat others with mercy and compassion - to feel and act with and for another person.

When we act out these virtues, we are making the presence of God visible in the world around us. We will be participating in our own prayer that: your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Mt 6:10)