Saints LightThe Seven Capital Sins and Their Remedies
Seven root vices, pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth, feed most of our sins. Find your main one and fight it with its opposite virtue in small daily acts.
What this lesson teaches
- The capital sins are root vices that give rise to many other sins.
- The seven are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth.
- Each has a traditional remedy: humility, generosity, kindness, patience, chastity, temperance and diligence.
- Naming your predominant fault shows you where to focus your spiritual effort.
Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites
- CCC 1865-1869
- CCC 1866
- CCC 2094
- CCC 2539
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
Scripture read in this lesson: James 4:6; Galatians 5:22-23.
A sample question from this lesson
Why are these sins called capital?
- Because they are always mortal sins
- Because they were listed by a council in a capital city
- Because they are punished by the death penalty
- Because they are root sins that give rise to other sins
Show the answer
Because they are root sins that give rise to other sins. Capital comes from the Latin for head: these vices engender other sins and vices (CCC 1866).
The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.
Words to know
- Vice
- A habit of sin formed by repeating the same sinful acts.
- Acedia
- Spiritual sloth: a weariness that turns away from the joy of God and neglects the good.
- Predominant fault
- The particular vice that drives most of a person's sins.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
Read the full lesson in the app
"The Seven Capital Sins and Their Remedies" is lesson 7 of Grace, Virtue and Sin. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.
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Related lessons
- The First Commandment: God Comes First (The Commandments)
- The Tenth Commandment: Freedom from Greed and Envy (The Commandments)