Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:02 Well, the working assumption is, you know that I have for everybody that comes here, we want to become saints. A few weeks ago we handed out a worksheet to help everyone here to figure out what his particular temperament was. Now that's just a worksheet. It's certainly not something and fell, but it gets in the ballpark. If you're not familiar with the ID cause it is important for growth and holiness. This morning we'll spend a finally spend a few minutes considering the four temperaments and hopefully this will be of use to all of you that aren't familiar with it and those that are, uh, please God, you'll learn a little more question. What is a temperament? Father Jordan almond quote, temperament is a pattern of inclinations and reactions which proceed from the physiological constitution of the individual close quote. So just what's that supposed to mean?
Speaker 0 00:52 Well, when we say that temperament is rooted in someone's physiological structure, it's just a $3 way of saying that it's rooted in our particular bodily makeup. In other words, temperament is not rooted in something psychology. It's not written in our mind. Our particular temperament is rooted in our particular bodily makeup. Okay. Question on what basis then are the temperaments classified? The temperaments are classified according to how someone reacts to stimulation or impression. There are four possibilities. One, a person may react very strongly and quickly and the resulting impression is faint and lasts for a short time. So you can have a strong reaction, but a faint impression to a person may react very quickly and strongly and the resulting impression is strong and long lasting, so you can have a strong reaction and a strong, long lasting impression. Three, a person may react slowly, a weekly, but if stimulated often enough, the resulting impression is strong and long lasting.
Speaker 0 01:57 So you can have a slow reaction and a strong, long lasting impression or for a person may react slowly and weekly and the resulting impression is faint and lasts for short time. So you can have a slow reaction and a faint impression. So the four possibilities are quick and strong reaction with a short and faint impression, quick and strong reaction with a strong, long lasting impression. Soar. We create action with a strong or long lasting impression or slower weak reaction with a short and faint impression. Question, what are the names of these four temperaments? The four temperaments are the sanguine, the cleric and melancholic and the phlegmatic temperament. We don't worry about where the words come from that that's not really important. The person with a sanguine temperament has this quick and strong reactions with short and faint impressions. Person with a cleric temperament has quick and strong reactions, was strong, long lasting impressions.
Speaker 0 02:54 The person with a melancholic temperament has solar weak reactions, but after repeated stimuli he has strong long lasting impressions and the person with the phlegmatic temperament has slow wreak reactions with short and faint impressions. Question, doesn't it just seem a little simplistic to say there are only four temperaments, aren't people more complex than that? Father's Royal Marine and Jordan almond quote. None of these temperaments actually exists in a peer state. We exhibit or possess characteristics of several. Nevertheless, East person will exhibit sufficient predominant qualities of a given temperament so that can be classified under that particular type question. What difference does this make for our holiness? Remember that, thanks to Adam, we each have a predominant fall. Quick review. The great Dominican father, arugula. Grunge explains what the predominant fault is. Quote, their predominant fault is the defect in us that tends to prevail over the others and thereby over our manner of feeling, judging, sympathizing, willing, and acting close quote, we simply can't make much progress in holiness without identifying and actually kind of going to war and conquering our predominant fault.
Speaker 0 04:12 So what does that have to do with our temperament? Father arugula. Grunge explains quote, the predominant fault has an intimate relationship to our individual temperament, their temperaments, inclined to softness, sloths, gluttony, and sensuality. Others are inclined, especially to anger and pride. We do not all climb the same slope towards the summit of perfection. Those who are soft by temperament must by prayer, grace and virtue becomes strong. Those who are naturally strong to the point of easily becoming severe must by working at themselves and by grace become gentle, close quote. In other words, once we know what our temperament is, we have a much easier time to turn in. What our predominant fault is and that makes it easier to take effective action. To counter and to concrete question, what are the characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the four temperaments? In this section, I'll just rely on further.
Speaker 0 05:08 Chad Rieger's work. Uh, he internists over relying on many different spiritual authors. Uh, we'll only describe the general tendencies of each temperament. Number one, the sanguine temperament. Sanguine people tend to have quick and strong reactions with short and faint impressions. People with this disposition tends towards optimism. On the positive side, they tend to be extroverts friendly, agreeable, compassionate, cheerful and enthusiastic. On the negative side, they tend to be superficial and in constant Hasting judgment. They tend towards talkativeness prone to vanity, flattery and envy. They tend to rely on their feelings in matters of religion and can be quickly discouraged. Their predominant faults tend to center around sensuality, making them prone to gluttony and lust. They need to be mindful to avoid bad company and they should strive to develop the virtues of detachment, silence, temperance, modesty and chastity. They should practice daily modifications of the senses, little practices of self denial.
Speaker 0 06:16 Examples of saints with the sanguine. Temperament are according to father Royal Marine, Saint Augustan, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Francis Xavier st Rose of Lima. Number two, the cleric temperament cleric. People tend to have strong and quick reactions with strong, long lasting impressions. People with this disposition disposition are liable. The strong passions and are prone to anger. On the positive side, they tend to react favorably to reason and high ideals. They tend to be very practical and very active with great powers of concentration and endurance. They tend to be strong-willed, constant, and generous. On the negative side, they tend to be obstinate, stubborn, and impatient. They also tend to be domineering and hard and tend to lack compassion simply for their fellow man are predominant faults or pride or anger. They need to be mindful to develop the virtues of humility, meekness, kindness, and charity.
Speaker 0 07:21 They should foster devotion, the sacred heart, say the litany of humility daily and read and meditate, especially on the sufferings of Christ, looks on humility and strive to calmly accept humiliations and frustrations. Examples of saints with clerk temperament are, according to father Roy Morin, st Jerome, Saint Ignatius, Saint Francis to sales. Number three, the melancholic temperament. Melancholic people tend to have slow or weak reactions, but after repeated impressions, the reaction is strong and long lasting people. This dispossession are liable to sorrow and pessimism. On the positive side. They tend to be sympathetic and have a tenderness and generosity for their friends. They're inclined towards reflection, piety, and the interior life. On the negative side, they surrender too easily. They tend to be overly reserved except with close friends and be overly serious. They're predominant faults or sorrow, fear, aversion, despondency, and despair. They need to play very close attention to event resentful feelings or over sensitiveness and strive to develop a joyous attitude principally by keeping careful custody of the mind with regard to sad or depressing thoughts.
Speaker 0 08:41 The need to work on the virtues of fortitude, charity, and hope they should develop a spirit of prayer since they are inclined towards interior life. Examples of saints. The melancholic temperament are according to father Royal Morin, st Bernard, st Aloysius, Gonzaga Saint Therese of a SU for the phlegmatic temperament fanatic, people tend to have slower week creations with short and faint impressions. People with this disposition are liable to be quite calm and Placid. On the positive side, they tend to remain tranquil, discreet, sober, mentally balanced, and to have good common sense. They are not easily irritated and they tend to demand little to be prudent, sensible, and work with a measured pace. On the negative side, they tend towards procrastination, ease and comfort and tend to be unambitious and to lack interest in events around them. Their predominant fault tends towards Slav. For like Maddix, need to be mindful to develop deep convictions to Rouse themselves and a demand of themselves, methodical and constant efforts towards greater perfection.
Speaker 0 09:52 According to father Royal Marine, the great Saint Thomas Aquinas is an example of a Saint with a phlegmatic temperament. Okay, quick review. We've seen their temperament is not something psychological, it's not rude or mind. Our particular temperament is rooted in our particular bodily makeup. It's a pattern of inclinations and reactions which proceed the constitution or physiological constitution. We've seen the temperaments are classified according to how someone reacts to a stimulation or impression and there are four possibilities. The person with a sanguine temperament has quick and strong reactions with short and faint impressions. Person with a cleric, a temperament has quick and strong reactions with strong and lasting impressions. The person with melancholic temperament has slower, weak reactions, but after repeated stimuli, he has strong long lasting impressions and the person with a flag Matic temperament has stole recre actions with short and faint impressions. We've seen that the predominant faults is saying when people tend to center on sensuality, make them prone to gluttony and lust.
Speaker 0 10:53 The predominant faults declared people at pride and anger put on faults of non it people are sorrow, fear, aversion, despondency and despair. We don't fall to phlegmatic people. Sloths remember that the bottom level, the first level of the spiritual life is concerned with conquering sin and vice. When we're beginners in the spiritual eye, that's what we're concerned with. Having some knowledge and understanding of our temperament can be very useful. And our standing, our particular strengths and weaknesses and where we need to concentrate our efforts. God put us here to become saints. It's close with a few thoughts and fathers, Royal Marine and Jordan almond quote. If we were to attempt to delineate the perfect temperament, which like the best qualities of each, thus we would take from the sanguine, his sympathy, generous heart and vivacity from melancholic. The depth and delicacy of feeling from the cleric cause inexhaustible energy and tenacity and from the flood.
Speaker 0 11:56 MADEC has self-control, prunes, and perseverance and strive for this ideal. We enter upon the problem of these setical strategies, which involves the difficult task of the formation of character. The temperament of an individual is a pattern of tendencies and inclinations which flow from the physiological structure. Constitution of an individual for that reason is largely the result of hereditary factors, but character on the contrary is a pattern of habits which are the result of education, personal effort, environmental factors, and of course the action of grace. Consequently, temperament is the material out of which characters made much in the same way as clay or marble. Wood will be the material out of which a particular statue is fashioned. It is a character which gives form to the personality close quote. So character is a pattern of habits resulting from education, personal effort, environmental factors, and the action of grace. Temperament is the raw material out of which character is made. Let us with this increase, self nod, strive to become the saints that God has placed us in the world to be.
