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Appendix A. Glossary • 531
permanent communion of love.
Their communion reflects and is
strengthened by the Trinity’s com-
munion of love.
-V-
VENIAL SIN:
A venial sin is
an offense against God in a less
serious matter. Though venial sin
does not completely destroy the
love we need for eternal happi-
ness, it weakens that love and
impedes our progress in the prac-
tice of virtue and the moral good.
Over time, repeated venial sin
can have serious consequences.
VIATICUM
:
The Holy Eucharist
when received by a dying person as
the spiritual food for one’s passing
from this world to the Father.
VICE:
Vice is the habitual practice
of repeated sin.
VIRTUE:
“Virtue is a habitual and
firm disposition to do good. . . . The
human virtues are stable disposi-
tions of the intellect and will that
govern our acts, order our passions,
and guide our conduct in accor-
dance with reason and faith. They
can be grouped around the four
cardinal virtues: prudence, justice,
fortitude, and temperance. . . .
There are three theological virtues:
faith, hope and charity. They inform
all the moral virtues and give them
life (CCC, nos. 1833, 1834, 1841).
VOCATION:
The term given to
the call to each person from God;
everyone has been called to holi-
ness and eternal life, especially
in Baptism. Each person can also
be called more specifically to the
priesthood or to religious life, to
married life, and to single life, as
well as to a particular profession
or service.