Mary’s School of Sanctity

Lesson #38 —

Note: When referring to a person with a choleric temperament in this article we simply will call him “a choleric”.

In our last lesson we briefly described the general weaknesses of a choleric who wasn’t guarding himself and trying to love God. Thus, he has bad will. We touched upon the fact that if a person with a choleric temperament doesn’t guard himself and strive to love God, he can easily slip into the weaknesses of his temperament. Here we list again for reference the weaknesses we listed previously:

Weaknesses of the Choleric Temperament:¹

• Hardness

• Nurtured hatred and desire for revenge

• Obstinacy

• Insensibility

• Anger

• Pride (includes over-confidence; criticizing others; excessive competitiveness)

• Ambition

• Violence, cruelty, and arrogance upon meeting with resistance

• Lack of delicacy of feeling, insensitive to the feelings of others

• Coldness

• Indifference

• Impetuosity

Each temperament has its own unique struggles and challenges in trying to live a virtuous life. As Catholics it is important for us to understand ourselves and others better in order to appreciate the reality that we are indeed in the Church Militant with a formidable enemy, Satan, who has been practicing his evil on the human race ever since Adam’s Fall. We must get to know our own inclinations and those of our neighbor so we can learn to love our neighbor more perfectly. This analysis of the spiritual combat of the choleric temperament is meant to foster such knowledge which will benefit those with the choleric temperament as well as those who do not have this temperament. We want to increase in charity and be able to help our loved ones and our neighbor in general. Therefore, it is crucial to gain as much comprehension as possible of the pitfalls each temperament has.

With this in mind let us see how these weaknesses of the choleric are closely linked together and how Satan spurs the choleric on by trying to make of the choleric a bundle of uncontrollable passions and emotions.

Every Temperament has its own Form of Pride. Let’s Examine the Particular Struggle the Choleric has with Pride.

We must face the reality that Satan hates Christ and wants all humans to be trapped in pride as a preparation for damnation. “Never suffer pride to reign in thy mind, or in thy words: for from it all perdition took its beginning.” Tobias, 4:14. It is a fact that every temperament has a particular form of pride and such pride comes in varying degrees.

Since pride is the root of all evil, it is important to start our further investigation of the weaknesses of the choleric by probing deeper into his typical form of pride. As we mentioned earlier in these lessons concerning the temperaments, not all persons of a particular temperament are exactly alike.

Although no two people are exactly alike, there are some tendencies to pride that show up especially in the choleric temperament. Satan certainly takes advantage of these inclinations in order to make a choleric into a slave of pride. Satan knows that when a choleric is caught up in his pride, all the other weaknesses seem to follow along as if they were attached to this pride. The choleric’s pride shows up in his overconfidence and ambition for fame or power. He appears to be extremely set upon getting everyone’s attention and keeping it.

Because all pride is blinding, the choleric can be the type of person who is self-centered and he doesn’t even realize it.

He doesn’t see that he has any failings. [If he does see any, he makes light of them.] He gets upset if anyone should point out any defect in him. On the other hand, he is apt to find faults in everyone else. He is constantly criticizing others, whether in his thoughts or words.

He tends to bully others and thereby force them to do his bidding. Because he is successful in pressuring others and getting his way, he tends to oppress anyone who dares to go against him.

His bullying tends to be in sharp words, insults, threats and even trying to pressure others into feeling guilty for opposing him. He can be very vindictive to those he views as his enemy. He can go so far as to take revenge on others and destroy their property and their good name.

He can bully all those around him and get them to join him in putting pressure on the one who is trying to oppose him (otherwise known as ganging up on his “oppressor” and putting him in the “doghouse”), thereby ostracizing his opponent.

A choleric with unchecked pride can easily be despotic. In human history there are countless examples of tyrants, and men set on taking control of as much of the world as they could. Many famous dictators were of the choleric temperament.

Because the choleric is so focused on wanting to be esteemed by others, he tends to be excessively competitive. He is often considered to be a perfectionist and this attribute ties in with his wanting to be viewed as if he is the best in everything. Cholerics are apt to be in sports and other contests. Competition in itself is not bad. But a choleric trapped in pride is so intent on winning that he makes a very sore loser. He doesn’t take defeat well at all.

The reader may think we are painting the worst-case scenario; yet, our intention is to inform the choleric that he really needs to be on high alert for his pride so he does not become an overbearing and domineering person. In other words, if a choleric does not have self-knowledge, he will not be aware of his own tendencies and hence will not fight diligently against them.

In consequence of his lack of concern about his spiritual progress, his pride remains unchecked, and the other weaknesses of his temperament easily latch onto his pride. He gets impatient when things do not go his way and this naturally leads to anger. His pride readily harbors grudges and nurses hatred in his heart which can readily turn into forms of violence, cruelty, and revenge. When he doubles-down in his pride, he is like a stubborn bull and forms an obstinate hardness in his heart. His heart is cold, insensible, and indifferent to the needs and/or feelings of his neighbor.

He is likely, then, to not stop and consider what he is doing and the many consequences of his actions. Remember, we said that this type of choleric, who has bad will, is not on the right path. He has become habituated to being impetuous in his one-track mind which is so focused on only himself.

So, What should a Choleric do to keep the Enemy (Pride), at Bay?

In this section we wish to make suggestions for the choleric in a general way. In upcoming lessons, we will get into more details of how a choleric can curb his pride and subsequent anger as well as his other weaknesses. Likewise, we will address how choleric men can best help themselves and in turn, how choleric women can guard themselves against their dangerous inclinations, too.

Self-knowledge is a gift from God and we must pray to acquire this gift.

1) Pray for self-knowledge. Pray hard for humility and to be receptive to the insights and observations of others, especially when they point out your failings/defects.

2) Mistrust yourself. Seek advice from others often! Do not presume that you are right in your thinking or opinions. Remind yourself that you have so much to learn.

3) Try to put yourself in other people’s shoes. This is so helpful in order to draw yourself away from inordinate self-love and self-centeredness.

4) Work hard on meekness. Endeavor to study Our Lord Jesus Christ and the way He acted in the Gospels. Meditating on the life of Christ is so very crucial for a choleric. Search to see how gentle and selfless Christ was during His whole earthly life. Ask yourself constantly, “How would He handle this situation?

5) Work hard on becoming selfless. This is not impossible and you must keep Our Meek and Humble Lord and Shepherd of souls in your mind. Remember, He is the model for us Catholics to follow, including cholerics, who tend to be rather high-strung, fast-moving leaders. Cholerics must learn to be followers of Our Lord who is their Shepherd and Leader.

6) Work especially on becoming a deeper thinker. Look at life as a means to know God better, and this includes diligently thinking things through to be sure you are doing God’s Will and not your own.

What can Non-Choleric People do to help a Choleric with Bad Will to Master Himself and to Fight Pride?

Again, our attempt in this section of our current lesson is to list some general suggestions of how to help the choleric. We will get into more specifics in future lessons when we are setting out more details of how the choleric can help himself (with God’s assistance, of course!).

1) Pray for him. A choleric of bad will can be heavy-handed and difficult to bear; however, as we pray for the necessary patience in dealing with him, we must not forget to pray for the choleric himself.

2). Offer up the cross of bearing with the bad-willed choleric. In addition to prayer for the conversion of this type of choleric, it is God’s Will that we offer up the suffering caused by the choleric for the choleric’s salvation. In this way, we can not only bear the cross better, but also we can gain merit from this God-sent cross.

3) Do not give in to him. Choleric pressure can be intense but it is so important not to let him get his way when he is trying to bully people.

4) Be meek to him. Again, as difficult as this may seem to be, it is highly important for him to see Christ in you so he can learn to be more Christ-like.

5) Help him when circumstances allow. [That is when the bad-willed choleric becomes more receptive.] This is an additional way to show him Christ-like charity by helping the bad-willed choleric to become reasonable. Help him to see his false reasoning.

6) Remind yourself that you have to save your own soul. As Our Lord tells us to be careful to remove the beam in our own eyes before attempting to remove the mote in our neighbor’s eye, we must remain calm and have peace of soul while we work diligently on our salvation. We must remember that helping other souls is primarily God’s work, and we are simply His instruments when He allows us to benefit others. Watch and pray for the circumstances to be favorable to help the choleric, for example, when he becomes more receptive.

A Preview …

In our next lesson we will discuss more ways a choleric can be on the alert for his pride and how to master his pride. In addition to this, we will begin to discuss the associated weaknesses, such as, anger and how a choleric can better understand how this passion works in him. In this way he can use this passion properly and avoid further harm to his soul.