POA10 – Know your Armor – The Virtues" – Put On The Armor – A Manual for Spiritual Warfare w/Dr. Paul Thigpen Ph.D. – Discerning Hearts Cat

Episode 9 – Know Your Weapons pt. 4 – A Manual for Spiritual Warfare with Dr. Paul Thigpen, Ph.D In this episode of Put on the Armor: A Manual for Spiritual Warfare, Kris McGregor and Dr. Paul Thigpen turn to the virtues as the Christian’s interior armor. Dr. Thigpen begins by distinguishing virtue from vice: virtue is a habit of doing good, while vice is a habit of wrongdoing. Using the image of ruts worn into a road, he explains how repeated choices gradually shape the soul, making it easier either to choose what is good or to fall repeatedly into the same weakness. The armor St. Paul describes, then, isn’t simply something placed around us from the outside. Through grace and faithful practice, faith, hope, love, truth, and the other virtues become part of who we are, strengthening the mind, heart, and will against temptation. The conversation looks closely at faith as both believing what God has revealed and entrusting ourselves to Him, hope as the helmet that protects the mind from discouragement and despair, and love as the breastplate protecting the heart and our ability to choose what is good. Truth guards us against the father of lies, while readiness to share the Gospel gives Christians firm footing as they move through the world. Dr. Thigpen concludes with humility, the soil in which the other virtues grow and one of the strongest protections against spiritual pride. Rather than trying to fight alone, Christians are called to recognize their weakness, depend upon God, receive the graces of the sacraments, and allow trusted people to speak truth into their lives. A SPECIAL NOTE: We mourn the death of Dr. Paul Thigpen on February 24, 2026. He was a good friend, supporter, and contributor to Discerning Hearts. We will miss him deeply and will continue to share his ministry with gratitude and prayer. Dr. Thigpen offers insights on the Manual for Spiritual Warfare Chapter 5: Prayer and fasting, worship and adoration, Scripture and sacraments and sacramentals all provide the weapons of our spiritual warfare. With them we go on the offensive against the Evil One. But the virtues provide our defensive armor. As Blessed Pope Paul VI once observed, St. Paul “used the armor of a soldier as a symbol for the virtues that can make a Christian invulnerable.” They are our best defense against his attacks, for they guard our minds and hearts from his deceptions and temptations. A lapse in virtue is in fact a chink in our armor that makes us vulnerable. Each of these virtues, then, and all the others as well, play a vital role in protecting us from enemy assault as the armor we must wear. St. Paul sums it up: “Put on, therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. Bear with one another, if anyone has a grievance against any other; even as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection” (Col 3: 12– 14). Only with such armor will we be fully covered and protected from the Evil One’s attacks. Discerning Hearts questions for reflection

1. How does this episode help clarify the difference between a sacramental and something superstitious or magical?
2. Why is holy water so closely connected to baptism and spiritual warfare?
3. What stood out to you in St. Teresa of Avila’s testimony about holy water?
4. How can sacramentals help create a culture of holiness in a Catholic home?
5. Why is faith and interior disposition so important when using blessed objects?
6. What did you learn about the spiritual meaning of the St. Benedict Medal?
7. How does the rosary become more than simply a set of beads in the life of...