12: Caritas

1. Term: Caritas

Pronunciation: kah-REE-tahs
Meaning: Charity, love; selfless, sacrificial love for others.

2. Biblical Usage:

  • Used in the Latin Vulgate to describe the highest form of love, often reflecting God’s love and Christian love for neighbor.
  • Central in teachings about love as the greatest virtue.

3. Example Verse:

  • 1 Corinthians 13:13 — “Nunc autem manent fides, spes, caritas, tria haec; maior autem horum est caritas.”
    (“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”)
  • John 15:13 — “Magis quam haec nemo habet caritatem, ut animam suam ponat pro amicis suis.”
    (“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”)

4. Theological Significance:

  • Caritas reflects the Christian ideal of love as self-giving and rooted in God’s nature.
  • It forms the foundation of Christian ethics and community life.
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