Editing Piety (section)

==As a virtue==
In [[Roman Catholicism|Catholicism]], [[Eastern Orthodoxy]], [[Lutheranism]], and [[Anglicanism]], piety is one of the [[seven gifts of the Holy Spirit]]. "It engenders in the soul a filial respect for God, a generous love toward him, and an affectionate obedience that wants to do what he commands because it loves the one who commands."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=33735|title=Gift of Piety|website=Catholic Dictionary}}</ref> [[Pope Gregory I]], in demonstrating the interrelationship among the gifts, said "Through the [[Fear of God|fear of the Lord]], we rise to piety, from piety then to knowledge..."<ref>{{citation|author=[[Pope Gregory I]]|title=Homiliae in Hiezechihelem Prophetam|at=II 7,7|orig-year=593}}</ref>

[[Thomas Aquinas|Aquinas]] spoke of piety in the context of one's parents and country, and given the obligation to accord each what is rightfully due them, related it to the cardinal virtue of justice. (By analogy, rendering to God what is due him, Aquinas identified as the virtue of religion, also related to justice.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.english.op.org/godzdogz/the-life-of-virtue-piety| last=Pearson|first=Gregory|title=The Life of Virtue—Piety|website=Godsdogz|date=17 July 2009}}</ref>) Professor [[Richard McBrien]] said piety "is a gift of the Holy Spirit by which we are motivated and enabled to be faithful and respectful to those—ultimately, God—who have had a positive, formative influence on our lives and to whom we owe a debt of gratitude,"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catholiccourier.com/articles/piety-refers-to-more-than-devotional-practices|last=McBrien|first=Richard|title=Piety refers to more than devotional practices|website=Catholic Courier|date=21 December 2009}}</ref> and requires one to acknowledge, to the extent possible, the sources of those many blessings through words and gestures great and small.

Piety belongs to the [[Religion (virtue)|virtue of Religion]], which theologians put among the moral virtues, as a part of the [[Cardinal virtues|cardinal virtue]] [[Justice (virtue)|Justice]], since by it one tenders to God what is due to him.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12748a.htm|last=Delany|first=Joseph|chapter=Virtue of Religion|title=The Catholic Encyclopedia|volume=12|location=New York|publisher=Robert Appleton Company|year=1911}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> The gift of piety perfects the virtue of justice, enabling the individual to fulfill his obligations to God and neighbor, and to do so willingly and joyfully. By inspiring a person with a tender and filial confidence in God, the gift of piety makes them joyfully embrace all that pertains to His service.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm|last=Forget|first=Jacques|chapter=Holy Ghost|title=The Catholic Encyclopedia|volume=7|location=New York|publisher=Robert Appleton Company|year=1910}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>

[[John Calvin]] said, "I call ‘piety’ that reverence joined with love of God which the knowledge of his benefits induces. For until [people] recognize that they owe everything to God, that they are nourished by his fatherly care, that he is the Author of their every good, that they should seek nothing beyond him—they will never yield him willing service."<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book|last=Calvin|first=John|title=[[Institutes of the Christian Religion]]|year=1536|at=I.ii.1}}
|2={{cite web|url=https://www.thebanner.org/features/2011/01/piety-and-religion|last=Cooper|first=Dale|title=Piety and Religion|website=The Banner|publisher=Christian Reformed Church in North America|date=January 18, 2011}}
}}</ref> Bishop [[Pierre Whalon]] says that "Piety, therefore, is the pursuit of an ever-greater sense of being in the presence of God."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://anglicansonline.org/resources/essays/whalon/piety.html|last=Whalon|first=Pierre W.|title=Piety|website=Anglicans Online|date=March 4, 2003}}</ref>

The Gift of Piety is synonymous with of filial trust in God.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.orlandodiocese.org/the-gift-of-piety-synonym-of-filial-trust-in-god/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125003207/https://www.orlandodiocese.org/the-gift-of-piety-synonym-of-filial-trust-in-god/|archive-date=2021-01-25|title=The Gift of Piety: Synonym of Filial Trust in God|website=Diocese of Orlando}}</ref> Through piety, a person shows reverence for God as a loving Father, and respect for others as children of God.

[[Pope John Paul II]] defined piety as "the gift of reverence for what comes from God," and related it to his earlier lectures on the Theology of the Body.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dphx.org/tob-tuesdays-27/|last=Zeno|first=Katrina J.|title=Reverent Eros and the Gift of Piety|website=Diocese of Phoenix|date=June 5, 2019}}</ref> In a General Audience in June 2014, [[Pope Francis]] said, "When the Holy Spirit helps us sense the presence of the Lord and all of his love for us, it warms our heart and drives us almost naturally to prayer and celebration."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicsun.org/2014/06/04/pope-piety-is-embracing-god-others-with-real-love-not-fake-devotion/|last=Glatz|first=Carol|title=Pope: Piety is embracing God, others with real love, not fake devotion|website=The Catholic Sun|publisher=Catholic News Service|date=June 4, 2014}}</ref> "Piety", said [[Pope Francis]], points up "our friendship with God." It is a gift that enables people to serve their neighbor "with gentleness and with a smile."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catholiccourier.com/articles/why-the-gift-of-piety-is-more-than-it-may-seem|last=Gibson|first=David|title=Why the gift of piety is more than it may seem|website=Catholic Courier|publisher=Catholic News Service|date=February 13, 2020}}</ref>