SALIGIA. Hundreds of years ago, this mnemonic was created to ingrain something very important into the minds of the faithful. SALIGIA stands for: superbia, avaritia, luxuria, invidia, gula, ira, acedia. In case your Latin is not very strong, that’s: pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth — the Seven Deadly Sins.

If you look at each of those words, they’re pretty good adjectives for American culture today. In the coming weeks, we’ll be taking a closer look at each of them — how they are seen in our culture, the ramifications, and what we can do to avoid them.