William Bernard Ullathorne was a Benedictine monk and Roman Catholic priest who ministered in Australia from 1833 until 1840 and then returned to his native England, where he was ordained a bishop in 1847 and served as Roman Catholic Bishop of Birmingham from 1850 until 1888. He is best known for his catechetical trilogy: The Endowments of Man, The Groundwork of the Christian Virtues, and Christian Patience, published in the 1880s. The Endowments of Man is presented in fourteen lectures, adapted from lectures originally delivered to clerics in Olton, England, at St. Bernard's Seminary, which Bishop Ullathorne founded in 1873. In these lectures, Ullathorne lays a foundation for the practice of the Christian virtues. Copiously citing Sacred Scripture and the writings of Fathers and Doctors of the Church, he presents sound theological doctrines and philosophical principles precisely and thoroughly as he traces the history of man from his creation and origin in God, to his tragic fall, to his restoration and regeneration in Jesus Christ, and finally to his glorious end in beatific union with God.

William Bernard Ullathorne was a Benedictine monk and Roman Catholic priest who ministered in Australia from 1833 until 1840 and then returned to his native England, where he was ordained a bishop in 1847 and served as Bishop of Birmingham from 1850 until 1888. He is best known for his catechetical trilogy: The Endowments of Man, The Groundwork of the Christian Virtues, and Christian Patience, published in the 1880s. The Groundwork of the Christian Virtues is presented in sixteen lectures, wherein Bishop Ullathorne makes the case that the virtue of humility is the foundation of all virtues, especially of the three theological virtues and the four cardinal moral virtues. The theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity have God Himself as their object, and the four cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance show one how to cultivate the theological virtues in one's daily life.