> [[at-sl-21|← B2 Ch. II]] | [[at-spiritual-life-toc|TOC]] | [[at-sl-23|Justice →]] # Art. I. The Virtue of Prudence [1] We shall explain: 1° its nature; 2° its necessity; 3° the means of progressing in this virtue. 1\. The Nature of Prudence The better to understand prudence, we shall give its definition, its constituents elements and its different species. 1016\. 1° Definition. Prudence is a supernatural, moral virtue which inclines our intellect to choose in every instance the best means for attaining our aims, by subordinating them to our ultimate end. Hence, it is not the prudence of the flesh, nor merely human prudence, but Christian prudence. A) It is not the prudence Of the flesh, such as makes one skilful in discovering the means whereby a bad end is to be attained, in satisfying one’s passions, in obtaining wealth, in gaining honors. This kind of prudence has been condemned by St. Paul, because it is inimical to God, at odds with His law, and because it militates against man, whom it leads to eternal destruction.[2] It is not merely human prudence, such as seeks out the means best adapted to attain a natural end, without referring them to the last end. Such is the prudence of the masters of industry, of merchants, artists, laborers, who seek gain or fame, unconcerned about God and eternity. These persons must be reminded that it profits us nothing to gain the whole world if one suffers the loss of one’s soul.[1] 1017\. B) It is christian prudence which, based upon the principles of Christian faith, refers all things to the supernatural end, that is to say, to God known and loved upon earth and possessed in heaven. Of course, prudence is not directly concerned with this end, which is proposed to it by faith, but it keeps it ever in view in order to discover by its light the means best adapted to direct all our actions. Prudence therefore concerns itself with all the details of our life. It regulates our thoughts to prevent them from straying away from God. It regulates our motives to keep them aloof from whatever may affect their singleness of purpose. It regulates our affections, our sentiments and our choices, so as to center them on God. It regulates even our exterior actions and the execution of our good resolves so as to refer them to our ultimate end.[2] 1018\. C) This virtue resides, strictly speaking, in the intellect, since it judges and determines what in each particular circumstance is most suitable to the attainment of our end. It is an applied science which joins to the knowledge of principles the knowledge of the actual realities in the midst of which we are to live our lives.[3] The will however intervenes to command the intellect to engage in the consideration of the motives and of the reasons that will enable it to make an enlightened choice, and again to command the employment of the means thus chosen. 1019\. D) The rule of Christian prudence is not reason alone, but reason enlightened by faith. Its noblest expression is found in the Sermon on the Mount, in which Our Lord completes and perfects the Old Law, by ridding it of the false interpretations of the Jewish doctors. Supernatural prudence, then, draws its light and inspiration from the Gospel maxims, which are directly opposed to those of the world. In the application of these maxims to the actions of every-day life, it draws inspiration from the examples of the Saints, who lived according to the Gospel, and from the teachings of the Church, our infallible guide. Thus, we are sure of not going astray. Besides, the means employed by Christian prudence are not merely right means; they are supernatural means: prayer and the sacraments, which by multiplying our power for good cause us to attain far better results. This will become still more apparent when we consider the constituent elements of this virtue. 1020\. 2° Its Constituent Elements. To act prudently three conditions are particularly necessary: mature deliberation a wise choice, and right execution. A) First of all, a mature deliberation is required in order to discover the means most apt to the attainment of the end in view, a deliberation which must be in keeping with the import of the decision to be taken. This requires personal reflection and wise consultation. 1021\. a) We must consider the past, the present, and the future. 1\) The remembrance of the past will prove to be of great advantage: human nature remains essentially the same throughout the ages. We must therefore consult history to see how others have solved the problems that now confront us. The experiments whereby they attempted a solution will throw light upon our inexperience and will save us many a blunder. By observing what succeeded and what failed, we shall know better the dangers to be avoided and the means to be taken. We must likewise probe into our personal experience. From our early youth we have encountered at one time or another similar difficulties. We must examine what brought them to a happy issue and what proved a cause of failure and then determine resolutely not to expose ourselves to the same dangers and not to fall before the same temptations. 2\) We must furthermore take account of the present, of the different conditions in which we live. Times differ and so do men. Youthful tastes are not those of maturer years. We must therefore know how to interpret intelligently past experiences in applying them to present issues. 3\) Lastly, it is no less the part of prudence to look into the future. Before taking a decision, it is useful to foresee as far as can be done the consequences of our acts both to ourselves and to others. By recalling the past and foreseeing the future we can best plan our present course of action. We may illustrate all that has been said by applying it to a particular virtue, chastity. History will tell us what the Saints did in order to remain pure in the midst of the world’s dangers; our own experience will recall our past temptations, the means used to resist them and our success or failure. From this we can conclude with a high degree of probability what will be the future result of such or such proceeding, of this or that reading, of such or such association. 1022\. b) Reflection does not suffice; we must know how to take counsel with wise and competent men. A word, the remark of a friend, of a relative, even of an inferior, at times opens our eyes and reveals to us a side of things we had forgotten or overlooked. Two heads are better than one, and enlightenment results from discussion. This is especially true of consultation with our spiritual director; for knowing us and being a disinterested party, he sees better than we do what is good for our soul’s welfare. We should, then, seek with docility and care the advice of some judicious and experienced person. This will in no way hinder us from exercising our own powers of discernment, by which we are to judge what is well-founded, both in the advice given and in our personal observations. We must not forget to have recourse to the best of counsellors, the Father of Lights. The confident invocation of the Holy Spirit will often prove more profitable to us than repeated deliberations. 1023\. B) Once we have deliberated, we must judge wisely, that is to say, we must determine which among the suggested means are really the most effectual. In order to succeed in this: a) we must carefully rid ourselves of prejudice, passion and impressions, which would bias the judgment, and we must resolutely set our face towards eternity, so as to form an estimate of all things from the point of view of faith. b) We must not rest content with a superficial examination of the reasons which incline us to this or that course, but we must probe into them carefully weighing the reasons for and against. c) Lastly, we must decide resolutely, without allowing ourselves to be drawn hither or thither by excessive hesitation. Once we have deliberated according to the relative importance of the question at hand, and have taken the course that seems best, Almighty God will not reproach us for the line of conduct adopted, since we did all in our power to know His holy will. We can then count on His grace to carry out our resolutions. 1024\. C) We must not delay the execution of the plan we have adopted. This makes foresight, discretion and caution necessary. a) It requires foresight. To foresee means to count in advance the effort necessary to attain our aims, the obstacles to be encountered and the means of overcoming them, in order to measure our efforts by the end in view. b) It requires discretion. We must open our eyes and view persons and things from every angle in order to derive therefrom the greatest possible advantage. We must consider all the circumstances in order to adapt ourselves to them. We must study events in order to profit by them if they be favorable, to prevent their consequences if they be adverse. c) It requires caution: “See, therefore, how you walk circumspectly.”[1] Even when we have tried to foresee all, things do not always happen as we foresaw them, for ours is a limited wisdom and liable to err. Therefore, we must do in our moral life as we do in business, store up reserves and surround ourselves with safeguards. Our spiritual foes renew the offensive, as we have already explained in no. 900. Then we need to have recourse to our reserve force, to prayer, to the sacraments, to the advice of a spiritual director. Thus, we shall not be the victims of unforeseen circumstances, we shall not lose heart, and, with the help of God’s grace, we shall bring to a successful issue the plans we had wisely laid. 1025\. 3° The different species of prudence. Prudence varies in accordance with the diversity of the objects upon which it is exercised. It is individual when it regulates personal conduct; this is the prudence of which we have spoken. It is social when its object is the welfare of society; and since we distinguish three different kinds of societies, the family, the state, and the army, we distinguish likewise three kinds of prudence: domestic prudence, which regulates the relations of man and wife and of parents and children; civic prudence, which pursues the common weal and good government; military prudence, which is concerned with the direction of armies. Here we shall not go into details. The general principles we have explained suffice for our purpose. It is for Christian parents, for statesmen and military leaders, to look more deeply into the application of these principles to their respective situations. II\. Necessity of Prudence Prudence is no less necessary for the control of our own personal conduct than it is for that of others. 1026\. 1° For our own personal conduct. It is prudence that enables us to avoid sin and to practice virtue. A) In order to avoid sin, we repeat, we must know its causes and occasions, seek the remedies and apply the treatment. This is what prudence effects, as we can gather from the study of its constituent elements. From the consideration of past experience and the actual condition of the soul, prudence sees what is or will prove to be in the future a cause or an occasion of sin. And so, it suggests the best means to remove or moderate these causes, and the tactics that will best help us to overcome temptations and even to profit by them. Without such prudence how many sins would be committed! How many are actually committed because of the lack of prudence! 1027\. B) Prudence is likewise necessary in order to practice virtue and to facilitate our union with God. The virtues are rightly compared to a chariot that conducts us to God and prudence to the driver who chooses the way. It is, so to speak, the soul’s eye, which sees the road and the obstacles to be avoided. 1\) Prudence is necessary for the exercise of all the virtues: of the moral virtues, which must keep to the golden mean and avoid extremes; of the theological virtues, which must be practiced in season and by such means as are in keeping with the various circumstances of our life. Thus, it is the part of prudence to scan the dangers that imperil faith and discover the means to remove them; to seek how faith can be strengthened and made more practical; to see how trust in God and fear of His judgments must go hand in hand, how both presumption and despair must be avoided, how all our actions can be animated by charity without hindering the discharge of our duties of state. What prudence is required in the practice of fraternal charity! 2\) Prudence is even more necessary for the practice of certain seemingly contradictory virtues: justice and goodness, meekness and fortitude, a holy austerity of life and the right care of health, devotedness to our neighbor and chastity, the practice of an interior life and compliance with social duties. 1028\. 2° When it is question of works of zeal in the ministry prudence is likewise necessary. a) In the pulpit, prudence suggests what must be said and what must be left unsaid; it suggests the manner in which the thought must be expressed in order not to antagonize the hearers, in order to adapt the Word of God to their intelligence, to persuade, move and convert them. It is still more needful, perhaps, in teaching catechism, for it is question then of forming the minds and hearts of children, of making an impression for life on their souls. b) In the confessional it is prudence that makes the confessor a keen and upright judge in discerning guilt, in putting clear and precise questions to penitents, according to their respective age, condition and circumstances. Prudence makes the confessor a teacher who knows how to instruct without giving scandal, when to leave souls in good faith and when to enlighten them. Prudence again makes of him a physician who can tactfully probe into the causes of the soul’s ailments and prescribe the needed remedies. And it is prudence that invests him with the character of a father, so devoted as to inspire confidence, yet so reserved as to secure reverence. c) Much tact is also needed to reconcile the wishes of parishioners with divine and liturgical ordinances in what relates to Baptisms, First Communions, Marriages, Last Rites, Funerals, etc., just as great discretion is demanded upon the occasion of sick-calls and other professional visits. d) Great prudence is likewise required in the administration of temporalities, with reference to stole fees, church dues and church funds, so as not to give offence or scandal to the faithful, or to compromise the reputation for perfect detachment which a priest must enjoy. III\. Means of Progressing in this Virtue 1029\. One means is general and applicable to all the virtues, moral or theological: prayer, through which we draw unto ourselves Jesus Christ and His virtues. We mention this once and for all. We shall speak only of the means that are proper to each particular virtue. 1030\. 1° A general means, one that governs all the others and which applies to all souls, is that of referring all our judgments and all our decisions to the ultimate, supernatural end. This is the advice offered by St. Ignatius at the outset of the Spiritual Exercises in his fundamental meditation. a) We must note however that this principle will not be understood in the same manner by all. Beginners considering man’s final end will emphasize salvation; perfect souls, God’s glory. The latter mode of understanding this general principle is in itself the better way, but not all will be able thus to understand and relish it. b) To give this principle a concrete form, it may be embodied in some maxim or other that presents it vividly to our minds, for instance: “What does this matter for eternity?—Whatever is not eternal is of no account.—What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?” In practice, the way to lay in our souls the foundation of Christian prudence, is to realize the full meaning of these maxims, to reflect upon them over and over again until we become familiar with them and habitually live by them. 1031\. 2° Provided with this principle, beginners strive to rid themselves of the faults opposed to Christian prudence.[1] a) They combat vigorously the prudence of the flesh, which seeks with avidity the means of satisfying the threefold concupiscence; this they do by mortifying their love for pleasure, by remembering that the false joys of this world are often followed by bitter regrets and are as nothing compared to eternal happiness. b) They carefully avoid trickery, deceit, fraud, even in the pursuance of honorable ends, well realizing that honesty is the best policy, that the end does not justify the means, and that according to the Gospel, the simplicity of the dove must be joined to the wisdom of the serpent. This is all the more necessary, since devout lay people, priests and religious are at times reproached with these defects, though unjustly in most instances. Perfect integrity and evangelical candor are therefore to be assiduously cultivated. 1032\. c) They strive to hold in check those two disturbing elements of judment, prejudice and passion: prejudices that cause us to make decisions under the influence of flimsy and preconceived notions which are liable to prove groundless or unreasonable; passions of pride, sensuality, over-anxiety for the goods of this world, which unbalance men and cause them to choose not the best, but what is more agreeable or useful from the point of view of earthly interests. To free themselves from these perturbing influences, they call to mind the Gospel maxim: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice.”[1] They therefore avoid making decisions under the pressure of strong passion, delaying a choice until calm reigns in the soul. Should action be urgent, they place themselves, at least for a moment, in the presence of God, to beg His light and to follow it faithfully. d) In order to resist flightiness of mind, hastiness of judgment or listlessness, they accustom themselves never to act without previous reflection, without accounting to themselves for the motives that prompt them to act, without looking into the consequences, good or bad, of their actions; all this, from the point of view of eternity. This reflection should be measured by the importance of the decision to be made, and in things of graver moment a judicious and experienced person should be consulted. Thus, the habit of deciding nothing, of doing nothing that is not referred to God is gradually acquired. e) Lastly, to escape the bane of indecision, that is, extreme hesitation in making a choice, beginners take good care to remove the causes of this spiritual malady (a complicated and confused mind, a lack of initiative, etc.) by having a clear-sighted spiritual director devise fixed rules of action, whereby they will decide promptly and firmly in ordinary cases, and in greater difficulties have recourse to the director himself. 1033\. 3° Souls advancing in the way of perfection grow in this virtue of prudence in three different ways: a) By the study of Our Lord’s actions and words as set forth in the Gospel, in order to find in them a rule of conduct and to attract to themselves through prayer and imitation the dispositions of that Divine Model, 1) Thus, they will contemplate His prudence, as manifested in His hidden life. For thirty years He practiced those virtues, the exercise of which is so hard for us, humility, obedience, poverty, knowing full well that without such an object lesson we should never learn to practice these necessary virtues. No less an object of admiration is His prudence as exemplified in His public life. He withstands Satan, so as to baffle his designs and confound him with replies that admit of no retort. He unfolds His teaching gradually according to circumstances, disclosing only by degrees His dignity as Messias and as Son of God. He makes use of familiar comparisons the better to make His thought understood; He employs parables to veil or reveal the same, as the occasion demands. He skilfully unmasks His adversaries and meets their cunning with disconcerting questions. He trains His Apostles step by step, suffering their defects and adapting His teachings to what they can actually bear: “But you cannot bear them now.”[1] He knows, withal, how to tell them unpleasant, but plain truths, as when He announces to them His Passion, in order to prepare them for the scandal of the Cross. In the very midst of that painful ordeal, He answers judges and underlings alike with the same unruffled calm, and He knows when to remain silent. In a word, He knows in all things, how to harmonize the highest form of prudence with firmness and devotedness to duty. 2\) As regards His teachings, these are summed up in the following words: “Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God and His justice…”[2] “Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves…”[3] “Watch and pray.”[4] The chief means of growing in this virtue is the prayerful consideration of these examples and the ardent petition to Our Savior to make us share in His prudence. 1034\. b) The constituent elements of this virtue must then be fostered, namely, common-sense, a habit of reflection, readiness to consult others, determination, foresight and caution. 1035\. c) Lastly, efforts must be made to adorn prudence with those qualities of which St. James speaks. After distinguishing true from false wisdom he adds: “But the wisdom that is from above, first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, easy to be persuaded, consenting to the good, full of mercy and good fruits, without judging, without dissimulation.”[1] Chaste: on its guard to keep that purity of body and soul that unites us to God, and, which therefore unites us to the Eternal Wisdom Itself. Peaceable: maintaining the soul’s peace, the calm, the sense of proportion, the poise that enables one to make a judicious choice. Modest: meek towards others, and by that very fact, easy to be persuaded, open to conviction, amenable to reason, thus precluding exasperation, which terminates in strife. Full of mercy and good fruits: abounding in mercy towards the unfortunate, eager to do them good, since one of the characteristics of Christian wisdom is to lay up treasures in heaven. Without judging, without dissimulation: that is, without partiality, duplicity or hypocrisy, which trouble the soul and the faculty of judgment. 1036\. 4° In what concerns the exercise of this virtue by the perfect, suffice it to say that they practice it to a high degree, under the action of the gift of Counsel, as we shall explain when treating of the unitive way. --- ![[maps/bibliography#^biblio-tan]] > [[at-sl-21|← B2 Ch. II]] | [[at-spiritual-life-toc|TOC]] | [[at-sl-23|Justice →]]