Chapter II. On Hope

211. • Hope is a supernatural virtue through which, with certain confidence from the promise of God, we expect future beatitude, and the means for attaining it.

The primary material object of Hope is God to be possessed, according to that saying, Gen. 15.1: I will be your reward exceedingly great. But the secondary object is all the means necessary for attaining beatitude, such as the remission of sins, the grace of God through the merits of Christ, etc... ¹.

¹ ** Other benefits, even temporal ones, which we expect from the goodness of God, are not to be excluded from this; since these also were promised by the Lord (Luke 12.31): And all these things shall be added to you.

But the formal object of Hope is the goodness and fidelity of God joined with his omnipotence ².

² Hope... rests upon... divine omnipotence and mercy, through which even he who does not have grace can obtain it, so that thus he may arrive at eternal life. But whoever has faith is certain of the omnipotence of God and of his mercy. St. Thom. (2. 2. q. 18. art. 4. ad 2.). And again the same Holy Doctor (De Virt. q. 4. art. 1.): The formal object of hope is the help of divine power and piety, on account of which the motion of hope tends toward hoped-for goods, which are the material object of hope.

But the acts included in Hope are the desire of eternal beatitude, firm confidence of arriving at it, and a raised-up spirit against occurring difficulties ³.

³ Hope, as St. Thomas says (2. 2. q. 17. art. 5. ad 4.), according as it is a theological virtue, regards something arduous to be attained by the help of another. But (3. Dist. 26. q. 2. art. 1. ad 2.) this arduous thing, which is eternal life, exceeds the faculty of nature. Therefore (ibid. art. 2. o) it is necessary that from some gift superadded to nature there be made an inclination into that arduous thing; and that gift is the habit of hope. Therefore insofar as (2. 2. q. 17. art. 1. o) we hope for something as possible for us through divine help, our hope reaches to God himself, upon whose help it rests.

But the sins opposed to Hope are despair and presumption. The former is voluntary distrust of obtaining beatitude and the means necessary for attaining it. - But the latter is an inordinate confidence of obtaining beatitude without the means ordained by God.

212. Principles. - I. Hope in adults is required by necessity of means for justification. For man cannot arrive at attaining God, his ultimate end, unless by his own acts he tends toward him: but this cannot be done without hope. This is also clear from the Council of Trent, sess. 6. c. 6.

II. Hope is also necessary by necessity of precept; since there is a true precept of eliciting acts of Hope at some times in life. This is clear from the 1st proposition condemned by Alexander VII, which sounds thus: At no time whatever of his life is a man bound to elicit an act of Faith, Hope, and Charity, by force of the divine precepts pertaining to those virtues ⁴.

⁴ Since the precept itself does not expressly determine a time, it seems one must recur to an article of necessity, which scarcely can be designated in the matter proposed. But it must be noted that this necessity can be either per se, or from an extrinsic reason: in this second way this precept will oblige when it shall be necessary to hope either for duly praying, or for overcoming a temptation, or for something similar: nevertheless in these occasions it will often not be necessary to elicit a formal act of hope, but it will be enough in the very effect duly to do that in which hope is virtually included, such as to petition efficaciously, or to grieve over sin, or something similar.... Concerning necessity per se..... I say, as concerning charity and penance, that this time cannot be designated positively and altogether determinately, but as it were negatively and confusedly: for a man is bound sometime in life to exercise hope; but whether that is now, or later, is left to the man's judgment. Suarez, De Spe Disp. 2. Sect. 1. n. 2. 3.

Moreover the Doctors commonly warn that no place is to be given to anxieties concerning the sufficient execution of this precept. Since, to fulfill it, just as was said concerning faith, virtual hope suffices, and this is commonly exercised; hence there can scarcely be a suspicion that the faithful are lacking in this obligation. But if any are lacking in it, since they do this almost without advertence, the matter falls back to the same point.

213. Questions. - Q. 1º In how many ways is the sin of presumption committed?

Resp. Chiefly 1º if you presume to obtain eternal life by your own powers; 2º if you expect it without labor, from the mercy of God alone. - St. Lig. n. 24.

Q. 2º Can there be smallness of matter in sins against Hope?

Resp. 1º Affirm., with regard to presumption, although it is grave from its genus.

Resp. 2º Dist., with regard to despair: Neg., if it is perfect and properly so called; otherwise, if it is imperfect, as often happens in sadness and impatience.

214. • Q. 3º Is it a sin against Hope to desire to live perpetually in this world, or on the contrary from weariness to wish for death?

Resp. to the first: Affirm., because he who desires that stops in temporal life, as in the ultimate end. - Thus commonly. - St. Lig. n. 20.

Resp. to the second: 1º It is not against Hope per se, because it is not to withdraw from the ultimate end; 2º nor generally does it exceed venial sin, unless there is express rebellion against the order of divine Providence.

Q. 4º Is it presumption to commit the same sin several times, because when committed several times it is accused as easily as when committed once?

Resp. Neg., because the penitent sins more easily not from the facility of obtaining pardon, but from the lesser difficulty of confessing; although this is a depraved disposition, most injurious to God. But it would be a sin of presumption, if someone therefore sinned more easily because several sins are remitted as easily as a single one ⁵. - St. Lig. n. 21.

⁵ It must be noted here that an opinion not rarely sits in the mind of the faithful, that a sin becomes graver which is committed on account of the hope of pardon: whereas the doctors, on the contrary, think that by this circumstance a sin is sometimes rather diminished. Thus Suarez, rightly distinguishing this from the sin of presumption (de Spe Disp. 2. sect. 3. n. 2.): Although sometimes to offend from frailty on account of the hope of pardon can fail to be presumption, indeed can somewhat diminish sin; nevertheless to take thence an occasion of persevering in sin is a certain kind of presumption. Yet he adds (ibid. n. 3.) that a light fault can be found in presumption of this sort.

And this is the doctrine of St. Thomas (2. 2. q. 21. art. 2. ad 3.): It must be said that to sin with the purpose of persevering in sin under the hope of pardon pertains to presumption. And this does not diminish, but increases sin. But to sin under the hope of pardon to be received at some time, with the purpose of abstaining from sin and repenting of sin, this is not of presumption, but this diminishes the sin; because through this he seems to have a will less firmly fixed on sinning. Hence Marcus Struggl well says (Theol. Moral. Tr. IV. q. 3. n. 17.): Even while someone wishes to sin or actually sins, it is good to hope for pardon of sin and to propose afterward to repent. Moreover, that in the proposed case there is not a sin of presumption, Sanchez (In Dec. Lib. 2. Cap. 35. n. 7.), alleging Bannez and Medina, the Salmanticenses (Tr. 21. Cap. 5. n. 56.), Palaus (De Spe Tract. V. Disp. unic. punct. 6.), Bonacina (De I. Praecept. q. 3. punct. I. n. 6.), etc., commonly teach.

215. • Q. 5º What are the remedies of despair?

Resp. The principal ones are the following: 1º consideration of the infinite goodness and mercy of God; - 2º frequent remembrance of those men who after many and most grave sins obtained pardon; 3º meditation on the parables of the holy Gospel, especially of the lost sheep; - 4º special devotion toward the Blessed Virgin, refuge of sinners; - 5º confidence in Christ affixed to the cross for us, etc.

216. Practical Rules. - First. Let the Confessor examine from what root especially despair arises in the penitent, so that he can apply suitable remedies according to the different cause. - But it is usually accustomed to be born proximately from the apprehension of certain damnation. Remotely, however, 1º from sloth, by which someone thinks the means of salvation too burdensome, and therefore is deterred from employing them; 2º from lust or other inveterate sins, which turn the mind away from heavenly things, and on account of the difficulty of amendment lead to despair; 3º from melancholy, which inclines to sadness and turns away from confidence, which is accustomed to generate joy of soul; 4º from scruples, by which the soul is cast down and oppressed.

Second. Penitents given to despair are to be governed by the Confessor with great circumspection, prudence, and patience, according to the diversity of dispositions and the varied kind of despair. For those are to be directed in one way who have been driven into despair from malice, or from the weight of sins and a scandalous life; in another way those who are impelled to it from pusillanimity, or from diabolical temptation.

Third. Penitents who exhibit themselves as such, especially if they live in a Christian manner, are not immediately at first glance to be judged as carried away by despair. For souls are found, even devout ones, which are agitated by almost continual temptations of despair; nor is it easily to be believed that they have sinned, especially gravely, although they think that they have given consent to them; just as excessive fear concerning the danger of salvation is not to be confused with despair properly so called. - Elbel, etc.