Treatise: On Divine Hope

S. Th. I-II, q. 40, aa. 1 and 2; q. 25, a. 1; Q. D. de Virt. 4, a. 1.

794. Hope according to the name (elpis), in the proper sense, primarily signifies a certain passion of the sensitive irascible appetite; whence the word was used to designate also both an act of the will similar to the passion of hope, and the habit inclining to this act (I Cor. XIII, 13).

But in a derived and improper sense it is also taken: a) for the thing hoped for (Tit. II, 13; Rom. VIII, 24-25); - b) for him from whom we hope (Ps. XIII, 6; XXI, 10), in which sense we invoke the Blessed Virgin, saying: Hail, our hope; - c) for the means of acquiring the thing hoped for (merits, prayers of the saints, sacraments); - d) for the certitude of hope, which is its perfection (Rom. V, 4-5).

795. Hope, taken in the proper sense, is rightly defined: A movement of the appetitive power tending toward a future good, arduous, possible of attainment. It is said:

1. a movement of the appetitive power, that is, either of the sensitive appetite, or of the rational appetite or will, as was said in the preceding number;

2. tending toward a good, and thus it differs from fear, which concerns evil; moreover this good is sensible if it is a question of the passion of hope, but it is spiritual or even divine when it is a question of hope pertaining to the will;

3. future: for no one hopes for what he already has; and thus hope is distinguished from joy or delight, which concern a good already possessed;

4. arduous, that is, difficult of attainment: for no one hopes for what is immediately and easily in his power; and thus hope is distinguished from desire, which concerns any good whatever, without consideration of its difficulty or possibility;

5. possible of attainment, at least according to estimation, and therefore probably to be obtained; and thus it is distinguished from despair.

Therefore to hope is vividly to desire some good for oneself, and to trust that one will obtain it.

796. Hope necessarily supposes the love of concupiscence and desire; indeed it virtually includes them: for although someone can love, indeed even desire, what he does not hope for, nevertheless no one can hope for what he does not covet and desire. That love is the simple complacency of good, that is, the coaptation of the appetite to some good, by which the appetite becomes conformable and proportioned to the beloved, and this becomes connatural and fitting to it; desire is a movement, a tendency toward attaining that good. But beyond these, hope adds a firmer effort toward the attainment of the good, notwithstanding its difficulty. For when difficulties appear which allure man not to pursue the good, and at the same time the possibility of obtaining the good appears, hope brings it about that man does not abandon the pursuit of the good, but firmly perseveres in it; indeed, that on account of the difficulties he tends more toward the good. Therefore hope strengthens the appetite, makes it firm, rises up by fighting against difficulties, and lifts us above difficulties.

When someone hopes for the attainment of a good from the help of another, the act of hope is properly called expectation.

797. Divine or theological hope is defined: a divinely infused virtue by which, with certain confidence, we expect eternal beatitude and the means to it, to be obtained by divine help. There is indicated:

1. the genus to which hope pertains: a divinely infused or supernatural virtue;

2. the proper act of hope by which it is distinguished from other virtues: by which we expect;

3. the material object, or the matter about which it is concerned, both principal: eternal beatitude; and secondary: the means to obtaining it;

4. the formal object, or motive, of hope: by divine help;

5. the essential property of hope: with certain confidence.

798. Division of the treatise. - The treatise on hope comprises four parts:

1. the first treats of the object of hope and of the act of hope, which is known through the object: 1. concerning the formal object, 2. concerning the material object, 3. concerning the necessity of hope;

2. the second treats of the habit of hope, which is known through the act, and of the subject in which it inheres: 1. concerning hope as it is a virtue, 2. concerning the subject of hope and those having hope; 3. concerning the gift of fear of God;

3. the third treats of opposed sins: 1. concerning despair, 2. concerning presumption;

4. the fourth treats of the precept of hope.¹

¹ Concerning hope one can usefully consult: St. Thomas, in Q. D. de Virt. 4; and II-II, qq. 17-22, with the commentaries of Cajetan and Billuart; Bouquillon, De Virtutibus theologicis, with the annotations of Waffelaert; Billot and Schiffini in their respective work De Virtutibus infusis; Harent, in Dictionnaire de Theologie, article Esperance; Janvier, Conf. de N.-D.: L'esperance; in addition the moral manuals which are in everyone's hands.