Article I. On Gratitude

605. Notion. Gratitude is a virtue which inclines a man to acknowledge benefits received, in mind and in speech, and at least in some measure to repay them; or, as St. Augustine says:¹⁰⁵⁶ "Gratitude is the virtue in which are contained the remembrance of the friendship and benefits of another, and the will to recompense the other."

Explanation. Gratitude arises only from a benefit received. A benefit is an undebted and useful service, gratuitously done for someone from an affection of benevolence. It is said: a benefit is an undebted and useful service, for those things which are owed or which are useless cannot be called a benefit. Therefore "he who assists someone in sinning does not confer a benefit but rather an injury, and consequently thanksgiving is not owed to him."¹⁰⁵⁷ Next, for a benefit properly so called it is required that it be done gratuitously and from benevolence, for "a favor is that which is given gratuitously";¹⁰⁵⁸ and what is furnished not from benevolence but from some other good or bad motive cannot claim for itself the name of a benefit properly so called. Especially, that which is done from pure egoism is not a benefit. Sometimes, however, benefit is taken in a broader sense for every good work furnished, even though it is owed from commutative justice. Hence, for example, a master gives thanks to workers for good services furnished, although the workers were obliged to those services by the contract entered into.

It must be noted with the Angelic Doctor¹⁰⁵⁹ that gratitude is a special virtue only when it arises from benefits conferred by another man who is not a superior. For gratitude owed to God for the innumerable benefits conferred is reduced to the virtue of religion; gratitude owed to parents, who are the principle of our generation and discipline, pertains to piety; but gratitude owed to superiors, who are the principles of governance and common goods, is reduced to the virtue of observance.

Gratitude consists more in affection, namely, in a grateful mind, than in effect, that is, in the real recompense of the benefit received. From this it is evident that the virtue of gratitude is possible for all, even for the poor, because all can cultivate an affection of gratitude for benefits received, although not all are able to repay the benefits received.

¹⁰⁵⁶ De diversis quaest. 83, q. 31 (Migne, Patr. lat. 40, 21).

¹⁰⁵⁷ S. theol. 2, 2, q. 107, a. 1 ad 1.

¹⁰⁵⁸ Ib., q. 106, a. 2 (Leonine ed.).

¹⁰⁵⁹ S. theol. 2, 2, q. 106, a. 1.

606. Duties of gratitude. Of gratitude properly so called, which regards benefits conferred by another private person, there are chiefly three duties or three grades: 1. to remember and acknowledge benefits received; 2. to express in words the benefit received, for example, by praising the benefactor, expressing thanks to him, etc.; 3. to repay by deeds the benefit received, insofar as one's means permit.¹⁰⁶⁰

¹⁰⁶⁰ Ib., q. 107, a. 2.

607. Necessity and beauty of gratitude. Gratitude is as necessary as it is a most beautiful virtue. For it fosters charity insofar as it unites the hearts of men; it nourishes social life insofar as one lightens the burdens of another and men assist one another; it nourishes humility insofar as he who shows gratitude shows himself subject to the benefactor. For these reasons, in the education of children it must be strongly insisted that they always acknowledge benefits received and not omit to render the thanks owed. It is also very expedient that every man frequently and fervently give thanks to God for the benefits conferred. Hence it is said most truly in the Preface: "It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, that we should always and everywhere give thanks to thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God, through Christ our Lord."

The qualities of gratitude are the following:

608. Gratitude must be: 1. prompt, that is, manifested soon after a benefit is received;¹⁰⁶¹

2. internal and not only external, that is, proceeding from a sincere internal affection and not merely expressed in cold words;

3. humble, that is, with a true acknowledgment of the benefit received as something useful to us; for if someone esteems the benefit received as of little account, he cannot be imbued with true gratitude;

4. free from cupidity, that is, gratitude must not be expressed chiefly for the end that someone may receive greater benefits from the benefactor, as happens among arrogant beggars.

¹⁰⁶¹ The Angelic Doctor aptly observes (l.c., q. 106, a. 4) that recompense for a benefit must be made immediately as regards affection, insofar as a man immediately acknowledges the benefit received and is prepared according to his ability to repay the benefit; but this recompense must not immediately be given in fact, because he who wishes to pay too quickly thereby shows that he wishes to cancel gift with gift and that he does not wish to be bound to the other.

609. Opposed vice. To gratitude is opposed ingratitude, which is accustomed to produce many evils in moral and social life. For by ingratitude charity toward God and men grows cold, social life is weakened, egoism is fostered, etc. Ingratitude is either material or formal.

Formal ingratitude is contempt either of the benefactor or of the benefit; it can be a mortal sin if this contempt gravely offends the benefactor and thus notably injures charity. As grades of this ingratitude are enumerated: a) to return evil for good, concerning which ingratitude Christ complains through the prophet Jeremiah: "Shall evil be rendered for good, because they have dug a pit for my soul?"¹⁰⁶² b) to speak ill of a benefit; in this manner the Israelites were ungrateful when they murmured in the desert concerning their deliverance from Egypt; c) to account a benefit as though it were an evil deed, as the damned do.¹⁰⁶³

Material ingratitude is the omission of due gratitude, but without contempt; ordinarily it is only a venial sin, because it proceeds from a certain negligence and is not accustomed so gravely to offend the benefactor. As grades of this ingratitude are enumerated: a) to repay nothing for a benefit received; b) to conceal a benefit and not give thanks, as certain badly educated children do, who immediately go away after receiving a benefit without any sign of gratitude; c) to refuse to acknowledge a benefit received.

Besides St. Thomas, St. Bonaventure,¹⁰⁶⁴ Bl. Albert the Great,¹⁰⁶⁵ and, among modern authors, Sebastian von Oer¹⁰⁶⁶ have written well concerning gratitude.

¹⁰⁶² Jer. 18:20.

¹⁰⁶³ Cf. S. theol. 2, 2, q. 107, a. 2 (Leonine ed.).

¹⁰⁶⁴ Pharetra l. 3, c. 21, De ingratitudine, and l. 4, c. 31, De gratitudine.

¹⁰⁶⁵ Paradisus animae, c. 25.

¹⁰⁶⁶ Unsere Tugenden (Freiburg, 1912), 261ff.