On the Virtue of Hope

695. From faith hope is born: for by faith we know that the miseries and temptations of this life are not perpetual, but are as it were a transitory stage for obtaining immortal life. Therefore the faithful firmly expect eternal beatitude and the means necessary for obtaining it.

Hope in general designates three different things: (a) one of the passions, namely a movement of the appetite by which we tend toward a future, arduous, and possible good: future, because hope does not rest in a good already possessed, but tends toward an absent good which we wish to possess; arduous, because things very easy to obtain, which can be obtained immediately, without effort, are not properly hoped for, but are already had in our power; yet possible, because what can in no way be obtained excites despair rather than hope.¹

¹ St. Thomas, I-II, q. 40, a. 1.

(b) A movement of the will, by which we desire some good with confidence of obtaining it; for as the appetite is borne toward sensible good, so the will tends toward the intellectual good of the natural order through hope, which includes two things: desire and confidence of obtaining it.

(c) The supernatural virtue of hope, by which we confidently await heavenly goods. It differs indeed from natural hope, because it tends toward supernatural things; but it agrees with it in this, that it pursues a future, arduous, and possible good, and indeed by a twofold act, namely by desire and confident expectation. Desire supposes and involves love of the hoped-for good, namely a love of concupiscence,² by which we tend toward the object as toward our proper and beatifying good; but confidence supposes a certain elevation of soul, and an effort of the will toward obtaining the arduous good which is hoped for.

² The love of concupiscence, which among moderns often sounds bad, among the ancients is nothing else than the love by which we desire something insofar as it is our good.

We shall speak: 1. concerning the nature of hope; 2. concerning its honesty and necessity; 3. concerning sins against hope; adding a few things, by way of corollary, concerning the means of progressing in hope.

696. Hope, as a habit, is a theological virtue disposing the will to desire God as our supreme good, and firmly to expect from Him supernatural beatitude and the means for obtaining it, on account of the infinite goodness of God toward us, and His power and fidelity in promises.

³ St. Thomas, II-II, q. 17-18 and Quaest. disp., de Spe; Suarez, De Spe, disp. I; Perrone, op. cit., de Spe, nn. 1-70; Bouquillon, op. cit., nn. 309-344; Pesch, op. cit., nn. 467-513; Billot, th. 25-26; M. d'Hulst, Confer. 1892, 5th.

For the understanding of this definition, we shall explain: 1. the object; 2. the motive; 3. the properties; 4. the subject of hope.

697. The primary and principal object of hope is God Himself, insofar as He is the supreme good beatifying man; but the secondary object is all the goods which are ordered to the possession of God.

1. God Himself, to be possessed by man and about to beatify him, is the primary object of hope. (A) Scripture teaches this many times; for when the parents and relatives of Tobias insulted the pious servant of God, saying: Where is your hope? he answered: "Do not speak so, because we are children of the saints, and we await that life which God is about to give to those who never change their faith from Him."⁴ But in what this life consists is taught more clearly in the New Testament: "Now this is eternal life: that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent";⁵ - "Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God; and it has not yet appeared what we shall be; we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is."⁶

⁴ Tob. 2:17-18.

⁵ John 17:3.

⁶ 1 John 3:2.

(B) The Fathers often inculcate this doctrine, among whom Augustine, namely explaining these words "God is my portion forever," says: "He who asks another reward from God, and therefore wishes to serve God, makes dearer what he wishes to receive than Him from whom he wishes to receive it. What then? no reward of God? None besides Himself. The reward of God is God Himself."⁷

⁷ In Ps. 72, n. 32, P. L., XXXVI, 928; the same holy Doctor expounds this philosophically in the little work De Beata Vita, P. L., XXXII, 959-976.

(C) Reason suggests the same thing. For that must be the primary object of our hope which is the supreme good, the cause of our beatitude, and to which all our works are ordered; but, from what was said above, nn. 13-20, our supreme beatitude consists not in created goods, but in the perfect knowledge and love of God.

698. 2. But the secondary object of hope is all the helps which are ordered to the possession of God: (a) first of all the supernatural helps of grace, by which we are daily assisted for knowing the truth, conquering desires, overcoming temptations, avoiding sins, and also exercising Christian virtues, according to that saying:⁸ "Having therefore a great high priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession... Let us therefore go with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid." (b) Afterward, however, even temporal goods, insofar as they are referred to eternal beatitude; for merely natural goods, which in no way pertain to the supernatural end, cannot be called the object of Christian hope. On the contrary, however, the evils of this life, tribulations, anxieties, persecutions, and other things of this kind, insofar as they contribute to our salvation, increase our hope, according to that saying:⁹ "And we know that to those who love God all things work together unto good, to those who, according to His purpose, are called to be saints."

⁸ Heb. 4:14-16.

⁹ Rom. 8:28.

699. 1. Various opinions. Since hope can be considered under different respects, there are different opinions concerning the motive upon which it rests, according to the different way in which this virtue is regarded.

(a) The Scotists, considering hope chiefly as an appetite of the supreme good insofar as it beatifies us, say that the sole motive of hope is God, as He is our supreme good;¹⁰ for what seems principal in this virtue is the love of God, insofar as He is the supreme good of man: the rest, namely desire and expectation of grace, is something accessory.

¹⁰ Suarez, De Spe, disp. I, sect. 3.

(b) The Thomists, considering hope as the pursuit of an arduous good, think that its motive is the helping omnipotence of God; for the reason on account of which we tend toward an arduous good is divine power insofar as it can help us.

(c) But some place the motive of hope in the fidelity of God; for since there is question of supernatural beatitude and the means proportioned to this end, which exceed the powers and merits of man, we cannot hope for these unless God has promised to bestow the same upon us.

(d) Finally, there are many today who, observing that the act of hope is virtually threefold, or can be regarded under a threefold respect, contend that the three aforesaid motives concur together for the production of this act; this opinion indeed seems to us more probable.

700. 2. The more probable opinion: The adequate motive of hope is the goodness of God toward us, and at the same time His helping power, and also fidelity in keeping promises.

(A) The motive of hope, insofar as it includes love of the supreme good, is the goodness of God toward us. For hope tends toward divine good through love; for we do not hope except for that which we love. But the motive of this love is not divine goodness absolute, or regarded in itself, which is the motive of charity, but the relative goodness of God, or His goodness toward us; for as in the natural order we hope for those things which seem good to us, so in the supernatural order we hope for the supreme good insofar as it is ours and makes us blessed.

Thus Christ proposes the kingdom of God to the elect as the reward prepared for them and hoped for by them:¹¹ "Come, blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Wherefore the Apostle, after many labors bravely endured for Christ, expects the crown of justice which will beatify him:¹² "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me in that day."

¹¹ Matt. 25:34.

¹² 2 Tim. 4:7-8.

701. (B) The motive of hope, insofar as it includes elevation of soul, is the helping power of God. For since the supreme good which we hope for is truly arduous, and cannot be attained without divine help, there accedes another motive of hope, namely the helping power of God: this comprises not only omnipotence, by which God can help us, but also mercy, by which He is kindly prepared to furnish His help in our weakness.

This indeed is gathered from innumerable texts of Scripture in which we are commanded to hope in the Lord, because He is powerful and merciful, and therefore our helper: "In God is my salvation and my glory; He is the God of my help, and my hope is in God. Hope in Him... God is our helper forever."¹³ - "But I, as a fruitful olive tree in the house of God; I have hoped in the mercy of God forever and ever."¹⁴ - "And God is able to make all grace abound in you, that in all things, always having all sufficiency, you may abound unto every good work."¹⁵ - "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, quickened us together in Christ, by whose grace you are saved, and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that He might show in the ages to come the abundant riches of His grace in His goodness toward us in Christ Jesus."¹⁶

¹³ Ps. 61:8-9. This is often repeated in the Psalms.

¹⁴ Ps. 51:10.

¹⁵ 2 Cor. 9:8.

¹⁶ Eph. 2:4-7.

The same can be gathered from Trent, where it declares that the gift of perseverance is not had "except from Him who is powerful to establish him who stands, that he may stand perseveringly, and to restore him who falls; let no one promise himself anything certain with absolute certitude, although all ought to place and repose the firmest hope in the help of God."¹

¹ Trent, sess. VI, cap. 13, Denzing., n. 689.

In truth, in order that amid the multiple temptations and miseries of life by which we are surrounded we may be able to raise the soul to the supernatural good which is not only arduous but also surpasses our powers, it is necessary that we expect help from Him who, on account of His power, is able, and, on account of His mercy, wills to help us.

702. (C) The motive of hope, insofar as this includes confidence, or a firm and certain expectation of heavenly goods, is the fidelity of God in promises. For since God is by no means bound to bestow upon us supernatural goods, we cannot hope for these with firm certitude unless He has promised to grant the same to men; moreover, since He is faithful, we can rely upon His promises with all confidence.

Therefore Scripture not rarely derives the certitude of our hope from the promises or fidelity of God: "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He is faithful who has promised";² - "unto the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, has promised."³ - In the same sense must be understood the words of Paul cited above (n. 700); for eternal life is not a crown of justice unless the promise of God accedes.

² Heb. 10:23; cf. 6:13-20.

³ Titus 1:2.

703. Corollary. Although properly the motive of our hope is God, good, helping, and faithful, yet it is certain that our confidence is much increased from the merits and satisfactions of Christ: for He, as the moral head of the whole human race, satisfied for our sins, and merited for us all spiritual helps which we need for obtaining eternal life, as was proved in the Treatise on the Incarnate Word, nn. 179-214.

Therefore He is truly the meritorious cause of our justification and salvation, according to that saying of Trent:⁴ "Who, when we were enemies, on account of the exceeding charity with which He loved us, merited justification for us by His most holy passion on the wood of the cross, and satisfied God the Father for us." Therefore when we act and pray through Christ and in Christ, relying upon His merits, we are certainly able to conceive greater confidence.

⁴ Trent, sess. VI, cap. 7, Denzing., n. 681.

Besides, by force of the communion of saints, the intercession of the Blessed Mary and of the elect reigning in heaven, and also the prayers of the just on earth, can increase our confidence secondarily; for these can obtain for us opportune helps, by which we are assisted not a little toward obtaining eternal beatitude. (De Verbo Incarnato, nn. 292-294 and nn. 304-306.)

704. 1. State of the question. That the act of hope is supernatural and free is easily understood from what has already been said; but it will not be useless to consider whether and in what sense it can be called certain and firm.

Certitude is directly and properly predicated of cognition, but indirectly of those acts of the will which depend upon prior cognition; yet with this difference, that certitude of the intellect excludes doubt, while certitude or firmness of the will excludes fluctuation or fear. Therefore the act of hope is called certain insofar as it cannot be frustrated, and firm insofar as it excludes fear. But in order that the matter may be understood better, hope can be considered both on the part of God and on the part of ourselves.

705. 2. Thesis: Theological hope, as much as is on the part of God, is supremely certain and firm; but as much as is on the part of ourselves, it admits a certain uncertainty and fear.

(A) On the part of God it is supremely certain and firm.

(a) This indeed is inculcated very often in the Psalms: "My God, in Thee I trust; let me not be ashamed. Neither let my enemies laugh at me; for none of those who wait on Thee shall be confounded... In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me not be confounded forever... Our God is our refuge and strength, a helper in troubles which have found us exceedingly; therefore we will not fear when the earth shall be troubled... He who dwells in the help of the Most High shall abide in the protection of the God of heaven."⁵ (b) The same is taught in the sapiential books: "Know that no one has hoped in the Lord and has been confounded. For who has continued in His commandments, and has been forsaken, or who has called upon Him, and He has despised him? For God is pious and merciful, and will forgive sins in the day of tribulation."⁶ (c) Nor does Paul speak otherwise: "Tribulation works patience, and patience trial, and trial hope; but hope does not confound."⁷ Wherefore elsewhere he teaches that hope is like a sure and firm anchor of the soul;⁸ and, near the end of life, he writes confidently:⁹ "For I know whom I have believed, and I am certain that He is able to keep my deposit unto that day." - (d) This is confirmed by Trent:¹⁰ "All ought to place and repose the firmest hope in the help of God."

⁵ Ps. 24:2-3; Ps. 30:2; Ps. 45:2-3; Ps. 90:1; let the whole Psalm be read with the Commentary of St. Bernard.

⁶ Ecclus. 2:11-13.

⁷ Rom. 5:3-5.

⁸ Heb. 6:19.

⁹ 2 Tim. 1:12.

¹⁰ Sess. VI, cap. 13, Denzing., n. 689.

In truth this is gathered from what was said concerning the motive of hope. For that act is certain and firm which rests upon an infallible motive; but the motive upon which hope rests is altogether infallible, since the goodness, omnipotence, mercy, and fidelity of God can never be frustrated; therefore the act of hope must be altogether firm: otherwise injury is inflicted upon the divine attributes.

706. (B) On the part of ourselves, insofar as hope supposes our cooperation, it admits a certain uncertainty, from which there arises fear lest by our own fault we lose the heavenly kingdom.¹⁰ For the divine promise of eternal beatitude to be given to each is conditioned, namely on this supposition, that we cooperate with the grace of God and persevere unto the end; but, on account of weakness or malice, we can fail and fall away from the state of grace; therefore from this head hope is not absolutely certain, but can be frustrated.

¹⁰ Thus against the Protestants, who think that each one must trustingly hope and believe that he is inscribed among the number of the predestined. This is refuted in the Treatise on Grace, n. 164-167.

This indeed Scripture teaches; thus Paul wrote to the faithful: "Therefore he who thinks himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall... With fear and trembling work out your salvation";¹¹ indeed concerning himself he said: "For I am conscious of nothing to myself, yet I am not hereby justified; but He who judges me is the Lord... I chastise my body and bring it into servitude, lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become reprobate."¹²

¹¹ 1 Cor. 10:12; Phil. 2:12.

¹² 1 Cor. 4:4; 9:27.

Trent declared the same against the Protestants:¹³ "For as no pious person ought to doubt concerning the mercy of God, concerning the merit of Christ, and concerning the efficacy of the sacraments: so each person, while he looks upon himself and his own proper weakness and indisposition, can fear and be afraid concerning his grace; since no one can know with the certitude of faith, to which falsehood cannot be subject, that he has obtained the grace of God... Nevertheless those who think themselves to stand, let them take heed lest they fall; and let them work out their salvation with fear and trembling, in labors, in watchings, in alms, in prayers and oblations, in fastings and chastity. For they ought to fear, knowing that they have been reborn unto the hope of glory and not yet unto glory."

¹³ Trent, sess. VI, cap. 9 and 13, Denzing., nn. 684 and 689; cf. n. 688.

707. Corollary. Therefore no one, unless from a special revelation, can be certain concerning his own justification and salvation. Therefore with fear and trembling we must work out our salvation.

But this fear does not diminish our hope, but rather sharpens and raises it, because it impels us to flee to God: for while we fear, on account of our weakness, lest we fall into sin, we are rendered more watchful, and place all our confidence in God; and at the same time we devote ourselves more perseveringly to good works, so that our salvation may become more certain, according to that saying:¹⁴ "Labor the more, that by good works you may make your vocation and election sure: for doing these things, you shall not sin at any time."

¹⁴ 2 Pet. 1:10.

708. From what has been said, it is easily understood that the proximate subject of hope is the will: for hope cannot be placed in the intellect, which regards the true, since it tends directly toward the good; nor in the sensitive appetite, which is concerned with sensible good; therefore it is in the will, since it inclines toward spiritual good.

But the question arises what persons are capable of eliciting an act of hope. (A) With regard to the dead: (a) the blessed in heaven no longer hope, at least for essential beatitude,¹⁵ since they already enjoy the same, according to that saying:¹⁶ "But hope which is seen is not hope; for what a man sees, why does he hope for?" (b) The damned likewise cannot hope, since they know that they cannot escape damnation and arrive at beatitude. (c) But hope can be elicited by souls detained in purgatory, according to the common opinion, because, although they are already certain of their salvation, nevertheless they cannot arrive at it except by enduring the sufferings and anxieties to which they are subjected; and thus the future possession of heaven appears to them as something certain but arduous.

¹⁵ Some indeed assert that they hope for the accidental beatitude of the body; yet St. Thomas denies this, II-II, q. 18, a. 2 ad 4, because the glory of the body does not have the character of an arduous good with respect to one having the glory of the soul.

¹⁶ Rom. 8:24.

709. (B) If the question is of the living: (a) hope does not remain in those who are formally heretics (above, n. 604), because the foundation of hope is faith itself, which is lacking in these; nor in those who have fallen into despair or heretical presumption, because by these sins hope is lost, from what is to be said below. (b) Yet it can remain in other sinners, who must prepare themselves for justification by hope, according to Trent:¹⁷ "While sinners, understanding that they are sinners, by the fear of divine justice, by which they are usefully shaken, turning themselves to consider the mercy of God, are raised into hope, trusting that God will be propitious to them on account of Christ."

¹⁷ Trent, sess. VI, cap. 6, Denzing., n. 680.

710. Once the nature of hope has been explained, it is easy enough to understand its excellence. (a) Nevertheless, some contended that hope, considered separately from charity, or the desire of some reward, is of itself infected by some stain of baseness, and cannot be made honest unless it is converted into an affection of benevolence and charity; and therefore they said that a work exercised with a view to eternal reward, without charity, is not truly honest: thus the Calvinists, Baius, and the Jansenists.² Besides, not a few modern philosophers, especially Kantians, and (what is astonishing) evolutionists, turn it into a fault of the Christian religion that it proposes a reward to those doing good; for thus, they say, virtue is mercenary (above, nn. 30 and 56).

¹ Suarez, De spe, disp. I, sect. 5; Perrone, op. cit., nn. 82-124; Bouquillon, nn. 346-371; Billot, th. 27-28; Pesch, nn. 514-530.

² Calvin, Instit., lib. III, c. 16, § 3, and c. 18, § 2; Baius, lib. de Caritate, c. 6; de virtutibus impiorum, c. 5-6; with regard to the Jansenists, see propositions 44-45 of Quesnel, condemned by Clement XI, Sept. 8, 1713, apud Denzing., nn. 1259-1278.

(b) The Quietists, under the leadership of Michael Molinos, did not proceed so far, but, thinking that perfection consists in a continuous act of contemplation and love, asserted that hope, which regards one's own good, is imperfect, and therefore cannot be composed with the pure love of God and the highest perfection. From this they also inferred that all desires, even pious ones, all petitions, all acts except the pure love of God, as imperfect, are to be omitted; and that temptations are not to be resisted actively, but only passively.³ The will, they said, ought to remain altogether quiet, and not act except when divine grace impels, which alone works good in us. From this error the pious widow Guyon did not withdraw far enough; her defense was undertaken by the Archbishop of Cambrai, Fenelon, in the work Explication des Maximes des Saints, where he taught that there is given a habitual state of pure love which excludes hope.⁴

³ Yet the greatest difference must be established between the errors of M. Molinos and of Fenelon. The former indeed proceeded much farther both speculatively and practically, by deducing immoral conclusions from his principles. Theoretically he taught: "The soul must not think either of reward, or of punishment, or of paradise, or of hell, or of death, or of eternity." Practically: "The free will having been handed over to God, and the care and thought of our soul having been left to Him, there is no longer to be any account of temptations; nor should any resistance be made to them except negative resistance, with no effort being used: and if nature is moved, it is necessary to allow it to be moved, because it is nature... When violences of this kind (diabolical temptations) occur, it is necessary to allow Satan to work, by applying no effort and no proper endeavor, but man ought to remain in his nothingness: and even if pollutions and obscene acts by one's own hands, and even worse things, follow, there is no need to disturb oneself..." (Ap. Denzing., nn. 1094, 1104, 1134.)

⁴ Fenelon said: "There is given a habitual state of the love of God, which is pure charity and without any admixture of the motive of one's own interest. Neither fear of punishments nor desire of rewards any longer has a part in it. God is no longer loved on account of merit, nor on account of perfection, nor on account of the happiness to be found in Him... In this state the soul loses every hope of its own proper interest; but never loses in the higher part, that is, in its direct and intimate acts, perfect hope, which is the disinterested desire of the promises." (Ap. Denzing., nn. 1193 and 1203.) It is known to all with how great humility Fenelon retracted his errors, condemned by Innocent XII. - The history of quietism has been sketched among others by Gosselin, Analyse de la controverse du Quietisme (Oeuvres de Fenelon, Versailles, t. IV); L. Crouste, Fenelon et Bossuet, Paris, 1894-1895, t. I, pp. 375-564, t. II in entirety. - You will find the doctrine of Bossuet especially in the work Instruction sur les etats d'oraison, where the articles called Issy are set forth, concerning quietism.

Against these errors we shall prove the honesty and necessity of hope.

711. Thesis. Theological hope, by which we work good with a view to eternal beatitude, not only bears before itself nothing disordered, but truly has the character of virtue.

(A) This indeed is clear from the texts of Scripture cited above, nn. 700-702, in which hope in God is commended; but besides, from many others in which works done with a view to eternal reward are explicitly praised as good: "Seek therefore first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you."⁵ - "Make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, that, when you shall fail, they may receive you into eternal dwellings."⁶ Therefore the Apostle exhorts the Corinthians that, like athletes, they abstain from all things and thus receive an incorruptible crown,⁷ and elsewhere adds:⁸ "Whatever you do, work from the soul, as to the Lord, and not to men; knowing that from the Lord you shall receive the retribution of the inheritance." Now God cannot so earnestly and frequently exhort us to hope unless it is honest and praiseworthy. Indeed St. John explicitly declares that this hope is sanctifying:⁹ "And everyone who has this hope in Him sanctifies himself, as He also is holy."

⁵ Matt. 6:33.

⁶ Luke 16:9.

⁷ 1 Cor. 9:25.

⁸ Col. 3:23-24.

⁹ 1 John 3:3.

(B) Therefore deservedly Trent reproved those "who establish that in all works the just sin, if in those works, by arousing their own sluggishness and exhorting themselves to run in the stadium, with this, that God first of all be glorified, they also look to eternal reward"; and afterward declared: "And therefore to those working well unto the end and hoping in God, eternal life is to be proposed, both as grace mercifully promised through Christ Jesus to the sons of God, and as a reward faithfully to be rendered, from the promise of God Himself, to their good works and merits."¹⁰

¹⁰ Trent, sess. VI, cap. 11 and 16, Denzing., nn. 687 and 692.

712. (C) It is consonant with reason to hope in God, to love Him as our good, and to expect from Him eternal life and the means for obtaining it. (a) Certainly good and honest is the act by which we tend toward God as our end and the fountain of supreme beatitude; for thus our faculties are rightly developed, while they are ordered to infinite good; moreover, by loving God as good for us, we easily love Him as lovable in Himself.

Some say that thus the order is perverted, because we refer God to ourselves as to an end. But undeservedly; for when we seek our beatitude in the knowledge and love of God, by that very fact we recognize God to be our ultimate end; wherefore we refer ourselves to God as to the ultimate end.

(b) Moreover, when we confidently expect divine help, by that very fact we adhere to God helping; now the perfection of man consists in this, that he is united to God. Besides, to hope in the Lord is honorable to Him: for thus we recognize His power, goodness, and fidelity: "Because he has hoped in Me, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he has known My name."¹¹

¹¹ Ps. 90:14.

713. Therefore they err, as we showed above, n. 30, who say that a work done with a view to eternal life is mercenary: for hope of a merely spiritual and future reward does not exclude an honest motive, but, given human weakness, powerfully incites us to the good.¹² - And indeed those who boast that they act well on account of duty, and not on account of reward, deceive themselves or others: for experience establishes that men are only gradually drawn to the good of a higher order, to pure love, elicited without any hope of gratitude or reward. - The Catholic doctrine seems much more adapted to the weakness of human nature, which draws men to spiritual good by hope of future reward, and gradually raises them from hope to the supreme good loved for its own sake. We confess besides that our acts are more perfect the less they regard our own advantage.¹³

¹² This Seailles himself admits, although otherwise hostile to Catholic doctrine: "It is not my intention to diminish or calumniate Christian morality; what it has obtained from men, what it has given them suffices to defend it from voluntary injustices and unintelligent bias. It has deepened souls, it has made them more delicate and more pure, it has restrained the impatient and brutal beast, it has opposed to its immediate desires the dream of paradise and the nightmares of hell: by binding beatitude to sacrifice, it has made disinterestedness come forth from egoism itself. Some are scandalized by this: instinct is found again, fear, desire, hope, trembling or appetite of the beast in this expectation of reward; but, to what is seen, to what is touched, victoriously to oppose an image, a dream of happiness, what one does not verify by the senses, what exists only to the extent that one believes it, is this not already idealism, proof that the idea can conquer?" (Les affirmat. de la conscience, pp. 49-50.)

¹³ Which M. d'Hulst splendidly explains, Careme 1891, pp. 200 and 412: "It is not because the virtuous man will have made a calculation that he will be beatified, it is because he will have done his duty. The more he has forgotten himself in the virtuous effort, the greater will be his reward. To mediocre souls, enamored of themselves even in the practice of good, the lesser happiness; to heroic souls, unoccupied with themselves even in the care of their salvation, the highest felicity."

714. That the infused habit of hope is necessary by necessity of means for salvation is gathered from the fact that justification is not infused except with the virtues of faith, hope, and charity (above, n. 597). But the question is moved concerning the act of hope, namely whether this is at times necessary for obtaining or preserving justification. The Quietists denied this, asserting that there is given a perfect state in which every act of hope is excluded (above, n. 710).

715. 1. Some act of theological hope, according to the ordinary law, is necessary for adults by necessity of means for obtaining justification.

(A) For Trent, describing the dispositions necessary by necessity of means for justification, places hope among them:¹⁴ "They are raised into hope, trusting that God will be propitious to them on account of Christ." In truth the first movement which follows faith and fear of God in sinners is confidence of obtaining remission of sins, which they conceive by turning themselves to the mercy of God; for unless they trust in God, they fall into despair, they do not think of doing penance,¹⁵ and therefore they cannot be justified.

¹⁴ Trent, sess. VI, cap. 6; Denzing., n. 680.

¹⁵ "For no one," says St. Ambrose, "can do penance well unless he has hoped for pardon." (De Paenitent., c. I, n. 4, P. L., XVI, 466.)

Absolutely speaking, it can indeed happen that they pass immediately to eliciting an act of perfect charity or contrition, by which they are justified, and therefore we said "according to the ordinary law." But this act of charity virtually includes hope: for by loving God as a friend, we hope that He will be propitious to us.

(B) Scripture does not openly declare the matter, since it inculcates the utility rather than the necessity of hope. Yet this necessity is logically inferred from it. For the Apostle, when he preaches the absolute necessity of faith, defines it as the substance of things to be hoped for,¹⁶ and therefore supposes that hope is required for justification just as faith itself is; for the sinner who believes and does not hope easily falls into despair, and thus cannot be saved.¹⁷

¹⁶ Heb. 11:1, 6.

¹⁷ Below, n. 720.

716. 2. He who is already justified is bound at times to elicit acts of hope for persevering and obtaining salvation.

(A) Scripture indeed insinuates this in many places, in which hope is so commended that it seems to fall under precept: "Command the rich of this world not to be high-minded, nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God."¹ - "But Christ as a son in His house: which house we are, if we hold fast confidence and the glory of hope firm unto the end."² Hence the Apostle often exhorts the faithful to Christian hope: "So run that you may obtain. And everyone who strives for the mastery abstains from all things; and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one";³ - "Let us live piously in this world, awaiting the blessed hope."⁴ All these things indeed suppose that acts of hope are to be elicited at least at times.

¹ 1 Tim. 6:17.

² Heb. 3:6.

³ 1 Cor. 9:24-25.

⁴ Titus 2:13.

(B) This likewise is gathered from the necessity of prayer. That this is necessary for salvation was proved in the Treatise on Grace, nn. 42 and 58, and below will be demonstrated in the Treatise on the Virtue of Religion. But prayer to God supposes hope: for we ask graces from Him for this reason, because we hope in Him; wherefore James says:⁵ "But let him ask in faith (confidence), nothing wavering." Therefore acts of hope are to be elicited at times.

⁵ James 1:6.

717. 3. Corollary. Therefore quietism must be rejected, nor can there be admitted a habitual state of the love of God which altogether excludes hope. Man can indeed at times elicit an act of perfect charity, by which, without any admixture of a motive of his own interest, he loves God solely as supremely lovable in Himself; he can arrive at that excess of charity that, with Paul, conditionally (that is, if it were possible, without loss of divine love), he would renounce eternal happiness: "I wished myself to be anathema from Christ for my brethren";⁶ but soon with the same Apostle he must return to hope: "I press toward the mark, to the prize of the supernal vocation of God in Christ Jesus... As to the rest there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me in that day."⁷ Therefore in the present life, while we are pilgrims away from God, we must not only love Him, but hope in Him.

⁶ Rom. 9:3.

⁷ Phil. 3:14; 2 Tim. 4:8.

This is also clear from the condemnation of 68 propositions of Michael de Molinos by Innocent XI, Nov. 20, 1687, - and of 23 propositions excerpted from the work of Msgr. Fenelon by Innocent XII, Mar. 12, 1699. For from this condemnation it is certainly gathered that there is not given a habitual state of the love of God without any admixture of proper interest.⁸

⁸ You will find these propositions apud Denzing., nn. 1088-1155 and 1193-1215. - Here it is also worthwhile to refer to some of the Issy articles, concerning which Bossuet, Noailles, bishop of Chalons, Fenelon, and Tronson, S.S., agreed: "1) Every Christian in every state is bound to preserve the exercise of faith, hope, and charity, and to elicit their acts, as acts of distinct virtues. 2) It is not permitted for a Christian to be indifferent to salvation and to the things which are referred to it: holy indifference regards the outcome of this life (sin excepted), and the dispensation of spiritual consolations and aridities."

718. 4. Concerning the time at which the precept of hope obliges. Almost the same must be said as concerning faith, nn. 644-647; namely this precept:

(A) Obliges of itself: (a) when someone has attained the use of reason, and at the same time eternal beatitude toward which he must tend has been sufficiently proposed to him; (b) in danger of death, at least more probably, so that the mind, the terrors of judgment having been overcome, may confidently tend toward God the ultimate end; (c) often in life, although the times cannot be determined more particularly; besides, he who lives as a Christian, prays, and worthily receives the sacraments, by that very fact satisfies the precept; (d) when a temptation against hope urges which can be conquered only by an act of hope; (e) when the habit of hope has been lost through the mortal sin of despair.

(B) By accident: (a) when a precept must be fulfilled which cannot be fulfilled without an act of hope, for example, prayer, penance; (b) if a temptation urges which cannot be overcome unless the soul is raised by an act of hope.

719. One can sin against hope in a twofold way: by omission, when the prescribed act of hope is not elicited; by commission, when hope is cast away through despair or perverted through presumption. From what has been said it is sufficiently understood when one sins against hope by omission. Yet it may be observed that the principal cause of these sins is disordered adhesion to earthly goods, by which temporal goods are preferred to eternal goods, so that not a few desire to remain perpetually in this life. This happens especially to those who abound in riches and pleasures: for these sometimes contemn heavenly goods and place their happiness in earthly things;¹⁰ and this sin is grave when it turns us away from the love of God and from other duties of the Christian life which oblige under mortal sin. - Therefore it remains to speak concerning despair and presumption.

⁹ St. Thomas, II-II, q. 20-21; Suarez, disp. II, sect. 2-3; Billuart, De spe, art. 5; St. Alphonsus, lib. III, nn. 20-21; Perrone, nn. 145-158; Bouquillon, nn. 372-383; Lehmkuhl, nn. 310-313; Ballerini-Palmieri, nn. 124-132.

¹⁰ This M. d'Hulst thus explains, Careme, 1892, p. 201: "Hope is therefore a duty, and this duty, so sweet, is costly at its hours. Yes, gentlemen, when life seems to smile upon our earthly hopes, it is hard to disdain those flattering promises which take us by the sensible side of ourselves; it is hard to withdraw from the embrace of pleasure, to say to the happiness which offers itself to us: you could not suffice for me... The Christian needs something of this heroism (of the martyrs) to disengage himself from the caressing embraces of pleasure and to entrust to the distant promises of a mysterious beyond all the hope of his happiness."

720. 1. Notion and causes. (A) Despair is a voluntary diffidence of obtaining beatitude, or the means necessary for it.

In order that it be a sin, it must be voluntary; it is therefore distinguished from involuntary disturbance, which frequently arises in those who fear God, or in the scrupulous: for these, from an empty motive, often fear lest they are in the state of mortal sin, or lest, on account of their malice, they fall into danger of damnation. It likewise differs from that sense of spiritual dereliction which sometimes the most perfect suffer: for these, with God permitting it thus, are deprived of spiritual consolation, and are pressed by various temptations, so that they seem to themselves to have been forsaken by the Lord Himself, and become altogether despondent.¹¹

¹¹ Christ wished to suffer this spiritual dereliction on the cross, namely when He cried out: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). Bona describes this state thus (De discretione spirituum, c. 13): "But in the higher part the mind is darkened by the densest darkness, the will languishes, finding consolation nowhere, neither in God nor in creatures: every ardor of love grows cold; and, what is most grave, it is pressed by so many temptations that it often seems to itself to have given assent to diffidence, blasphemies, and despair. Those who have experienced it liken this horrible torment to the pains of hell." Cf. Schram, Instit. mysticae, § 226-237.

In order to know whether a penitent has truly consented to the sin of despair, the confessor will opportunely ask him whether or not he has omitted the accustomed exercises of religion and piety: if, notwithstanding fears and anxieties, he has not ceased to pray, he can be judged free from the sin of despair; but if he has ceased from praying, thinking that God is unwilling to come to his aid, of itself he sins gravely; but if, desponding in soul from a certain disordered sadness, he becomes tepid and remiss, he sins venially.

721. (B) Among the principal causes of despair are numbered:

(a) Defect of faith, because faith is the foundation of hope; such was the despair of Cain when he said:¹² "My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon"; for he seemed to suppose that God does not remit sins even to those truly penitent. (b) Disordered adhesion to pleasures, especially lust; for from affection for these delights a man grows disgusted with spiritual goods; and when he wishes to come to his senses, it is so arduous to restrain lust and to leave the enticements of the flesh,¹³ that not a few despair concerning victory and eternal salvation. (c) Spiritual sloth (above, n. 562), that is, languor and weariness in the exercise of virtue, horror of difficulty, labor of combat, by force of which we consider the good to be done as too difficult and impossible, and therefore abstain from it.¹⁴ (d) Presumption, insofar as it leads us into temptation, but afterward into multiple sins and despair; namely, the Seducer deceitfully leads the incautious into sin, by persuading them of the lightness of sin and the ease of pardon; but, once sin has been committed, he deters them from penance, by magnifying its enormity, the inescapable weight of depraved custom, and the implacable justice of God. (e) Among natural causes is numbered a certain melancholic disposition, which begets sadness and dejection of soul.

¹² Gen. 4:13.

¹³ Augustine graphically describes this (Confess., lib. VIII, c. 11, n. 26, P. L., XXXII, 761): "Trifles of trifles and vanities of vanities, my old friends, held me back, and they muttered softly: Do you send us away? and from this moment shall we not be with you any more forever? and from this moment will this and that not be permitted to you any more forever? And what things did they suggest?... what filth did they suggest! what disgraces!... Yet they delayed me, hesitating to tear myself away and shake myself free from them and leap across whither I was called, while violent custom said to me: Do you think you will be able to live without these?"

¹⁴ St. Thomas, II-II, q. 20, a. 4.

722. 2. The malice of despair. (A) Despair properly so called, which is concerned with salvation or the means necessary for obtaining it, is a mortal sin of its whole kind, less indeed than infidelity and hatred of God, but graver than the sins which are committed against the moral virtues; for it is directly opposed to the very motive of faith, since it at least implicitly denies the mercy or power of God; and therefore it utterly destroys hope itself, without which salvation becomes impossible. Besides, "hope being removed, men slide unrestrained into vices, and are drawn back from good labors."¹⁵ Sometimes it is also joined with heresy, insofar as someone believes that God cannot or does not will to save him: then it contracts the special malice of heresy.

¹⁵ St. Thomas, II-II, q. 20, a. 3.

(B) But diffidence concerning those things which are not necessary for salvation, for example, concerning avoiding some venial sin or attaining such a degree of perfection, is not despair properly so called, and of itself is a light sin. The same must be said concerning a certain pusillanimity, by force of which we in some way despair concerning our cooperation with grace, but not concerning divine mercy.

723. 1. Notion and causes. (A) Presumption, insofar as it is opposed to hope, is a rash expectation of beatitude and of the means for obtaining it, contrary to the order of Providence. For God, in the conferring of His gifts, has established certain laws conformable to wisdom; and the sin of presumption is situated in this, that spiritual goods are desired without conformity with these laws. This happens in various ways.

(a) Presumption is heretical, namely when it imports some error against faith; such is Pelagian presumption, situated in this, that someone hopes to obtain the remission of sins, or some other grace, and heavenly beatitude by his own powers; or Lutheran presumption, by which someone trusts that he will obtain remission of sins and eternal beatitude from the merits of Christ alone, without penance properly so called and the observance of the commandments;¹ or Calvinist presumption, by which someone hopes for divine help in carrying out something evil, for example, in taking vengeance upon an enemy, as if God could positively cooperate with sin.

¹ From this error they do not sufficiently withdraw who hope, on account of some offices of piety toward the Blessed Virgin, that they will obtain salvation, even if they live carnally and sin more freely. Cf. Tyrrell, External Religion (French, La religion exterieure, Paris, 1902), lect. V.

(b) Presumption is simple, or non-heretical, when someone, without error in faith, presumes too much concerning divine mercy or his own powers, for example, if he trusts that he will obtain extraordinary graces, such as are granted only to the greatest saints, - or assumes divine mercy as a motive for sinning more freely, multiplying sins because, he says, God remits many just as easily as one, and is always ready to spare penitents even when they return late to virtue.

But if someone sins or perseveres in sin from passion or frailty, with hope of obtaining pardon, or because of the ease of accusing sins, this is not properly presumption, but an abuse of grace to be diligently avoided.

724. (B) The principal causes of presumption, besides the errors in faith recounted above, are pride and vainglory.

From pride especially arises that presumption by which someone trusts that he will obtain glory without merits, or pardon without penance; for he esteems himself so highly that he hopes that even while sinning he will not be excluded from glory. From vainglory proceeds especially the presumption by which we attempt something above our powers, expecting thereby to be esteemed by others.² Yet sometimes it also arises from levity of mind, by force of which, forgetful of our own infirmity, we presume too much upon our own strength: then the sin is lighter.

² St. Thomas, II-II, q. 21, a. 4.

725. 2. Concerning the malice of presumption. (A) Heretical presumption is of itself a most grave sin, since it is opposed both to faith and to hope, and inflicts injury upon the divine attributes; when it is voluntary, it destroys the habit of hope, since it overturns faith, which is deservedly held to be the foundation of hope. - Yet I said of itself, because there can be, among Lutherans, those who in good faith think that salvation can be obtained from the merits of Christ alone, without observance of the commandments.

(B) Simple presumption is of itself a grave sin, but can admit smallness of matter;³ nor of itself does it destroy the habit of hope, because it preserves its motive: for although someone presumes too much upon himself, he does not for that reason altogether reject divine help.

³ St. Thomas, II-II, q. 21, a. 2.

In practice, in order to judge whether a penitent has sinned against hope, and at the same time against faith, he must be asked why and how he despaired or presumed, and from his answers the nature and gravity of this sin will be able to be recognized.

726. First of all it must be noted that hope is increased by the same means by which faith grows (above, nn. 689-694), since faith is the foundation of hope. But besides this, like the other virtues, it is strengthened by exercise and becomes more prompt.

⁴ Scaramelli, op. cit., art. II, concerning Hope, ch. 7-8; Schram, Instit. theol. mysticae, § 119-123; M. d'Hulst, Careme 1892, conf. 4-5.

(A) But in order that hope may be rightly exercised, there is required first a good conscience, that is, the state of grace and the practice of good works, or at least a sincere and efficacious desire of recovering grace; for he who remains in the state of mortal sin rightly fears damnation; while the just man, who knows that he is a son of God, easily trusts in his heavenly Father: "If our heart does not reprehend us, we have confidence toward God, and whatsoever we shall ask, we shall receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things which are pleasing before Him."⁵

⁵ 1 John 3:21-22.

Augustine explains the reason for this thus:⁶ "A good conscience bears hope: as an evil conscience is wholly in despair, so a good conscience is wholly in hope... For he hopes who bears a good conscience. But he whom an evil conscience stings withdraws himself from hope, and hopes for nothing for himself except damnation. Therefore, in order that he may hope for the kingdom, let him have a good conscience; and in order that he may have a good conscience, let him believe and work."

⁶ In Ps. XXXI, n. 5, P. L., XXXVI, 261.

727. (B) When someone enjoys a good conscience, he ought now no longer to trust in man or in other creatures, but in God; wherefore, in all events, he should ask and expect from God alone counsel, strength, and grace, recalling to memory the motives of hope set forth above, nn. 700-703, namely the infinite power, mercy, and fidelity of God. For then, relying on divine help, he can overcome all adverse things: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?... If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear."⁷

⁷ Ps. 26:1-3.

The reason is that nothing can separate us from the charity of God, which is plainly sufficient for rendering us blessed: "I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come... nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the charity of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."⁸

⁸ Rom. 8:38-39.

728. (C) But especially in adverse things all hope must be placed in God, who alone can rescue us from dangers, and at the same time give grace that we may use tribulations for increasing eternal beatitude.

Thus indeed Paul says: "Not only so, but we glory also in tribulations, knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience trial, and trial hope; and hope confounds not..."⁹ The reason is that if we suffer with Christ and for Christ, with Him we shall be glorified; and our glory will be proportioned to the tribulations patiently endured, and every arduous work done for God works in us an eternal weight of glory: "Yet so if we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him. For I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us."¹⁰ - "For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation works for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory."¹¹

⁹ Rom. 5:3-5.

¹⁰ Rom. 8:17-18.

¹¹ 2 Cor. 4:17.

729. (D) But also in prosperous things we must raise the mind to eternal goods; otherwise we shall adhere to creatures and to pleasure, with the greatest detriment to the soul. Namely, when all things proceed prosperously, we are prone to pass God by, and to place our hope in creatures, riches, and friends; whence it happens that we become earthly, gaping after pleasure and contemning heavenly goods.

Wherefore it is necessary to look upon heaven, "while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."¹² It is also necessary to pray, that, despising temporal and earthly things, we may learn to love heavenly things: "Grant to Thy peoples to love that which Thou commandest, to desire that which Thou dost promise; that, amid worldly changes, our hearts may there be fixed where true joys are."¹³

¹² 2 Cor. 4:18.

¹³ Missal, prayer for the 4th Sunday after Easter.

Concerning the exercise of hope, or confidence, in prayer we shall speak below.

By these and other means of this kind hope is strengthened and raised up, and the way is prepared for charity, concerning which it remains to speak.