Morals of the Church
Library › Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology › Volume I › Book I. On the General Principles of the Christian Life › Treatise III. On Those Things which Dispose Toward Human Acts, or on Habits › Dissertation I. On Virtues › Part II. On Virtues in Particular › Section II. On Supernatural Moral Virtues › Chapter II. On Supernatural Moral Virtues in Particular › Article III. On Fortitude › § II. On the Parts of Fortitude

point — Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology

Point IV. On Perseverance

429.

I. Notion of Perseverance. Perseverance is a moral virtue inclining man to persist in good works up to the limit prescribed by reason, notwithstanding the difficulty which arises from their duration. It is said: notwithstanding the difficulty which arises from their duration: by these words is indicated the matter of this virtue, as distinct from the matter of patience.

Perseverance

430.

II. Object of Perseverance. 1. The remote material object is all good works insofar as they are lasting; but the proximate object is the difficulty which flows from duration.

  1. The remote formal object is the reason of debt by which we are not overcome by the difficulty of duration; but the proximate formal object is the special moral goodness shining forth in overcoming difficulty of this sort.

Perseverance

431.

III. Opposed Vices. By defect there is opposed softness, by which someone, on account of the difficulty of the work's duration, withdraws from it against reason (St. Thomas, II-II, q. 138, a. 1); by excess, pertinacity, by which someone persists in a work undertaken, adhering to his own judgment against reason (St. Thomas, II-II, q. 138, a. 2).

Perseverance