A Theological Virtue

Hope

St. Thomas treats it at II-II, qq. 17-22. See also every passage on the topic page.

How the Authors Compare

The motive of hope is the chief dispute. For St. Thomas hope leans on God's help (II-II, q. 17, a. 1). Prümmer and Merkelbach name it “omnipotence assisting” and “the omnipotence of God giving aid” (n. 536, I, n. 799); God's goodness and fidelity are supposed, but “the ultimate and immediate motive of hope is only aiding omnipotence” (I, n. 799). McHugh-Callan agrees: hope rests “proximately on God’s almighty power and radically on His goodness” (n. 1026). Noldin names instead “the supreme fidelity of God promising” (n. 43), and Sabetti-Barrett defines hope as expecting “from the promise of God” (n. 162). Vermeersch joins the three: “the Omnipotence of God, His Supreme relative Goodness, and His fidelity in promises” (n. 57); so Wouters, who with St. Alphonsus admits “that this fidelity is also a constitutive part of the formal object” (n. 360), and Marc, who gathers them into “the BENEVOLENCE OF GOD, considered as presupposing omnipotence” (n. 456). Merkelbach answers that those who join the three “do not solve the knot of the question” (I, n. 800). Bontempi, with St. Bonaventure, makes the object God as an arduous good, “yet to be attained by divine liberality, truth, and omnipotence upheld” (What the formal object of hope is, n. 7). Merkelbach rejects the opinion of Scotus and Suarez in so many words: “The proper motive of hope is not God as our supreme good” (I, n. 801); Bontempi agrees, “the formal object of Hope is not God as a good” (What the formal object of hope is, n. 9). Prümmer reports that theologians “do not agree on this point” (n. 536). Concina names the formal object “God himself as omnipotent — that is, the aiding omnipotence”, and the foundations of hope “the omnipotence of God, his mercy, and the immense merits of Christ the Lord” (III, diss. I, ch. XI, n. II); Billuart, “assisting omnipotence, that is, affording or offering helps” (On hope in itself and on its object, n. 17).
Noldin sets one form of hatred of God, hatred of abomination, among the sins against hope, as “directly opposed to hope” (n. 48), and treats it again under charity (n. 62). Vermeersch notes that authors “are accustomed to oppose to hope a certain hatred of God”, but holds that it “rather is opposed to imperfect charity which is presupposed to hope itself” (n. 68): it is opposed to “the love of God which some call the love of hope” (n. 64). The other authors treat it under charity.
On servile fear, Prümmer accepts the division “into simply servile fear and servilely servile fear” (n. 542), and Noldin and Bontempi draw the same line (n. 46, What the object of fear is, n. 3). Merkelbach mentions it and says “not rightly”: servilely servile fear “has nothing in common with servile fear except the name”, and is rather to be reduced to worldly fear (I, n. 824). Marc keeps other names: his “Servile fear of God (formally, called by others servilely servile)” is evil, and his “Initial fear (or materially, called simply servile by others)” is good (n. 457), so that Marc's initial fear is not the initial fear of St. Thomas, which “does not differ essentially from filial fear” (II-II, q. 19, a. 8). Concina does not draw the line at all: “Servile fear is good; God urges it”, and it is “from the Holy Ghost, yet it is not a gift of the Holy Ghost” (III, diss. I, ch. XI, n. V).
On presumption's gravity. Merkelbach: against hope, “a mortal sin from its whole genus”; beside hope, it “admits lightness of matter” (I, n. 835, I, n. 835). Noldin and Wouters reach the same result by numbering the ways of committing it (n. 52, n. 515), and Prümmer by setting heretical presumption apart: “Simple presumption is a mortal sin from its genus, and it admits smallness of matter” (n. 549). Sabetti-Barrett, with St. Alphonsus, holds even presumption on one's own powers or on God's mercy alone “mortal from its genus, but not from its whole genus” (n. 164); McHugh-Callan, that presumption and despair properly so called “are never venial on account of the lightness of the matter” (n. 1090).
St. Thomas, Noldin and Wouters agree that despair is less grave than unbelief or hatred of God, and yet, in St. Thomas's phrase, “more dangerous” (II-II, q. 20, a. 3, n. 50, n. 514).
Whether the vision of God belongs to the object of hope. All agree that God Himself is hoped for: “we should hope from Him for nothing less than Himself” (II-II, q. 17, a. 2). Merkelbach rejects those who make the principal object “the very vision or possession of God”; the vision “is only the condition required so that God may be attained and possessed” (I, n. 805, I, n. 805). Wouters, with the Thomists, holds objective beatitude alone, which “seems to be admitted as more probable”, the vision being only a condition (n. 360); Prümmer, with Billuart, makes God the object, “not formal beatitude, which is a created act” (n. 535). Vermeersch has God directly and “in oblique, the subjective happiness of His possession” (n. 57). McHugh-Callan: “Connoted in this object is the beatific vision”, and he counts in the primary object “essential beatitude, that is, the beatific vision” (n. 1019, n. 1020). Bontempi takes the middle opinion with St. Bonaventure: “not the vision itself alone, but God also, is the material object of Hope”, and “formal beatitude also enters into the reason of the object of this virtue” (What the material object of hope i, n. 7, What the material object of hope i, n. 14). Billuart: the formal object is “not formal but objective beatitude”, “although it connotes formal beatitude, or the beatific vision” (On hope in itself and on its object, n. 11).
Whether hope requires God's promise. Noldin: “as faith supposes revelation, so hope supposes the divine promise of those things which we hope for as a necessary condition” (n. 43); Wouters: the promise is “a condition without which there is no eliciting of an act of hope” (n. 360); St. Alphonsus, as Marc gives him: “without this promise, we would not be able to hope for salvation with certain confidence” (n. 456); Bontempi speaks of “the primary foundation of hope, which is the promise of God” (Whether a certain object is set fo, n. 8). Prümmer: “theological hope is at least possible without this promise” (n. 536). Merkelbach: “even if God had promised nothing or were not faithful in promises”, a probable appearance of His help would be “a sufficient foundation for hoping, although this hope would not be certain” (I, n. 800).
Whether the difficulty of the good belongs to hope's formal object. Merkelbach: that the good be future and arduous is required, but “These indeed are not the motive of hope, but are conditions required for the material object” (I, n. 807); Wouters passes over “the opinions of the few who assign as the formal object of the virtue of hope either the arduousness of the good to be obtained” (n. 360). Bontempi, with St. Bonaventure, Henry and Durandus (What the formal object of hope is, n. 2): “the aspect of the Arduous enters into the notion of the object” (What the formal object of hope is, n. 14), for hope perfects the irascible as faith the reason and charity the concupiscible; and he presses Mastrius's admission that “Arduous is the formal reason of the object of hope” (Whether hope remains in the blesse, n. 28).
Where hope's certainty comes from. St. Thomas: as nature works with certainty, so hope tends to its end “as though sharing in the certainty of faith” (II-II, q. 18, a. 4); Merkelbach: “the act of hope is certain with a certitude derived from the certitude of faith”, absolutely on the part of its motive, and “on our part hope has only a conditioned certitude” (I, n. 819, I, n. 819). Bontempi, with St. Bonaventure, will not have it all borrowed: “Hope has its own certainty” (Whether a certain object is set fo, n. 7); St. Thomas's likeness to the certainty of nature “does not please him” (Whether a certain object is set fo, n. 14); and he adds a certainty that comes from charity, which “does not belong except to the just” (Whether a certain object is set fo, n. 8). Marc: the uncertainty of our justification “is morally taken away through the exercise of charity”, and that of our perseverance “can be taken away in great part” by daily prayer and devotion to our Lady (n. 458, n. 458).
Whether Christ hoped. St. Thomas: as a wayfarer in the passibility of His body, Christ could “hope for the glory of impassibility and immortality, yet not so as to the virtue of hope” (II-II, q. 18, a. 2, ad 1); Merkelbach: “he could hope for the glory of the body, which was arduous for him, as to be merited by the Passion” (I, n. 817); Prümmer denies Him the virtue (n. 539). Bontempi, with St. Bonaventure: “Christ had hope not in himself, but in his members”; what He had for Himself was “a certain expectation of some spiritual benefit, which nevertheless is not hope”, and “neither was the glory of his body itself arduous for Christ, as Coninck thinks” (Whether hope remains in the blesse, n. 26).
Which presumption destroys the habit of hope. All agree that unbelief destroys it, by removing its foundation, and despair. Merkelbach: also “that presumption which removes the motive of hope” (I, n. 818), both the Pelagian and the Lutheran, which is “directly opposed to the motive of hope” (I, n. 834); so Vermeersch, “by the two reasons of presumption properly so called” (n. 66), and McHugh-Callan, for whom presumption properly so called “takes away the virtue of hope” (n. 1085); Prümmer, “Through presumption and gravely culpable desperation, as directly contrary to the virtue of hope” (n. 538). Noldin names, beside despair and hatred of God, only that “through Pelagian presumption, the habit of hope is lost” (n. 52). Wouters: the Pelagian and Protestant presumptions destroy it only because “it indirectly destroys the formal object of hope by destroying its foundation” (n. 515), as “unbelieving presumption” (n. 361).
Whether the sinner keeps hope. The manuals hold that it remains in the sinner who keeps the faith and has not despaired or presumed; Prümmer: “the Council manifestly supposes that hope can remain in a sinner” (n. 538), and the sinner's act of hope is among the dispositions for justification (n. 44); Bontempi: “Hope remains even when Charity is destroyed” (Whether hope is at times formless, n. 10). St. Thomas distinguishes hope in general from “the movement of living hope”, which alone proceeds from charity (II-II, q. 17, a. 8, ad 2). Spirago teaches in the catechism that “the sinner can hope in God only when he really repents and is willing to reform his life” (THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE), and that “we can attain to this hope only by sanctifying grace” (THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE); he does not distinguish living hope from lifeless. Billuart: “Hope remains in all faithful wayfarers, even in sinners who do not despair or presume” (In whom hope is found, n. 1), and unformed hope “is a virtue, but an imperfect one” (On hope in itself and on its object, n. 3).
When the precept first binds. Prümmer, Merkelbach, Noldin, Wouters, McHugh-Callan and Marc set the first act of hope at the beginning of the use of reason, or of the moral life, when eternal beatitude is first sufficiently proposed (n. 545, I, n. 839, n. 45, n. 513, n. 1096, n. 460). Vermeersch: “the obligation of an act of hope immediately from the use of reason is controverted” (n. 60); Bontempi: it binds “after the use of reason, not immediately, but not after much time” (Whether there is a precept of hopi, n. 13). Concina: “This precept obliges as soon as the light of reason shines forth” (III, diss. I, ch. XI, n. IV).
How often an act of hope is due. Merkelbach reports those who say “at least once a year”, others each month or week, and holds “more probably: several times, at least three or four times a year” (I, n. 839); Marc: “at least once in any year” (n. 460); Noldin: the time “cannot be determined. Yet it must be elicited frequently” (n. 45); Vermeersch: “This cannot be defined.” (n. 58); Prümmer: “authors do not agree” (n. 545); Bontempi: often enough “that one is not without an act of hope for many years” (Whether there is a precept of hopi, n. 13). “But, practically, there is agreement among theologians” that those who pray and keep the duties of a Christian life fulfil it (n. 1097). Concina will have none of an indeterminate time: the precept “presses of itself unto the frequenting of the acts of this virtue”, and of those who teach “that there is no determinate time at which such a precept presses” he writes, “By what reason so great a paradox can be asserted by Christian men, I truly do not perceive” (III, diss. I, ch. XI, n. IV).
Whether an act of hope is due of itself at death. Prümmer and Merkelbach count the article of death among the times the precept binds of itself (n. 545, I, n. 839), and so Wouters (n. 513) and Marc, “in danger of death” (n. 460). McHugh-Callan: “It seems that at the end of life one is especially bound”, yet for one who has received the Last Sacraments and is not tempted to despair “there is no manifest need of making an express act of hope” (n. 1096, n. 1096). Vermeersch gives it only “As many wish, around the end of life” (n. 58), and Noldin, counting the times it binds of itself, does not name death (n. 45). So Concina: it obliges “when one must depart from this world” (III, diss. I, ch. XI, n. IV).
Whether acts of fear are commanded of themselves. St. Thomas: “precepts of filial fear are given in the Law, even as precepts of love”, and servile fear was urged by admonition after the Law was given (II-II, q. 22, a. 2); Merkelbach repeats him (I, n. 840). Wouters: “To the act of hoping there corresponds the act of fearing eternal damnation, which likewise obliges” (n. 513); McHugh-Callan holds that “the principles and conclusions given above for hope can be applied also to fear” (n. 1104). Marc: “Nor are we bound directly, from a special precept, to exercising explicit acts of fear”, with Valentia and Sanchez (n. 461); Bontempi reports Caspensis that “these precepts of the fear of God are not special”, so that a defect of fear is never a special sin to be confessed (On the effects, and the precept, o, n. 4). Concina: “Is there a precept of fear? Answer. All affirm it”, and “This precept is a peculiar one” (III, diss. I, ch. XI, n. VI).
Initial fear: a beginning of filial fear, or a fear of its own. St. Thomas: initial fear “does not differ essentially from filial fear”, as imperfect charity does not differ in essence from perfect (II-II, q. 19, a. 8); Prümmer: “It does not differ essentially from filial fear” (n. 542); Merkelbach: it “is not a new species of fear, but is filial fear” in an imperfect state (I, n. 825); McHugh-Callan makes initial and perfected fear “two degrees of filial fear” (n. 1055). Bontempi, with St. Bonaventure: “they do not differ only as the less perfect from the more perfect; but by the principal motive” (Whether initial and filial fear di, n. 10). Concina: initial fear “is not distinguished from the first except as the imperfect from the perfect” (III, diss. I, ch. XI, n. V).
Whether filial fear grows as charity grows. St. Thomas: “filial fear must needs increase when charity increases”, for the more one loves, the more one fears to offend (II-II, q. 19, a. 10); so Prümmer, Merkelbach and McHugh-Callan (n. 542, I, n. 825, n. 1056). Bontempi sets out St. Thomas's opinion and St. Bonaventure's objection to it (Whether, as charity grows, fear di, n. 3), and concludes with St. Bonaventure “that as charity grows, Fear diminishes with respect to anxiety”, while “reverential fear grows” (Whether, as charity grows, fear di, n. 6, Whether, as charity grows, fear di, n. 10).
Whether our own merits are a ground of hope. St. Thomas: the habit of hope “does not flow from our merits, but from grace alone”, though hope is said to arise from merits as to the thing hoped for (II-II, q. 17, a. 1, ad 2). McHugh-Callan counts “our own merits” among the motives of hope, “since they are instruments used by God” (n. 1023); Prümmer: “our merits acquired under the influence of grace found in us hope of eternal life” (n. 537); Bontempi: “the confidence of the Saints is born also from good merits” (Whether hope arises from merits, n. 4); Vermeersch: “he hopes more perfectly who, in the state of grace, actually has merits” (n. 57). Merkelbach admits them, but “not indeed because in this way they are the motive of hoping, but because they are dispositions required” (I, n. 802); and McHugh-Callan himself says of grace and merits already had, “It is not in this sense that divine help is called the motive of hope” (n. 1025).
Hoping for another's salvation. St. Thomas: presupposing the union of love, “it is the same virtue of hope, whereby a man hopes for himself and for another” (II-II, q. 17, a. 3); Merkelbach and McHugh-Callan follow him (I, n. 807, n. 1022). Prümmer: one who hopes for his neighbour's salvation “does this because the neighbor is another self, and his beatitude increases his own beatitude” (n. 539). Bontempi: “to desire beatitude for another, as it is a good, is not an act of Hope; but of Charity”, since hope rouses the soul against difficulties in its own pursuit (Whether hope remains in the blesse, n. 11).

What It Is

Defined: “a virtue of the will divinely infused, by which with certain confidence on account of the omnipotence of God assisting, we await and pursue both eternal beatitude and the means necessary for attaining it”	Prümmer n. 534In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 797; Wouters n. 359; Marc n. 456; McHugh-Callan n. 1012; Concina III, diss. I, ch. XI, n. I; Billuart On hope in itself and on its object, n. 1
Or, from God's promise: “an infused supernatural habit by which man is disposed to expect with certainty, from the promise of God, eternal beatitude and the means necessary for it”	Noldin n. 41In nearly the same words: Sabetti-Barrett n. 162
Or, naming God's goodness, power and fidelity together: hope is the virtue by which, “relying on the goodness, omnipotence, and fidelity of God in His promises, we are raised in soul to a certain expectation of beatitude”	Vermeersch n. 57
Bontempi, after St. Bonaventure: “It is the Theological Virtue by which the will is borne toward God as our beatitude, arduous to attain, which nevertheless can be obtained by the help of God.”	Bontempi What hope is, n. 12
In the catechism: “Christian hope is the confident expectation of all those things which Christ promised us with regard to the fulfilment of God’s will.”	Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPEIn nearly the same words: Roman Catechism Article XII: “Life Everlasting”
Hope in general: “A movement of the appetitive power tending toward a future good, arduous, possible of attainment.”	Merkelbach I, n. 795In nearly the same words: Marc n. 456; Prümmer n. 533
Its object, with St. Thomas: good, future, arduous, possible; “first indeed, that it is good, by which it differs from fear; secondly, that it is of future good, by which it differs from joy or delight; thirdly, that it is of arduous good, by which it differs from desire; fourthly, that it is of possible good, by which it differs from desperation”	Prümmer n. 540In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 795; McHugh-Callan n. 1013; Bontempi What hope is, n. 9
So that “to hope is nothing other than to desire for oneself some arduous good, and to trust that he will obtain it”	Prümmer n. 533In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 795
The word also names the passion, the thing hoped for, and the one from whom we hope: “The name of hope is taken in diverse ways”	Prümmer n. 533In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 794; Noldin n. 41; McHugh-Callan n. 1009; Bontempi Whether hope is a virtue, n. 1

Its Place Among the Virtues

After faith: “Absolutely speaking, faith precedes hope.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 7In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 532; Merkelbach I, n. 813; Bontempi Whether hope precedes charity, n. 3; McHugh-Callan n. 1029; Vermeersch n. 57; Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
And so “not unfittingly faith is called the mother of hope”	Prümmer n. 532
Before charity: “Hence in the order of generation, hope precedes charity.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 8In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 813; Wouters n. 358; Bontempi Whether hope precedes charity, n. 4; McHugh-Callan n. 1030
And leads to it: “hope leads to charity, in as much as a man through hoping to be rewarded by God, is encouraged to love God and obey His commandments”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 8In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 813; Noldin n. 46
But charity is first in perfection: “in the order of perfection charity naturally precedes hope, wherefore, with the advent of charity, hope is made more perfect, because we hope chiefly in our friends”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 8In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1016; Bontempi Whether a certain object is set fo, n. 8
With St. Augustine's house: “But Hope is a mean between faith, which begins the spiritual building; and Charity, which completes it”	Bontempi Whether hope is a theological virt, n. 5In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1027; Prümmer n. 544; Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
Weighed against faith: “They are unequal in their excellence as habits, faith being superior to hope”	McHugh-Callan n. 1029
but by the general notion of virtue, which looks to the will, “hope being superior to faith, as the moral virtues are superior to the intellectual”	McHugh-Callan n. 1029
As faith reforms the reason and charity the concupiscible, Bontempi, with St. Bonaventure: “so the irascible is reformed by Hope”	Bontempi Whether hope is a theological virt, n. 8
Its neighbours among the moral virtues: “The two moral virtues that most resemble hope are longsuffering and magnanimity”	McHugh-Callan n. 1027In nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether hope is a theological virt, n. 18
But “Magnanimity tends to something arduous in the hope of obtaining something that is within one's power”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 5, ad 4In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1027
“Insofar as we raise ourselves to attaining so arduous a good, hope is an outstanding magnanimity of the Christian”	Vermeersch n. 57
It helps fortitude: “For the love of God and the hope of beatitude greatly assist the virtue of Fortitude”	Bontempi Whether hope is a theological virt, n. 20

Its Act

Expectation: “When someone hopes for the attainment of a good from the help of another, the act of hope is properly called expectation.”	Merkelbach I, n. 796In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 41
An expectation that “The expectation which is mentioned in the definition of hope does not imply delay”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 5, ad 3
Desire, and “hope expresses two acts: an efficacious desire (as something presupposed), and confidence or an elevation of soul”	Prümmer n. 533In nearly the same words: Vermeersch n. 57; Marc n. 456
What it contains: “Hope necessarily supposes the love of concupiscence and desire; indeed it virtually includes them”	Merkelbach I, n. 796In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 41; Marc n. 456; Sabetti-Barrett n. 162; Vermeersch n. 57
Beyond love and desire “hope adds a firmer effort toward the attainment of the good, notwithstanding its difficulty”	Merkelbach I, n. 796In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1013
With it go “firm confidence of obtaining, and fear of losing, the things which we expect; these acts inseparably accompany the proper act of hope”	Marc n. 456
Confidence: “Confidence is a certain mode and perfection of hope, insofar as it is hope strengthened from some firm opinion.”	Vermeersch n. 60
Not the same as believing: “For to hope properly is to trust, and from that confidence, with a certain security, to tend toward the attaining of an arduous good”	Bontempi What the proximate subject of hope, n. 12
“faith is of invisible things inasmuch as they are not seen, whereas Hope is of invisible things as they are not possessed”	Bontempi What hope is, n. 7
Free: “the act of hope is free, because it is an act of the will”	Merkelbach I, n. 816
A foretaste: “Through hope we participate in the immutable will by which God loves and wills His beatitude; indeed it confers upon us a certain anticipated possession of so great a beatitude”	Vermeersch n. 57In nearly the same words: Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
And joy: “just as hope gives rise to joy, so, when a man is joyful he has greater hope”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 20, a. 4, ad 2

Its Object

Its principal object: “the proper and principal object of hope is eternal happiness”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 2In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 535; Wouters n. 360; Bontempi What the material object of hope i, n. 1; Marc n. 456; Roman Catechism Article XII: “Life Everlasting”
That is, God: “For we should hope from Him for nothing less than Himself”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 2In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1019; Merkelbach I, n. 804; Noldin n. 43; Sabetti-Barrett n. 162; Vermeersch n. 57
Prümmer, naming it otherwise: “The formal object which of theological hope is God about to beatify us by supernatural beatitude.”	Prümmer n. 535
The vision of God: “the vision and possession of God is only the condition required so that God may be attained and possessed”	Merkelbach I, n. 805In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 360; Vermeersch n. 57; McHugh-Callan n. 1019
Bontempi otherwise: “I ASSERT secondly, that formal beatitude also enters into the reason of the object of this virtue.”	Bontempi What the material object of hope i, n. 14
Its secondary object: “The secondary material object of hope is all things which conduce to beatitude.”	Merkelbach I, n. 806In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 535; Wouters n. 360; Noldin n. 43; McHugh-Callan n. 1019; Sabetti-Barrett n. 162; Marc n. 456
Among them: “namely habitual gifts, helps of grace, remission of sins, goods both spiritual and also temporal, and the special providence of God, which may turn evils away from us and procure goods for us”	Noldin n. 43In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1021; Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
Temporal goods too: “indeed also temporal goods, but only insofar as they are means to eternal beatitude”	Prümmer n. 535In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 806; Bontempi Whether hope is a virtue, n. 22
The rule: “It is licit to hope for the things which it is licit to ask for in prayer.”	Prümmer n. 535In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1019; Merkelbach I, n. 806; Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
“We ought not to pray God for any other goods, except in reference to eternal happiness.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 2, ad 2
Future and arduous: “In order that something can be hoped for, it is required that it be at the same time future and arduous.”	Merkelbach I, n. 807In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 533
“These indeed are not the motive of hope, but are conditions required for the material object”	Merkelbach I, n. 807
For whom: “hope regards directly one's own good, and not that which pertains to another”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 3In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 807; McHugh-Callan n. 1022
“Yet if we presuppose the union of love with another, a man can hope for and desire something for another man, as for himself”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 3In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 807; McHugh-Callan n. 1022
“it is the same virtue of hope, whereby a man hopes for himself and for another”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 3

What It Rests On

St. Thomas: “in so far as we hope for anything as being possible to us by means of the Divine assistance, our hope attains God Himself, on Whose help it leans”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 1
Its motive: “The formal object by which of hope is omnipotence assisting”	Prümmer n. 536In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 799; Wouters n. 511; McHugh-Callan n. 1024
God's goodness and fidelity are supposed, but “Nevertheless the ultimate and immediate motive of hope is only aiding omnipotence.”	Merkelbach I, n. 799In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1026
Noldin names fidelity: “the motive of hope formally considered is the fidelity of God in fulfilling promises”	Noldin n. 41In nearly the same words: Sabetti-Barrett n. 162
Vermeersch names all three together: “the formal object of hope, or the motive on which it rests, is the Omnipotence of God, His Supreme relative Goodness, and His fidelity in promises”	Vermeersch n. 57In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 360; Marc n. 456
Marc gathers them into one: “the formal object of hope is the BENEVOLENCE OF GOD, considered as presupposing omnipotence, and as bound to us by fidelity”	Marc n. 456
Bontempi, with St. Bonaventure: “the formal object of Hope is God, the good appetible by the love of concupiscence, not as a good, but as a great, arduous good awaited by us; yet to be attained by divine liberality, truth, and omnipotence upheld”	Bontempi What the formal object of hope is, n. 7
The catechisms give the grounds together: “we believe that God is infinitely true, infinitely powerful, and infinitely good, and that Christ has merited all for us”	Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPEIn nearly the same words: Roman Catechism The First Commandment
Not God as our highest good, as Scotus and Suarez held: “The proper motive of hope is not God as our supreme good.”	Merkelbach I, n. 801In nearly the same words: Bontempi What the formal object of hope is, n. 9
Not grace already had: “Hope does not trust chiefly in grace already received, but on God's omnipotence and mercy, whereby even he that has not grace, can obtain it, so as to come to eternal life.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 18, a. 4, ad 2In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 800; McHugh-Callan n. 1025
Creatures, as God's instruments: “It is, however, lawful to hope in a man or a creature as being the secondary and instrumental agent through whom one is helped to obtain any goods that are ordained to happiness.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 4In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 537; Merkelbach I, n. 802; Marc n. 458; McHugh-Callan n. 1023
But not as first cause: “it is unlawful to hope in any man, or any creature, as though it were the first cause of movement towards happiness”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 4In nearly the same words: Marc n. 458; Spirago THE OBJECT OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
First among them: “The most noble among these creatures is the humanity of Christ”	Prümmer n. 537In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 802; Roman Catechism Prayer in General
The saints, and our Lady: “we call the Blessed Virgin Mary OUR HOPE”	Marc n. 458In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 537; Merkelbach I, n. 802; McHugh-Callan n. 1023; St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. XXI; Roman Catechism The First Commandment
Our own merits: the habit is from grace alone. “The habit itself of hope, whereby we hope to obtain happiness, does not flow from our merits, but from grace alone.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 1, ad 2In nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether hope arises from merits, n. 22
But our merits, some say, are among its secondary grounds: “The merits of Christ and our own merits, since they are instruments used by God, are motives of hope.”	McHugh-Callan n. 1023In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 537; Bontempi Whether hope arises from merits, n. 4; Vermeersch n. 57
Merkelbach counts them, but “not indeed because in this way they are the motive of hoping, but because they are dispositions required so that we may arrive at eternal life”	Merkelbach I, n. 802

Its Subject

In the will: “Therefore hope resides in the higher appetite called the will”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 18, a. 1In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 538; Merkelbach I, n. 816; Noldin n. 41; Wouters n. 361; McHugh-Callan n. 1036; Marc n. 456; Bontempi What the proximate subject of hope, n. 1
Bontempi notes those who held otherwise, “against some who follow Suarez disp. 1. sect. 2, saying that it is in the judgment of the intellect”	Bontempi What the proximate subject of hope, n. 1
Not in the irascible appetite of sense: “The object of the irascible is an arduous sensible: whereas the object of the virtue of hope is an arduous intelligible, or rather superintelligible.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 18, a. 1, ad 1
In whom: “hope can be in wayfarers, whether of this life or in purgatory”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 18, a. 3In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 538; Merkelbach I, n. 817; Wouters n. 361; McHugh-Callan n. 1038; Marc n. 456
Though these are sure of heaven, “certitude is not against the nature of hope”	Merkelbach I, n. 817In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1038
“The Fathers in limbo also had hope before their introduction into heaven”	McHugh-Callan n. 1038
Sinners who keep the faith: “All the faithful, even sinners, except those who fall a) into formal heresy, or b) into presumption or desperation.”	Prümmer n. 538In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 361; McHugh-Callan n. 1039; Marc n. 456
Spirago, otherwise: “Hence the sinner can hope in God only when he really repents and is willing to reform his life.”	Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
Not in unbelievers: “Unbelievers have no theological hope, since faith is “the substance (i.e., basis) of things to be hoped for””	McHugh-Callan n. 1039In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 539
Not in the blessed: “Consequently hope, like faith, is voided in heaven, and neither of them can be in the blessed.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 18, a. 2In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 817; McHugh-Callan n. 1037; Bontempi Whether hope remains in the blesse, n. 4
Their desire for us is charity's: “they hope for the happiness of others indeed, yet not by the virtue of hope, but rather by the love of charity”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 18, a. 2, ad 3In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 539; McHugh-Callan n. 1037
Some held otherwise: “Some theologians indeed (Suarez, Ripalda, Becanus) assert that the blessed can hope for accidental beatitude for themselves”	Prümmer n. 539In nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether hope remains in the blesse, n. 2
Nor in the damned: “Consequently there is no hope either in the blessed or in the damned.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 18, a. 3In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 817; McHugh-Callan n. 1038
Not in Christ: “Hence it was possible for Him to hope for the glory of impassibility and immortality, yet not so as to the virtue of hope”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 18, a. 2, ad 1In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 817; Prümmer n. 539
“on the contrary, hope was in the Blessed Virgin”	Merkelbach I, n. 817

Fear, Its Companion

Hope has no parts in the sense the cardinal virtues do. St. Thomas treats the gift of fear with it, and these are the kinds of fear the authors distinguish.

Why it is treated with hope: “fear in this life is necessarily joined with hope; for it tempers hope, lest on one side it grow into false security, and on the other side, lest it fall into desperation”	Prümmer n. 542In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 820; Noldin n. 42; Bontempi On Hope, n. 1; Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
“in us the consideration of His justice gives rise to fear, but the consideration of His mercy gives rise to hope”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 1, ad 2
Fear: “Fear in general can be defined: a movement of the appetite fleeing an arduous and imminent evil”	Prümmer n. 542In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 820; Noldin n. 46; Bontempi What the object of fear is, n. 14
Its kinds: “if a man turn to God and adhere to Him, through fear of punishment, it will be servile fear; but if it be on account of fear of committing a fault, it will be filial fear”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 2In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 822; Noldin n. 46; McHugh-Callan n. 1048
“If, however, it be on account of both, it will be initial fear, which is between both these fears.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 2In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 822; Prümmer n. 542; Noldin n. 46
And against them: “on account of the evils he fears, man withdraws from God, and this is called human fear”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 2In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 542; Merkelbach I, n. 822; McHugh-Callan n. 1043; Marc n. 457
“worldly fear is always evil”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 3In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1044; Merkelbach I, n. 822
Not every fear of men: “To fear the secular power in this way is part, not of worldly fear, but of servile or initial fear.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 3, ad 2In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1047
Servile fear: “Consequently servile fear is substantially good, but is servility is evil.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 4In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 823; McHugh-Callan n. 1050; Noldin n. 46; Bontempi Whether servile fear is honorable, n. 2
Servilely servile fear: “Servilely servile fear is morally evil and vicious, because it does not exclude the will of sinning”	Noldin n. 46In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 542; Bontempi What the object of fear is, n. 3
Marc's names: “Servile fear of God (formally, called by others servilely servile)”	Marc n. 457
“Initial fear (or materially, called simply servile by others)”	Marc n. 457
“servile and filial fear are not the same substantially but differ specifically”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 5In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 825
With charity: “Hence fear considered as servile, does not remain with charity, but the substance of servile fear can remain with charity, even as self-love can remain with charity.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 6In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 823; Bontempi Whether servile fear is cast out w, n. 10
Initial fear: “Therefore we must conclude that initial fear, as we understand it here, does not differ essentially from filial fear.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 8In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 542; Merkelbach I, n. 825; McHugh-Callan n. 1055
Bontempi, with St. Bonaventure: “they do not differ only as the less perfect from the more perfect; but by the principal motive”	Bontempi Whether initial and filial fear di, n. 10
As charity grows: “filial fear must needs increase when charity increases”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 10In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 542; Merkelbach I, n. 825; McHugh-Callan n. 1056; Marc n. 457
“This fear decreases as charity increases, chiefly as regards its act, since the more a man loves God, the less he fears punishment”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 10In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 542
Bontempi, with St. Bonaventure: “I assert first, that as charity grows, Fear diminishes with respect to anxiety.”	Bontempi Whether, as charity grows, fear di, n. 6
“I assert secondly, that as charity grows, reverential fear grows.”	Bontempi Whether, as charity grows, fear di, n. 10
“Even in this present life some souls are so strong in the love of God that all servile fear disappears”	McHugh-Callan n. 1055
The beginning of wisdom: “fear is the beginning of wisdom, yet servile fear in one way, and filial fear, in another”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 7In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 827
In heaven: “the blessed, considering the loftiness of God and their own littleness, venerate God with the highest submission of soul and are perfectly subject to him: this is reverential fear”	Merkelbach I, n. 826In nearly the same words: St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 11, ad 3; Prümmer n. 542; McHugh-Callan n. 1056; Bontempi Whether gratuitous fear remains in, n. 6

Its Properties

Prümmer counts three properties and Wouters four; the lines take them in turn.

How many: “Three properties of hope can be enumerated, namely, supernaturality, efficacy, firmness.”	Prümmer n. 541
“The properties of hope are enumerated as: certitude, moral goodness, utility, and necessity.”	Wouters n. 362
Supernatural: “Hope is a supernatural virtue, both objectively, because as its object it has the very omnipotence of God supernaturally helping us to supernatural things”	Merkelbach I, n. 815In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 541; Bontempi Whether hope is a virtue, n. 5
“the act of hope is supernatural not only as to mode but according to itself and as to substance”	Merkelbach I, n. 815
Theological: “it is evident that hope is a theological virtue”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 5In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 813; Bontempi Whether hope is a theological virt, n. 1; McHugh-Callan n. 1027
With no excess on God's side: “it is impossible to trust too much in the Divine assistance”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 5, ad 2In nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether hope is a theological virt, n. 10
Distinct from faith and charity: “hope makes us adhere to God, as the source whence we derive perfect goodness”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 6In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 813
Efficacious: “Hope ought to be efficacious and living; for we not only expect, but also must courageously pursue eternal beatitude and the means conducive to it.”	Prümmer n. 541In nearly the same words: Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
Certain: “hope tends to its end with certainty, as though sharing in the certainty of faith which is in the cognitive faculty”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 18, a. 4In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 819; Wouters n. 362
Bontempi, with St. Bonaventure, gives it a certainty of its own: “Therefore Hope has a proper certainty on the part of the will; another on the part of the intellect.”	Bontempi Whether a certain object is set fo, n. 7
Certain on God's part: “Hope is absolutely certain and infallible as to itself, that is, on the part of the motive”	Merkelbach I, n. 819In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 541; Noldin n. 42; Marc n. 458; McHugh-Callan n. 1040; Vermeersch n. 57
Not on ours: “Nevertheless as to us, that is, on the part of the subject hoping, hope is not certain”	Merkelbach I, n. 819In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 541; Marc n. 458; Wouters n. 362; Vermeersch n. 57
“Therefore on our part hope has only a conditioned certitude, by which we are certain that we will obtain eternal life if we employ the means of salvation and persevere unto the end.”	Merkelbach I, n. 819In nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether a certain object is set fo, n. 12
“Hence simply speaking hope is certain.”	Merkelbach I, n. 819In nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether a certain object is set fo, n. 3
“That some who have hope fail to obtain happiness, is due to a fault of the free will in placing the obstacle of sin, but not to any deficiency in God's power or mercy”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 18, a. 4, ad 3In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 362
A certainty of order, not of the outcome: “but there is no certainty about the event, and thus even the foreknown are bound to hope”	Bontempi Whether a certain object is set fo, n. 21
Of our justification, Marc: “Yet this uncertainty is morally taken away through the exercise of charity.”	Marc n. 458
Of our perseverance: “But this uncertainty also can be taken away in great part, if we implore that great gift of perseverance by DAILY PRAYER”	Marc n. 458
Morally good: “The moral goodness of hope consists in this, that the virtue of hope inclines man to acts conformed to right reason”	Wouters n. 362In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 810
Useful and necessary: “The utility of hope is derived both from its moral goodness just explained and from its necessity still to be explained.”	Wouters n. 362

The Virtue Itself

Infused: “Hope is infused together with grace making one pleasing, faith, and charity”	Merkelbach I, n. 818In nearly the same words: Bontempi What hope is, n. 13; McHugh-Callan n. 1012
“the act of hope is produced by the habit of hope as by a principle, among those who possess it; in others it will exist only from actual grace”	Merkelbach I, n. 815In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 538
No natural virtue of hope: “A natural virtue of hope, strengthening the will with reference to natural happiness, is not necessary in any state of man”	McHugh-Callan n. 1012
Formed and unformed: “Hope without charity is called imperfect or unformed”	Merkelbach I, n. 814In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 359; McHugh-Callan n. 1016; Bontempi Whether hope is at times formless, n. 1
“because it hopes for beatitude only from future merits which someone thinks he will acquire, but not from present merits already had”	Merkelbach I, n. 814
“Inanimated hope is that to which the state of grace and charity is not joined, and which therefore is an imperfect virtue and not meritorious.”	McHugh-Callan n. 1016
It remains in the sinner: “Therefore the Council manifestly supposes that hope can remain in a sinner.”	Prümmer n. 538In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 361; Bontempi Whether hope is at times formless, n. 10
How it is lost: “it is lost: a) directly through sins directly contrary, namely, through despair and through that presumption which removes the motive of hope; b) indirectly it is lost when its foundation, faith, has been destroyed”	Merkelbach I, n. 818In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 52; Marc n. 461; McHugh-Callan n. 1102; Vermeersch n. 66
“It is not lost by sins of omission, for it depends on divine infusion, not on human acts”	McHugh-Callan n. 1102
“It is not lost by sins of commission that do not remove its formal object or motive, such as sins against charity and the moral virtues.”	McHugh-Callan n. 1102In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 359
It grows: “As sanctifying grace increases, this power of hoping increases; hence the saints hoped most at the approach of death.”	Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPEIn nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether hope is a virtue, n. 20
What it does: “since hope withdraws us from evils and induces us to seek for good things”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 20, a. 3In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 831; Wouters n. 514
“hope is an anchor of the soul in times of tempest, since it offers reasons for patience and good cheer”	McHugh-Callan n. 1034In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 541; Spirago THE ADVANTAGE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
“hope gives wings to the soul in times of weariness, since the motives it presents are inducements to courage and good works”	McHugh-Callan n. 1034In nearly the same words: Spirago THE ADVANTAGE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE; Bontempi Whether there is a precept of hopi, n. 1
“He who hopes in God enjoys the special protection of God.”	Spirago THE ADVANTAGE OF CHRISTIAN HOPEIn nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether there is a precept of hopi, n. 1; St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. XIII
“He who hopes in God is strengthened by God, so that he is not afraid of man, and is patient and courageous in suffering, and more especially in face of death.”	Spirago THE ADVANTAGE OF CHRISTIAN HOPEIn nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether hope is a theological virt, n. 20
“Discouragement and aridity occur even in the lives of great Saints, and at such times, when pure love of God seems almost impossible, hope comes to the rescue by offering encouragement and spurring on to activity.”	McHugh-Callan n. 1034
The figures of Scripture: “HOPE is compared to many things necessary: to the Helmet for fighting”	Bontempi Whether there is a precept of hopi, n. 2In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1096

Its Necessity

The habit: “Habitual hope infused by God is necessary for salvation for children as well as adults, and always has been necessary by necessity of means.”	Prümmer n. 543In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 808; Noldin n. 44; Wouters n. 362; Marc n. 459; McHugh-Callan n. 1101
For “because without it charity cannot be had”	Merkelbach I, n. 808In nearly the same words: Vermeersch n. 58; Prümmer n. 543
The act, in adults: “Actual hope, or some act of hope, has always been necessary for salvation for all adults having the use of reason, by necessity of means.”	Prümmer n. 544In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 44; Marc n. 460; Sabetti-Barrett n. 163; McHugh-Callan n. 1101; Bontempi Whether there is a precept of hopi, n. 3
For the sinner, to be justified: “For no one can have supernatural contrition for sin unless he hopes for pardon; no one will be justified unless he hopes to be justified by God”	Merkelbach I, n. 808In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 512; Noldin n. 44; McHugh-Callan n. 1101
Whether always explicitly: “Perhaps it is more aptly said that according to the common law no justification of an adult takes place without an explicit act of theological hope, although absolutely it can happen that a sinner is justified while eliciting no act of hope except one which is implicitly contained in an act of perfect charity or contrition.”	Wouters n. 512In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1030
For the just, to persevere: “But final perseverance does not fall under merit strictly so called (as is taught in the treatise on grace), but can only be obtained by prayer.”	Prümmer n. 544In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 809; Noldin n. 44; Wouters n. 512; Marc n. 460; St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. XX
And to merit it: “eternal salvation is given to all adults as a reward and not as a pure inheritance”	Prümmer n. 544; Merkelbach I, n. 809
“man cannot arrive at obtaining God, his ultimate end, unless by his own acts he tends toward him”	Sabetti-Barrett n. 163
In the catechism: “A man who has no hope will not do good works, nor avoid sin”	Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE

The Precept of Hoping

When it binds of itself
There is a precept: “By natural-divine right there is given a precept of hope, obliging under grave obligation”	Merkelbach I, n. 838In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 545; Noldin n. 44; Wouters n. 513; Marc n. 460; Roman Catechism The First Commandment
In Scripture: “Hope in Him, all the congregation of the people.”	Prümmer n. 545In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1092; Marc n. 460; Sabetti-Barrett n. 163
Not given in the Decalogue as a command: “the precept of hope, in the first promulgation of the Law, had to be given under the form of a promise”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 22, a. 1In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 840; McHugh-Callan n. 1092
But afterward “Holy Writ holds out to man many inducements to hope, even by way of warning or command, and not merely by way of promise”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 22, a. 1In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1092
“Christ the Lord in the Lord's Prayer taught us the manner of hoping and asking, and prescribed it to us”	Noldin n. 44
Negative and affirmative: “This precept is both negative, by which we are prohibited from casting away hope by despair or presumption, and this obliges always; and affirmative, by which we are obliged sometimes to elicit an act of hope, and this does not oblige always.”	Merkelbach I, n. 838In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 44; McHugh-Callan n. 1095; Bontempi Whether there is a precept of hopi, n. 10
“Hence, it is not lawful to despair, even when things are darkest, nor to presume, even when they are brightest.”	McHugh-Callan n. 1095
At the beginning: “at the beginning of the use of reason, or when eternal beatitude has been sufficiently proposed as the end toward which each one must tend”	Merkelbach I, n. 839In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 545; Noldin n. 45; Wouters n. 513; Marc n. 460; McHugh-Callan n. 1096
“This moment occurs for those who are in the state of sin as soon as they perceive the necessity of turning from creatures towards God”	McHugh-Callan n. 1096
Though “except that the obligation of an act of hope immediately from the use of reason is controverted”	Vermeersch n. 60In nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether there is a precept of hopi, n. 13
At death: “in the article of death (that is, toward the end of life), when he is at the point of attaining the end”	Merkelbach I, n. 839In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 545; Wouters n. 513; Marc n. 460; Vermeersch n. 58
Yet “But, if one has received the Last Sacraments or is otherwise well prepared for death and undisturbed by temptations to despair, there is no manifest need of making an express act of hope”	McHugh-Callan n. 1096
Several times in life, “which some determine by saying: under grave obligation, at least once a year; others each month or week; others more probably: several times, at least three or four times a year”	Merkelbach I, n. 839In nearly the same words: Marc n. 460; Noldin n. 45; Vermeersch n. 58; Prümmer n. 545; Bontempi Whether there is a precept of hopi, n. 13
Against the condemned proposition: “A man is never, at any time of his life, bound to elicit an act of faith, hope, and charity by force of the divine precepts pertaining to these virtues.”	Prümmer n. 545In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 513
After despair: “After an act of despair; in which case the injury done to the assisting power of God seems to carry with it the obligation of repairing it by an act of hope at least not long delayed.”	Wouters n. 513In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 45; Merkelbach I, n. 839; Vermeersch n. 58
By accident, or by force of another duty
In temptation against hope: “When a grave temptation against hope urges, e.g. a temptation of desperation, which cannot be conquered otherwise than through an act of hope”	Prümmer n. 545In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 45; Wouters n. 513; Marc n. 460
But “yet this is not fitting for the scrupulous, who torture themselves by repeating this act; hence they should contemn such temptations by turning to other things”	Merkelbach I, n. 839
“An act of hope obliges as often as there is an obligation of asking divine help.”	Prümmer n. 545
When another duty needs it: “when someone must or intends to exercise an act of another virtue which cannot be exercised without an act of hope, for example, prayer, hearing Mass, contrition for sins”	Merkelbach I, n. 839In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 545; Noldin n. 45; Marc n. 460; Vermeersch n. 58
So: “Balba, on account of aridity, finds prayer so hard that she will give it up, unless the motive of future blessedness is before her mind.”	McHugh-Callan n. 1099
“when we manifest hope outwardly; otherwise the manifestation would be simulation”	Merkelbach I, n. 839
“But in these cases the obligation does not arise from the precept of hope itself; hence if that act is omitted, we do not sin against hope itself, but only against another precept by force of which it was required.”	Merkelbach I, n. 839
How it is fulfilled
“For practice there is no difficulty, since formal hope is not necessarily required, but virtual hope suffices”	Prümmer n. 545In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 45; Marc n. 460; Merkelbach I, n. 841
“any Christian living and praying religiously already sufficiently satisfies this precept by any pious deprecatory prayer”	Prümmer n. 545In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1098; Noldin n. 45; Vermeersch n. 58
With Castro Palao: “regularly men satisfy this precept when they grieve over their sins, which is almost never without an act of Hope”	Bontempi Whether there is a precept of hopi, n. 13
“Thus, the words, “Thy Kingdom come,” utter the soul’s expectation of bliss and its reliance on God.”	McHugh-Callan n. 1098In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 809; Roman Catechism Prayer in General
An explicit act, in the words of the catechisms and prayer books: “O my God, relying on Thy all-powerful assistance and merciful promises, I firmly hope to obtain pardon for my sins, obedience to Thy commandments, and life everlasting.”	McHugh-Callan n. 1098
In confession: “nevertheless penitents should not be questioned about the fulfillment of this precept”	Merkelbach I, n. 841In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 547
“Concerning omission of the act of hope, the faithful who have a fearful conscience ought not be anxious, because already in any devout prayer there is an act of hope.”	Prümmer n. 547
And fear
“so neither was there need for a precept, under form of command, of fear which regards punishment”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 22, a. 2In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 840
“Hence precepts of filial fear are given in the Law, even as precepts of love”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 22, a. 2In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 840; McHugh-Callan n. 1103; Bontempi On the effects, and the precept, o, n. 3
“To the act of hoping there corresponds the act of fearing eternal damnation, which likewise obliges”	Wouters n. 513In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1104
Marc otherwise: “Nor are we bound directly, from a special precept, to exercising explicit acts of fear, insofar as fear is distinguished from hope or from other acts of virtues.”	Marc n. 461In nearly the same words: Bontempi On the effects, and the precept, o, n. 4
A question of the schools
Whether the precept would bind one to whom his damnation had been revealed: Bontempi, with St. Bonaventure, “I say therefore that this revelation cannot happen.”	Bontempi Sole Doubt: Whether this precept w, n. 3

Acting for the Reward

Against those who call it mercenary: “Hence Lutherans, Calvinists, Baius, Jansenists, Quietists, and several moderns err when they think that it is something dishonorable and vile to act on account of reward”	Prümmer n. 535In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 811; Noldin n. 46; Marc n. 461; Vermeersch n. 59
Trent: “If anyone says that the justified man sins when he works well with a view to eternal reward, let him be anathema.”	Wouters n. 362In nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether hope is a virtue, n. 21
Not imperfect: “He who hopes is indeed imperfect in relation to that which he hopes to obtain, but has not as yet; yet he is perfect, in so far as he already attains his proper rule, viz. God, on Whose help he leans.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 17, a. 1, ad 3In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 809
It does not use God: “But hope does not refer God to us as a means to an end; rather, on the contrary, it refers us to God as to the end”	Merkelbach I, n. 811In nearly the same words: Vermeersch n. 57; Prümmer n. 535; Wouters n. 362
“we are only the end for whom we desire, in no way the end which”	Merkelbach I, n. 811
What a mercenary is: “A mercenary is properly one who orders the more noble as a means to the vile”	Merkelbach I, n. 812In nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether hope is a virtue, n. 21
“Mercenary love is that whereby God is loved for the sake of worldly goods, and this is, of itself, contrary to charity”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 4, ad 3
But one who would not serve without it: “To observe the precepts with a view to eternal recompense in such a way that they would not be observed if no recompense were given is vicious cupidity”	Noldin n. 46In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1032
Nor may self be put above God: “it is extremely inordinate to hope for God on account of the beatific vision or on account of self”	McHugh-Callan n. 1032
Lower than charity, not against it: “Although the motive of hope is lower than the motive of charity, nevertheless it does not exclude the motive of charity; indeed it necessarily leads to charity.”	Noldin n. 46In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 811; Vermeersch n. 57; St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. XXII
Nor need it wait on charity: “It is not necessary that hope be elicited by the act of charity”	McHugh-Callan n. 1033
“But those who boast that they act on account of duty, as they say, and not on account of reward, deceive themselves or others”	Merkelbach I, n. 812In nearly the same words: Vermeersch n. 59
The Pauline formula Vermeersch commends: “Faith works through charity on account of hope.”	Vermeersch n. 59
Against the Quietists: “Semiquietism indeed does not reject hope as something illicit, but teaches that there is a habitual state of love without hope.”	Prümmer n. 546In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 809; McHugh-Callan n. 1093; Marc n. 461
“Hence indifference to beatitude and salvation is utterly impossible, speaking of beatitude in the abstract; it is sinful, speaking of beatitude insofar as in the concrete it consists in God; indeed it renders charity impossible.”	Merkelbach I, n. 809In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1093
Yet “man can at times make acts of pure love of God, in which self is not thought about”	McHugh-Callan n. 1093
Giving up heaven for another's good: “If there is question of beatitude itself, this is not lawful.”	McHugh-Callan n. 1094
But its delay, or one's certainty of it: “St. Ignatius Loyola would have preferred to remain uncertain of salvation and labor for souls, rather than to be certain of salvation and die at once”	McHugh-Callan n. 1094

The Gift of Fear

The kinds of fear, and how fear grows or fades with charity, are set out above under Fear, Its Companion.

The gift: “the fear of God, which is numbered among the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, is filial or chaste fear”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 9In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 453; Merkelbach I, n. 828; McHugh-Callan n. 1057
Not servile fear: “servile fear is not to be reckoned among the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, though it is from Him”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 9In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 828; McHugh-Callan n. 1051
What it does: “This is what filial or chaste fear does, since thereby we revere God and avoid separating ourselves from Him.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 9In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 33; Merkelbach I, n. 828
First of the gifts: “filial fear holds the first place, as it were, among the gifts of the Holy Ghost, in the ascending order, and the last place, in the descending order”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 9In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 828; McHugh-Callan n. 1057
Joined to hope: “The Gift of the Holy Ghost that perfects the virtue of hope is Fear of the Lord”	McHugh-Callan n. 1041In nearly the same words: Bontempi Whether fear is a habit distinct f, n. 1
And to temperance: “the gift of fear of the Lord corresponds both to the theological virtue of hope and to the cardinal virtue of temperance”	Wouters n. 481In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1057
Not against hope: “Filial fear is not opposed to the virtue of hope: since thereby we fear, not that we may fail of what we hope to obtain by God's help, but lest we withdraw ourselves from this help.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 9, ad 1In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1041
“Wherefore filial fear and hope cling together, and perfect one another.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 9, ad 1In nearly the same words: Marc n. 457; McHugh-Callan n. 1057
Yet a habit distinct from hope: “I ASSERT that this Fear differs from Hope.”	Bontempi Whether fear is a habit distinct f, n. 3
Against pride: “Thus fear cuts off the source of pride for which reason it is bestowed as a remedy against pride.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 9, ad 4
Its beatitude: “Poverty of spirit properly corresponds to fear.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 12In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 828; McHugh-Callan n. 1058; Bontempi Whether poverty of spirit correspo, n. 1
Its fruits, those that pertain to the moderate use of temporal things: “such are modesty, continency and chastity”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 12, ad 4In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1058

The Vices Opposed to Hope

Each entry opens the passage. A dash means only that the author does not name it there.

St. ThomasII-II, qq. 20-21	Prümmernn. 547-549	MerkelbachI, nn. 829-837	Noldinnn. 47-52	Woutersnn. 514-515
By omission
—	omission of the act of hope	—	omission	omission of the act of hope
By defect
despair	Desperation	Despair	Despair	Despair
—	—	—	Hatred of God, which is directly opposed to hope	—
By excess
presumption	Presumption	Presumption	Presumption	Presumption

Each of these is set out by author, with its kinds and gravity, on The Vices Against Hope.

Where These Vices Come From, and Their Gravity

Here hope meets the capital vices: despair from lust and sloth, presumption from vainglory and pride. Each vice is set out in full on the vices against hope.

Where they come from
Despair: “On this way despair is caused by lust.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 20, a. 4In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 832; Wouters n. 514; Prümmer n. 548; McHugh-Callan n. 1071
“Hence despair is born of sloth in a more special way: though it may arise from lust, for the reason given above.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 20, a. 4In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 832; Wouters n. 514; McHugh-Callan n. 1071; Bontempi Sole Question: Of what power despa, n. 17
And “Defect of faith.”	Prümmer n. 548In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 514; Marc n. 463
“St. Gregory truly teaches, Morals, book XII, chapter V, that it arises also from pride”	Bontempi Sole Question: Of what power despa, n. 19In nearly the same words: Sabetti-Barrett n. 164
Presumption, relying on one's own power: “such like presumption clearly arises from vainglory”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 21, a. 4In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 836; McHugh-Callan n. 1091
Relying on God inordinately: “Such like presumption seems to arise directly from pride”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 21, a. 4In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 836; Prümmer n. 549; Marc n. 463
How grave
Despair, less grave than unbelief or hatred of God, “Wherefore strictly speaking it is more grievous sin to disbelieve God's truth, or to hate God, than not to hope to receive glory from Him.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 20, a. 3In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 831; Noldin n. 50; McHugh-Callan n. 1070; Marc n. 463
but “If, however, despair be compared to the other two sins from our point of view, then despair is more dangerous”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 20, a. 3In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 831; Noldin n. 50; Wouters n. 514; McHugh-Callan n. 1070
Despair, mortal from its whole genus: “Positive desperation is a mortal sin from its whole genus, so that it does not admit smallness of matter.”	Prümmer n. 548In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 831; Noldin n. 50; Wouters n. 514; Vermeersch n. 61; Sabetti-Barrett n. 164; Marc n. 463
Presumption, “Consequently presumption is a sin, but less grave than despair”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 21, a. 2In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 835; Prümmer n. 549; McHugh-Callan n. 1083; Bontempi Sole Question: What presumption is, n. 4
That against hope: “Presumption which is against hope is a mortal sin from its whole genus”	Merkelbach I, n. 835In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 52; Wouters n. 515
The rest: “Simple presumption is a mortal sin from its genus, and it admits smallness of matter.”	Prümmer n. 549In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 835; Sabetti-Barrett n. 164

How It Is Kept and Increased

Prümmer and McHugh-Callan list the means of growing in hope; Spirago and the Roman Catechism teach it through doing God's will and through prayer; St. Alphonsus through distrust of self; the manuals' remedies against despair are, in Merkelbach's words, those “which directly foster hope” (I, n. 832); Marc and Merkelbach's Pastoral give the confessor's part. The headings follow them.

To increase it (Prümmer, McHugh-Callan)
By faith: “Hope is increased just as faith is; for he who has a vivid faith in divine omnipotence, goodness, and fidelity also hopes firmly in God, whom he has believed.”	Prümmer n. 550
By asking: “to ask this from God: “Grant us, O Lord, an increase of faith, hope, and charity””	McHugh-Callan n. 1035
By meditation and acts: “to meditate on the rewards of heaven and the motives of hope, and to make corresponding acts”	McHugh-Callan n. 1035
By recourse: “to have recourse to God in all our needs, casting all our care on Him”	McHugh-Callan n. 1035In nearly the same words: Roman Catechism Prayer in General; Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
By a good conscience: “to work courageously for salvation and to preserve purity of conscience”	McHugh-Callan n. 1035In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 550; Bontempi What the proximate subject of hope, n. 8
With St. Augustine: “As an evil conscience is wholly in desperation, so a good conscience is wholly in hope.”	Prümmer n. 550
In prosperity too: “Hope is to be cultivated not only in adverse things, but also in prosperous things.”	Prümmer n. 550
In the catechisms
By doing God's will: “He only who carries out God’s will can hope for the good things promised by Christ.”	Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPEIn nearly the same words: Roman Catechism Prayer in General
With St. Charles Borromeo: “We must hope for the best and do our best.”	Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
By prayer: “Prayer Strengthens Our Hope In God”	Roman Catechism Prayer in General
“He wishes that, praying as we ought each day of our lives, we may pray with increased confidence.”	Roman Catechism Prayer in General
By calling Him Father: “a term inspiring confidence and love in those who pray and ask anything of God”	Roman Catechism Opening Words of the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Fat
By honoring the saints: “in proportion as man's hope is thus animated and fortified, and he himself encouraged to imitate the Saints”	Roman Catechism The First Commandment
Its motives: God's fatherly bounty, prayers heard before, and Christ our advocate. “There is much to inspire us with confidence in prayer.”	Roman Catechism Prayer in General
By distrust of self: ““Mistrust of ourselves,” says St. Augustine, “should help us to hope.””	Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
Distrust of self (St. Alphonsus)
Self-confidence cast away: “If you cast away all self-confidence, and place all your hopes in the Lord, you may then expect to do great things for God.”	St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. XIIn nearly the same words: Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
In temptation, with St. Catherine of Siena: “when tempted to despair, would make an act of confidence in God”	St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. XIIn nearly the same words: St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. XIII
After a fault: “After a fault we should redouble our confidence in God, and thus take occasion from our infidelity to place still greater hopes in his mercy.”	St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. XI
Through our Lady: “Oh! how great the grounds of hope of the soul that trusts in the intercession of this great Mother of God!”	St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. XXIIn nearly the same words: Marc n. 458
Against discouragement (the remedies of despair)
“But other remedies are those which directly foster hope: firm faith concerning the mercy of God toward sinners (which shines forth greatly in the Gospel parables), consideration of the love and Passion of Christ, meditation on the divine promises, the examples of great sinners who became saints, prayer and devotion toward the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is called the salvation of the despairing.”	Merkelbach I, n. 832In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 514; Sabetti-Barrett n. 164; Prümmer n. 548; McHugh-Callan n. 1074
In the catechism: “The Christian may not despair, because God’s mercy is infinite, and God’s help is nearest when the need is greatest.”	Spirago THE OBJECT OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
Against its causes, sloth by resisting, lust by flight: “And this happens in acedia, because the more we think about spiritual goods, the more pleasing they are rendered to us”	Merkelbach I, n. 832In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 1074
“so that a man who is full of sorrow does not easily think of great and joyful things, but only of sad things, unless by a great effort he turn his thoughts away from sadness”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 20, a. 4, ad 3
Those weighed down by an old habit: “Wherefore they are to be raised up into greater trust in divine grace and admonished concerning cooperation with the help of grace.”	Noldin n. 50
In desolation: “the afflicted persons should understand that the deprivation of former sensible devotion is a sign of God’s love and has been experienced by the Saints”	McHugh-Callan n. 1073
The confessor's part (Marc, the Pastoral)
“The confessor should strive to excite in all penitents, together with divine fear, a great hope of eternal life, and true confidence toward God, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary Mother of God.”	Marc n. 464In nearly the same words: Vermeersch n. 56
“For desire supplies strength, and a man without confidence is like a soldier without a shield.”	Marc n. 464
At death: “Especially in the dying, let him raise hope with true detestation of sin”	Marc n. 464In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. VI
In temptations about predestination: “If a temptation against hope and confidence is excited concerning predestination or the foreknowledge of God, either plainly neglect it as a trick of the devil”	Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. III
or say within: “mine is to serve God; to dispose future things is not mine but the Father's”	Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. IIIIn nearly the same words: Spirago THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE

Where Each Author Treats It

St. Thomas	After faith, with the gift of fear	II-II, qq. 17-22
St. Thomas	Its precepts	II-II, q. 22
Prümmer	Its own treatise, between faith and charity	nn. 533-550
Merkelbach	Four parts: object and act, habit and subject, opposed sins, precept	I, nn. 794-841
Noldin	Under the precepts of the theological virtues	Vol. II, nn. 41-52
Wouters	The virtue among the theological virtues; its duties and sins in Book II	nn. 359-362
McHugh-Callan	Article 4 of the theological virtues: definition, object, excellence, subject, the gift of fear, sins, commandments	nn. 1009-1104
Marc	Treatise II, after faith	nn. 456-464
Vermeersch	Treatise II: notion, necessity and use; then its sins	nn. 57-68
Sabetti-Barrett	A short chapter after faith	nn. 162-164
Bontempi	Its own disputation, with the gift of fear, despair and presumption after it	Disputations IV-VII
Roman Catechism	In the First Commandment and in prayer, the Lord's Prayer above all	Parts III-IV
Spirago	After faith: its essence, its advantage, its object	Christian Hope