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Since we cannot discuss here the heroic degree of each of the moral
virtues in particular, we shall draw the inspiration for our selection
especially from Christ's words: "Take up My yoke upon you, and learn
of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart." (1) We shall consider
first the heroic degree of humility and meekness. These virtues give
the Christian tone we need to treat next of the heroic degree of
fortitude, prudence, justice, and other virtues corresponding to the
three evangelical counsels.
HEROIC HUMILITY AND MEEKNESS
Humility, which represses inordinate love of our own excellence, leads
us to abase ourselves before the majesty of God and before what is of
God in every creature.(2) This virtue is heroic when it reaches the
higher degrees described by St. Anselm (3) and recalled by St. Thomas:
"The third and fourth degrees regard the avowal of one's own
deficiency: namely, that not merely one simply assert one's failing,
but that one convince another of it. The other three degrees have to
do with the appetite, which seeks, not outward excellence, but outward
abasement, or bears it with equanimity, whether it consist of words or
deeds. . . . We should especially be humble toward those who make us
suffer, and this belongs to the fifth and sixth degrees; or the
appetite may even go so far as lovingly to embrace external
abasement," (4) in order to be configured to our Lord, who, for love
of our salvation, willed the final humiliations of the Passion.
Heroic humility led St. Peter to wish to be crucified head down; it
led St. Francis of Assisi and St. Benedict Joseph Labre to rejoice in
the worst treatment and to find therein a holy joy.
Perfect humility is manifested outwardly by a great habitual modesty.
We read in Ecclesiasticus: "A man is known by his look, and a wise
man. . . is known by his countenance. The attire of the body and the
laughter of the teeth and the gait of the man, show what he is." (5)
St. Paul says: "Let your modesty be known to all men." (6) It appears
on a calm, humble countenance, little inclined to laughter, in a
grave, simple, unaffected bearing, which shows that a man lives in the
presence of God and does not interrupt his intimate conversation with
Him. Thus the truly humble and modest man speaks of God by his conduct
and even by his silence.(7)
Heroic humility is accompanied by meekness in a proportionate degree.
By this virtue man attains to complete self-mastery, to perfect
domination of anger, when he does not return evil for evil, but
triumphs over it by goodness.(8) The higher degrees of meekness
consist in not being disturbed under injury, in experiencing a holy
joy at the thought of the higher good it procures for one, and lastly
in having compassion on the person who inflicts an injury, in
suffering from the evil which it may cause him. Thus Jesus wept over
Jerusalem, following its ingratitude; He was more sad over the
wretchedness of the ungrateful city than over the cruel death He was
about to undergo. The heroic meekness of Jesus is manifested
especially by His prayer for His executioners.
HEROIC FORTITUDE AND MAGNANIMITY
In the perfect soul humility and meekness are accompanied by virtues
contrary in appearance, but in reality complementary: fortitude and
magnanimity. They are like the two opposite sides of a pointed arch,
supporting each other.
Fortitude is the moral virtue which strengthens the soul in the
pursuit of the difficult good so that it does not allow itself to be
shaken by the greatest obstacles. It should dominate the fear of
danger, fatigue, criticism, all that would paralyze our efforts toward
the good. It prevents man from capitulating in a cowardly manner when
he should fight; it also moderates audacity and untimely exaltation
which would drive him to temerity.
Fortitude has two principal acts: to undertake courageously and to
endure difficult things. The Christian should endure them for the love
of God; it is more difficult to endure for a long time than in a
moment of enthusiasm, to undertake courageously something difficult.
(9)
Fortitude is accompanied by patience to endure the sorrows of life
without being disturbed and without murmuring, by longanimity which
endures trials for a long time, and by constancy in good, which is
opposed to obduracy in evil.
To the virtue of fortitude is also linked that of magnanimity, which
leads to the lofty practice of all the virtues,(10) avoiding
pusillanimity and effeminacy, but without falling into presumption,
vainglory, or ambition.
The gift of fortitude adds a superior perfection to the virtue of
fortitude. It disposes us to receive the special inspirations of the
Holy Ghost, which are given to sustain our courage in the presence of
danger and to drive out worry over not being able to accomplish a
great duty or to endure trials. This gift makes us preserve, in spite
of everything, "hunger and thirst after the justice of God."
(11)
The heroic degree of the virtue of fortitude appears especially in
martyrdom, undergone to give testimony to a truth of faith or to the
grandeur of a Christian virtue. Outside of martyrdom, the virtue of
fortitude, the gift of fortitude, patience, and magnanimity intervene
each time that something heroic is to be accomplished or a great trial
to be borne.
Christian fortitude differs from stoic fortitude inasmuch as it is
accompanied by humility, meekness, and great simplicity.
Simplicity is heroic when it has such love of the truth that it excludes
absolutely all duplicity, every slightest lie, all simulation, every
equivocation. It does not, however, lead a man to tell his every
thought and feeling, and it knows very well how to keep a secret.
HEROIC PRUDENCE
People speak less of the heroic degree of prudence than of that of
fortitude; nevertheless, in most difficult moments, this virtue also
assumes a heroic character. Prudence it is that directs our actions
toward the last end of life, by determining the golden mean of the
moral virtues between deviations through excess and deficiency.(12) It
makes us avoid rash haste, inconsideration, indecision, and
inconstancy in the pursuit of the good. It has, therefore, for its
object practical truth or the truth to be placed in our actions. For
this reason our Lord said to His disciples: "Be ye therefore wise as
serpents and simple as doves." (13) There is certainly a real difficulty
in always perfectly harmonizing these two virtues. They are
indispensable to the Christian, with a characteristic unknown to the
philosophers: the Christian, in fact, not only should be the perfect
upright man who develops his personality in a human manner; he ought
always to act as a child of God, in perfect dependence on Him. He
should even increasingly recognize this dependence; the child, on the
other hand, should, as it grows up, be self-sufficient and not depend
on the help of its earthly father.
In its higher degree Christian prudence recognizes with clarity and
penetration the true good which the child of God should effect, and
it firmly directs the other virtues to make him accomplish this good
in a holy manner.
This virtue is, therefore, absolutely necessary to those who tend
to perfection, or to intimate union with God. They should aspire to
have all the virtues in a lofty degree, which presupposes prudence in
a proportionate degree, at least in what concerns personal
sanctification. Evidently this virtue is especially necessary for
those whose duty it is to advise and direct others.
When we have excessive confidence in our own prudence, for
our purification God permits us to fail in tact and refinement, With
the result that we suffer more or less visible rebuffs. He also permits
at times a certain lack of memory, or failures in attention, which have
more or less regrettable results and humiliate us.
After this purification, prudence may become heroic; it is then
manifestly accompanied by the gift of counsel in an eminent degree.
Through this gift we receive the inspirations which, particularly in
difficult cases, give us a supernatural
intuition of what it is advisable to do. We see this strikingly in the counsels which St.
Catherine of Siena gave to the pope to bring him back from Avignon
to Rome, and in her letters to princes in regard to political matters
concerning religion.
Without reaching so high a degree, perfect prudence, united to the
gift of counsel, makes us see what must be said and done in difficult
moments: for example, when we are asked an indiscreet question
and must reply at once without violating the truth or revealing a
secret. If the soul is as a rule docile to the Holy Ghost, He will
then give it a special inspiration enabling it to find the right
answer. There are many such examples in times of persecution, in
particular when priests, who exercise their ministry in secret, have
to reply to extremely insidious and exacting questions. In such cases,
heroic prudence is manifested.
The same is true when the Lord causes certain servants of His to
undertake things that may seem imprudent to many. St. Alexius, on the
evening of his marriage, received the inspiration to leave his wife
and spend his life in solitude and prayer as a pilgrim to the greatest
sanctuaries. He did so heroically, and at last returned to Rome,
without making himself known in the home of his patrician father where
his pious wife was living. He spent several years there as a poor man,
sleeping under a staircase; only after his death did his wife learn
his secret. This heroic life had not destroyed conjugal love in them,
but had completely spiritualized and transformed
it. In this exceptional situation, St. Alexius, living incognito in
his father's house, often mistreated by the servants, had to practice
heroic prudence, united to the gift of counsel. The same is true of
St. Francis of Assisi in his love of poverty, and likewise of those
who, by a divine inspiration, undertake most difficult works, such as the
complete rehabilitation of poor, fallen, criminal girls, finally making
them religious consecrated to God.(14) These servants of God are thus
at times led into most difficult situations, in which to act and not
to act may seem to many equally imprudent. Then one must humbly beg
the Lord for light, the inspirations of the gift of counsel, and must
remain pliable and docile in the hands of God. Perfect prudence is,
therefore, inseparable from continual prayer to obtain divine light.
It also inclines man to listen to the good advice of those who can
enlighten him. It represents perfect maturity of spirit.
In regard to the "extraordinary supernatural," true prudence is
circumspect. It does not reject it a priori; it verifies the truth of
the facts and pronounces on the matter only when obliged to do so,
after often asking God for light. Superior prudence manifests itself
also in the examination of certain exceptional vocations.
The heroic degree of this virtue appears, therefore, especially in
acts which, in the eyes of human wisdom, are imprudent, but which, in
reality, show by their results that they are those of a higher
prudence. Thus our Savior sent His twelve apostles to work without any
human means for the conversion of the world. So, too, St. Dominic sent
his first sons without resources into different parts of Europe where
they founded centers of apostolic life which still subsist. This was
an act of lofty prudence, evidently enlightened by the gift of
counsel.
HEROIC JUSTICE
The justice in question here is not justice in the broad sense of the
term, which designates the totality of the virtues, as when it is said
of St. Joseph that he was a just man. The justice we are speaking of
is the special virtue inclining our will always to render every man
his due. Thus commutative justice establishes, according to just
right, order between individuals by regulating exchanges. Distributive
justice establishes order in society by distributing congruously to
individuals goods of general utility, advantages, and duties. Legal or
social justice establishes just laws in view of the common good and
sees to their observance. Lastly, equity (epicheia) observes the
spirit of laws even more than the letter, especially in exceptional
cases where the rigorous application of the letter, of legality, would
be too rigid and inhuman.
To form an idea of perfect justice, either acquired or infused we must
bear in mind that this virtue forbids not only theft and fraud, but
also lying or any voluntary word opposed to the truth,
hypocrisy, simulation, the violation of a secret, insult to the honor
or reputation of our neighbor by calumny, slander, or action. It also
forbids rash judgment, derision, and raillery which unduly disparage
our neighbor.
Our justice often has some alloy, when it is practiced at least
partially from interested motives: for example, when a person pays
a portion of his debts in order to avoid the costs of a lawsuit, or
when he avoids lying partly because of the annoying consequences that
might result from the lie. Justice, therefore, needs to be purified
from all inferior alloy just as the other virtues do.
Perfect justice is necessary for those who aspire to close union with
God, because they should become irreproachable in their dealings with
others and practice toward them all the duties of justice and charity.
We read in Ecclesiasticus: "Strive for justice for thy soul, and even
unto death fight for justice, and God will overthrow thy enemies for
thee. Be not hasty in thy tongue: and slack and remiss in thy works.
Be not as a lion in thy house, terrifying them of thy household, and
oppressing them that are under thee. Let not thy hand be stretched out
to receive, and shut when thou shouldst give." (15)
The perfect man who attains to close union with God should exercise
heroic justice in all its forms, equity included. He should perfectly
observe all divine and human laws, ecclesiastical and civil.
If he must make a distribution of goods or offices, he should do so in
proportion to the merits of each one, rising above excessively
individual considerations of relationship or friendship. He should
avoid all, even the slightest, injustice or injury to anyone.
Heroic justice is especially manifest when it is very difficult to
harmonize it with certain deeply rooted affections: for example, when
the father of a family, who is at the same time a magistrate, must
decide against his grievously guilty son, or again when a superior
must send a very dear spiritual son to a distant and perilous
post.
THE HEROIC DEGREE OF THE RELIGIOUS VIRTUES
The virtue of religion appears in a heroic degree when a person
practices his duties in spite of sharp opposition from his family or
others. It appears also in the exact observance of the vow of the most
perfect, or again in the foundation of a religious family in the midst
of the great difficulties which generally accompany such a work.
Heroic poverty renounces everything, and is content with what is
strictly necessary in order to resemble our Lord, who had not whereon
to lay His head. He who desires nothing lacks nothing; thereby, like
St. Francis of Assisi, he is spiritually rich and blessed.
Heroic chastity is manifest especially in perpetual virginity, when,
in the flesh, one lives an entirely spiritual life and ends by
forgetting every disorder of the senses by dint of victory.
Lastly, heroic obedience is shown by perfect abnegation of selfwill,
when a person does nothing, so to speak, without consulting his
superiors, when he obeys all superiors whoever they may be, even
though they may be only moderately kind or even ill-willed. At times
obedience to very difficult orders is required, as was the case with
Abraham who was asked to sacrifice his son. At such a time great faith
is needed to see God Himself in the superior, who is His intermediary
and who speaks in His name. It is a moment of dark night which, if
well traversed, leads to a great light, for the Lord richly rewards
with His graces of light, strength, and love, those who thus obey.
(16)
Evidently the heroic degree of the moral virtues places them more and
more in the service of charity and prepares the soul for a very close
union with God, which we shall discuss in the following chapter.
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