Conferences on the Virtues

By Fr. Bruno Cocuzzi, ocd

Number 8

Having spoken of the Virtues and allied matters in a general way, now it is time to speak about them specifically. Perhaps it would be logical to start at the top and begin with the totally supernatural and theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. However, these virtues are so much better known than the Infused Moral Virtues, that I will exclude them from this series. We begin then, with the Cardinal Virtue of Prudence. Then we’ll do Fortitude, Temperance and finally Justice.

It is suggested that the Latin word for Prudence (Prudentia) is ultimately derived from the Latin expression porro videns, which means, looking afar or looking further on, either in space or in time. Thus, those persons would be considered prudent who, looking to the past as well as to the present, speculate, ponder and make practical judgments concerning the immediate, near or distant future. This is another reason why we know that the virtue of Prudence resides in the intellect and not in the sensory appetitive faculties, since the latter are able to perceive only in the here and now. As a moral virtue (concerned with mores) its proper object is to discern what is to be done at the present moment. Of course, by saying that Prudence is concerned with what is to be done, we imply that there is some goal or objective to which that conduct is ordered. Prudence helps with practical intellect to select, from among several options, that specific conduct which should be chosen in view of the circumstances.

Thus, there are different kinds of Prudence, depending upon which of several objectives one is trying to achieve. Namely, there are immediate, intermediate and ultimate objectives. In the truest and most perfect sense, Prudence is concerned with what must be done right now in order to keep us properly oriented toward, and traveling straight in the direction that leads to, our ultimate or final goal. Which final goal, for us human beings, is a Union with God that is permanent and inamissible. Inamissible means CANNOT BE LOST.

But Prudence is also concerned with objectives that we seek to attain in the near and somewhat more distant future. They, too, must be such that they do not stand in the way of our attaining our ultimate goal. In the conference preceding this one, we spoke at length about Sanctifying Grace, by means of which one can and does enjoy actual possession of God under various aspects here and now through Faith, Hope and Charity. However, our possession of Him through those virtues does not exclude the possibility of our falling out of that state of union. Thus, all one’s intermediate objectives must be such that they do not cause one to lose one’s share in God’s life through Sanctifying Grace.

That last paragraph reminds us that it is not the role of practical reason, aided by Prudence, to fabricate the final destiny toward which we must strive. Our final objective or destiny is built into our human nature by God Himself: Thou has made us for Thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee. (St. Augustine). Only union with God can give us the eternal blessedness we naturally crave. Now it is true that we can speak of different kinds of prudence, each of which enables one to discern the means by which various objectives can be attained. But only the supernatural, infused virtue of Prudence enables one to discern the means that infallibly lead to Union with God. Since human nature does not change, union with God is the final destiny for which EVERY human being is created, without exception.

Therefore, it is necessary that God place within each human being something that serves as a guide for the practical intellect, and from which the virtue of Prudence may take its cues. That thing is the basic principle or rule inscribed upon every human heart: Good must be done: evil is to be avoided. It is the function of Prudence to choose from among all the possible alternatives the conduct that is good for one right now, and which excludes what is evil. To employ at every moment the means to embrace GOODNESS in thought, word and deed is the only way to guarantee that one remains always truly united with God at each successive moment in time. From this we get the adage: We don’t die and THEN go to Heaven; we die and TAKE OUR HEAVEN with us.

What would happen, though, if someone were to decide that something other than God and union with Him were his eternal destiny? What if his appetitive faculties of sense and psyche were to induce him to choose as the source of his eternal happiness some created thing or person or activity that he perceived as GOOD? What happens to him, further, when he chooses the means that his practical intellect tells him will put him in everlasting possession of that created good?

Ordinarily, if such a person is acting in good Faith and mistakenly thinks that nothing else than some created good can make him happy, then there is another mechanism that God has placed into the human soul. After a while, because of the truth articulated by St. Augustine (above), that person of good will discovers that the possession of those goods do not really give him what he expected. He really does become restless and ill at ease. In someone who ought to know better than to look elsewhere than to God for happiness, even worse things happen, as Holy Father, St. John of the Cross tells us. Pursuing the things perceived as good by the appetitive faculties of sense and psyche serve only to …deprive him of God’s Spirit, and they weary, torment, darken, defile and weaken him. (Ascent, Book I, ch. 6). But in spite of all that, many folks (especially the wealthy) continue to look elsewhere than to God for their ultimate happiness.

We all know by experience that the senses and the psyche (the human ego) find the kind of conduct best suited to keeping a human person united to God in the present moment to be difficult, disagreeable and at times painful. Perhaps this is what prompted G. K. Chesterton to observe: Christianity has NOT been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and NOT BEEN TRIED!!!

When we analyze the way the virtue of Prudence works, we find that it consists of three components: to reflect (or seek counsel), to judge, and to persuade. By means of the first it passes in review and weighs all possible, reasonable options. By means of the second, it settles upon the option that is most suitable for the situation. By means of the third it moves the will to actually choose and execute that option. In carrying out the first two, Prudence causes one to act with care and with pause. In carrying out the third function, Prudence causes one to act swiftly and decisively. Prudence, then, helps one to know BOTH how to act or conduct himself AND to know that he can so act. Finally, Prudence persuades one ACTUALLY so to conduct himself.

The PARTS of Prudence

It is possible to think of Prudence as having Integral, Subjective and Potential parts. The Integral parts are those dispositions, conditions and acts without which Prudence is not properly exercised. They are like the limbs and organs of a body, all of which are required so that the body may live and move as a normal, healthy body. The Subjective parts are like sub-species of Prudence, the way GENUS is subdivided into various appearances of SPECIFIES. The Potential parts of Prudence are analogous to the several functions of the human soul: sensitive and perceptive, imaginative, intuitive, intellectual and volitional. As these come together to comprise ALL the powers and functions of the human soul, so the potential parts of Prudence come together to make an entire, complete act of the virtue of Prudence.

The Integral parts of Prudence are eight in number and are divided into the cognitive, acquisitive and perceptive parts. The cognitive are: MEMORY of what has gone before and KNOWLEDGE of present circumstance or factors. The acquisitive parts are: DOCILITY in learning from others, INVENTIVENESS of mind, and LOGIC. The perceptive parts are: FORESIGHT, CIRCUMSPECTION and CAUTION.

MEMORY has to do principally with what one has learned out of personal experience, while KNOWLEDGE has to do with a grasp of present factors. These include not only the factual situation one happens to be in, but also the general and particular principles of human conduct that are, or could be applicable.

DOCILITY (teachable-ness) is required because often one does not have sufficient experience or knowledge to proceed without first consulting another more experienced and learned person. INVENTIVENESS of mind is somewhat like insight or perspicacity, which is a mysterious, sure grasp of what the situation calls for. LOGIC, the power to reason accurately, is needed whenever the situation requires that one must proceed from evident clues to a non-evident fact or reality.

FORESIGHT is concerned with keeping one’s eyes on the road ahead because the function of Prudence includes keeping in view the path that leads from here (an intermediate goal) to there (the next intermediate goal). CIRCUMSPECTION is concerned with avoiding obstacles that might crop up while going down the path to the next intermediate goal, while CAUTION has to do with obstacles that might grow out of acting with undue haste or recklessness.

The Subjective parts of Prudence are easiest to understand. There is a MONASTIC or purely personal, individual Prudence, as well as a DIRECTIVE Prudence. The former has to do with a person’s guiding himself toward his proper, ultimate goal, while the latter has to do with leading a community of persons to its proper, ultimate goal. Those who exercise roles of leadership over or within a community would clearly have to take their obligation to exercise Directive Prudence into consideration as they strive to acquire the personal, Monastic virtue of Prudence.

Directive Prudence is further subdivided into Economic, Military and Political Prudence. These have to do, respectively, with the good of a family; the good of a nation against a common, external enemy; and the internal good of a nation or one of its subdivisions. An element of Monastic prudence called civil concerns one’s personal, individual participation in the life of the nation, or of one of its subdivisions, to which a person belongs. And although my textbook doesn’t mention it, there would have to be a subdivision of Directive Prudence that is concerned with guiding or directing other individuals in their personal affairs, whether in spiritual or merely mundane matters.

The POTENTIAL parts of Prudence are all the good habits (and thus virtues in their own right), which enter into the practice of the virtue of Prudence and make it complete. My textbook assigns Greek names to them, of which I do not know the exact translation. They are: EUBULIA, SYNESIS, AND GNOME. Eubulia is the habit of seeking opportune counsel; Synesis is the habit of conforming to common, traditional norms and rules of conduct; and Gnome is the habit of conforming to highest and broadest principles of conduct when special circumstances are such that ordinary rules and norms do not suffice.

The Gift of Counsel

In the previous conference in this series, we had occasion to speak of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and their influence upon the practice or the infused [supernatural] moral virtues. Of these, the Gift of Counsel is considered the one that plays the most significant role in the exercise of Prudence. The Gift of Counsel confers a special quality upon the practical intellect that makes it super-sensitive to the light or illumination shed by the Holy Spirit upon difficult situations. With the help of that light a person is able to see more clearly and with greater certainty what is to be done in those difficult situations on the road to eternal happiness.

The light shed in virtue of the Gift of Counsel differs from the light conferred upon the intellect by supernatural Faith. The light of Faith can be shared to a lamp that sheds light over a wide area, while the light of the Gift of Counsel can be compared to a spotlight. The former concerns knowledge applicable over a wide range of conduct relevant to one’s eternal salvation, while the latter concerns the conduct required here and now on an individual’s journey toward eternal blessedness.

The Gift of Counsel also differs from the Gifts of Knowledge and Wisdom for almost the same reason. The latter two provide the grist, so to speak, for the mill of Prudence, which then grinds out the mode of conduct that applies here and now.

My textbook teaches that there are three degrees of influence brought to bear upon the infused virtue of Prudence by the Gift of Counsel. These correspond to the three phases, or stages, of the spiritual journey, which are Purgative, Illuminative and Unitive. In the Purgative phase, Counsel helps Prudence see that one MUST keep the Commandments in order to be saved. In the Illuminitive phase, Counsel helps Prudence to see that one must imitate Jesus Christ in all things in order to share fully in the Divine Life bestowed by Sanctifying Grace. As one makes progress in imitating Jesus, one perceives and savors the Wisdom contained in the Spirit of the evangelical counsels, the Beatitudes and in loving others as Jesus has loved us. In the Unitive phase, the Gift of Counsel helps one to see that the Spirit of the evangelical counsels, the Beatitudes and loving like Jesus loves (a redeeming love) is not just an option, but is something that he MUST EMBRACE in order to satisfy his yearning for union with God.

Finally, the Fifth Beatitude is said to correspond to the Virtue of Prudence and the Gift of Counsel. It reads: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. That is because both the former are concerned with what is most conducive to salvation, and nothing more surely guarantees one’s eternal salvation than works of mercy.

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