XIX — PRUDENCE AND RECTITUDE

Presence of God. — Teach me, my God, that prudence which leads to You by the straight way of duty and truth.

Meditation

1 — Prudence is not limited to advising us about the good works we must do to reach the end of our sanctification, but also accompanies us during the performance of those works, suggesting to us the conduct best suited according to the circumstances of the moment. Prudence, for example, tells us when it is opportune to be silent and when to speak, when to act and when to wait, when to yield and when to resist, when and in what form to practice this or that virtue. Prudence is thus the great regulator of our whole life, and quite rightly it is called auriga virtutum, that is, she who directs the exercise of all other virtues. With regard to moral virtues, prudence regulates them so that they keep our conduct in the right mean, avoiding opposite excesses that are always defective, for example: too much boldness or exaggerated timidity, too much activity or excessive passivity, pursuit of comforts or penances that ruin health, and so forth. With regard to theological virtues, however, for which there is no question of right mean, prudence’s task consists in indicating in what circumstances and by what means we must practice them. Thus, for example, prudence will indicate to us dangers that threaten faith and the way to avoid them; it will suggest how to exercise full confidence in God without fear of falling into presumption; it will teach us to love God with all our heart without neglecting love of neighbor or fulfillment of our duties; and finally to practice fraternal charity with full dedication but without committing imprudences that could be very harmful.

One can therefore say that prudence is useful and necessary in all things: it is somewhat like salt that must season all our actions. The soul detached from self that aims at God alone, the recollected soul that does not let itself be dissipated by the noise of the world, will with ease and almost spontaneously tread the way of supernatural prudence, and by that way will reach God straightly, without deviations and loss of time.

2 — “True and perfect prudence advises, judges, and commands rightly in view of the ultimate end of the whole life” (St. Thomas, II-II, q. 47, a. 13). The great difference between Christian prudence and worldly prudence lies not only in the enormous diversity of ends to be pursued, but also in the choice of means. While the latter, in order to reach its aims, does not scruple to use illicit means nor to take the crooked ways of falsehood, cunning, and deceit, Christian prudence rejects a priori any means that conflict, even slightly, with God’s law and follows only the straight way of sincerity. Christian prudence too may suggest postponing to a better time the execution of a project, though good and holy; not revealing our intentions to everyone; keeping silent on a determined subject; and so on. Yet it will never ask us to fail in duty or truth. When Jesus said that “the children of this age are, in their kind, more prudent than the children of light” (Lk. 16:8), He certainly meant to recall us to greater prudence and carefulness in doing good; but He did not mean to encourage us to use illicit means, which the children of darkness use with such ease. Nor should we think that, having to use only good and upright means, our prudence remains overcome by worldly prudence, since, in face of intrigues and deceits that we can in no way repay in kind, we have at our disposal a far more powerful means that, in the end, will always have victory: recourse to God through prayer and sacrifice.

Sending his Apostles into the world, where the snares of evil are immense, Jesus recommended: “Be always prudent as serpents and simple as doves” (Mt. 10:16). By indicating together these two virtues, prudence and simplicity, He clearly tells us that one must never be disjoined from the other, nor one be pretext for failing in the other. Prudence must never make us lack simplicity — and here is the exclusion of all those means that smell of falsehood — but at the same time simplicity must never make us lack prudence.

Colloquy

“O prudence, you are like a high mountain where whoever dwells keeps healthy by enjoying purer air, and from that height sees and foresees all that must be done. Thus, O God, the prudence that comes from You keeps the soul above the mists of passions and human considerations, confers on it greater vigor of virtue, urges it to honor You in all its works, and makes it foresee everything so that it may arm itself with fortitude against temptations. Grant me, my God, this true and upright prudence, that it may lead me to union with You. And lead me in such a way that, for no motive or regard of creature, I omit to put your works into execution” (cf. St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi).

“Create in me, O Lord, a pure heart and infuse in me a right spirit. Teach me your ways, that I may follow your truth. Give me temperance and prudence, justice and fortitude, than which nothing is more useful in life to men” (cf. Ps. 50; Wis. 8:7).

“Supreme Goodness, O my Jesus, I ask You for a heart so enamored of You that no thing of earth may know how to distract it... a free heart, never seduced, never enslaved; an upright heart that never finds itself in crooked ways” (St. Thomas Aquinas).