When Is Prudence Prudent?

I once heard Father say in a homily that no saint was ever canonized for being prudent. He went on to explain that it is a great virtue, but that we as fallen beings have a tendency to be overly prudent. While I’m not sure the Church has never canonized someone based primarily on their faculty for prudence, the sentiment behind the message had a ring of truth to it.

Prudence is considered a balancing of the needs of now versus the needs of the future; the needs of self versus the needs of others. In another word, foresight. Given the other six virtues listed by the church (justice, temperance, fortitude, faith, hope, charity), prudence can seem a bit lackluster and overlooked. Saints have been known for being defenders of justice, models of abstinence, and fearless in the face of certain death. Of course, they are all excellent examples of the three theological virtues as well.

By secular standards, saints are terrible role models for prudence. Saints give up their food for the hungry, their money for the needy, their shelter for the homeless. They are considered charmingly naive at best and intentionally reckless at worst. Yet they lay down everything for God and His children. They may spend their lives pleading with others for support to continue their ministry, or they may spend their lives being a quiet refuge and source of hope for others in a dark, hectic world.

By Catholic standards, saints have mastered prudence. Their foresight has not been solely focused on saving up for this world, but on more closely uniting themselves to Christ. Saints are able to see past their physical needs and focus on their spiritual needs.

Saint Thomas Aquinas considered prudence to be the virtue that governs all the others. When discussing prudence, it is inevitable that all examples of it will contain elements of other virtues. Prudence is the ability to make the correct decision; everything after that is up to properly exercising the other virtues in order to carry out the decision made. It is a hidden virtue, and likely the reason why we don’t hear saints praised for their prudence. Rather, in highlighting a strong character trait, we are acknowledging that the saint had a firm foundation in prudence to continuously make the tough decisions that they are known for today. Amongst the virtues, prudence requires a sophisticated level of maturity. It requires an intimate understanding of each of the remaining virtues in order to exercise them in a way that brings glory to God. It requires an intimate understanding of self so that we can each follow our given vocation without being swayed by the success of another’s path.

Prudence is a tricky, multilayered concept. As Catholics, we are first and foremost focused on our eternal future. Above all else, our God-given abilities to make good judgments should be employed to further this endeavor. This is a given, and the Church rightly lays out a general guide through the Bible, the Catechism, and her saints. In evaluating how our vocation will lead us to heaven, prudence can take on a more material focus. How can we afford another child? Can I pay off my student debts in time to enter the convent? In the end, being prudent is about making the tough decisions to help us inch closer to heaven. These decisions may be a leap of faith. They can sometimes be reckless in the eyes of society, but they are rewarded eternally.

As for Father’s question from the beginning, are we overly prudent in the world? That’s for you to decide on an individual level. I suspect that a contributing factor to our apparent lack of prudence is not a problem with our internal judgment, but on our inability to carry through (fortitude). On a global level, even Wikipedia notes that “the word has become increasingly synonymous with cautiousness” in the modern English language. Be sure not to mistake prudence for a fear of the path God has laid out for you. We must be vigilant in our ability to judge what is good for us, and thus, what is good for God.

Allie Terrell

Allie Terrell

Allie Terrell is a 2010 convert to Catholicism after dabbling in a few different trains of religious thought. She graduated from Rose-Hulman in 2009 with a degree in computer science, and is now pursuing her doctorate in the hopes of teaching some day. When she can spare a few hours, Allie likes to visit religious sites and work on her photography. She blogs about her journeys at Here Is The Church.

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