Confidence is a virtue that only souls truly grounded in faith can practise.

Newsdesk (11/04/2023 20:55, Gaudium Press) According to the Catechism of the Church, virtue is “a habitual and firm disposition to do good.”[1] In this sense, St. Thomas defines the virtue of trust as follows: “Trust implies a certain hope, because it is in fact a hope fortified by a firm opinion.”[2] That is to say, it forms a kind of single virtue with hope, and differs only in the degree of perfection to which it is practiced.

Thomas de Saint-Laurent, in his work “The Book of Confidence“, exemplifies the difference between these two virtues: “The uncertain dawn, like the splendor of the sun at its zenith, are part of the same day … Thus confidence and hope belong to the same virtue: the one is only the full development of the other.“[3] He himself states that ordinary hope, that is, that which every man can practise, is lost through despair, and yet it can bear some degree of disquiet. Nevertheless, when hope reaches the perfection of confidence, any doubt, however small, would lower it to the level of mere hope.[4]

The source and root of confidence must be in the crystalline fountain of faith, since only from this can supernatural certainty come, unshakeable against any enemies.[5] We see, then, that these three virtues: faith, hope and confidence have a very close relationship, since one depends upon the other. Without faith, hope is inconceivable, just as trust is impossible without hope. Thus, “confidence implies a very strong hope, coming from some consideration which justifies a kind of certainty that the desired good will be achieved.“[6]

Supernatural certainty at the moment of trial

A very important thing about the virtue of confidence, which we must not forget, is the role of certainty. There comes a time in every person’s life when God, out of His love, enters into a covenant with souls in a special way. And it is from this that there is born within the soul a clear certainty that God loves it. This initial certainty of God’s love for each person is like the seed in relation to the tree. It is here that all the strength of its growth is found, and from here springs the firmness for the “hours of the storm”. It is from this starting-point, based on faith, that the children of God must begin to fight for Holy Church and become true soldiers of Christ. [7]

We must not, however, confuse “certainty” with “evidence”. Especially in the spiritual life, these two concepts can very well exist at the same time under opposite and contrary forms. A common example can help us to understand the phenomenon that often occurs in our soul: there are certain optical illusions created by brilliant artists that “falsify” reality, showing something that does not exist with all the appearance of reality. A perfect painting of an open hole in the ground can give us a firm impression that the hole is really there. Thus, the evidence seems to show us something, but, if warned in advance, it is made completely clear that it is only a hoax.

So too, in the spiritual life: there are moments when God wants us to go through the test of evidence, contrary to the certainties that come from faith. At such moments, we must not forget that, by our own strength, we achieve nothing. Only with the help of grace can we begin and remain steadfast in the practice of virtue, of the Commandments and particularly of the virtue of confidence. [8]

At times the shock of temptation is uncontainable, aridity often seems to reach to the very depths of faith in our soul, and difficulties present themselves not infrequently like earthquakes that come close to toppling our spiritual edifice. The soul, faced with these concrete, sensitive and palpable facts, cannot help but seem to see with its very eyes the imminence of defeat.

But how different everything would be if, when one of these misfortunes occurs, the soul would remember, with faith, that the Saviour is resisting in its interior! But, “because it does not experience a sensible strength, this despondent soul judges its Saviour to be very distant,”[9] which produces doubt in its heart.

To avoid this, the soul’s certainty cannot be founded on mere natural feelings. It must have supernatural reasons, that is, reasons based on faith, by which it firmly believes that the help of grace will be given to it. If the soul doubts God, it will certainly sink deeper and deeper into despair and distrust. Therefore, doubt is not something that is permitted in this combat.

If she trusts and feels that the danger has passed away, the victorious soul “must understand that only a divine force could have kept her from sinking. Jesus Christ was acting secretly in her heart. Although this help was not perceptible to her, it was real. The arm that accompanied her could not be seen, but it was no less strong for that. Without knowing how, she resisted, she emerged victorious from the fight by the grace of Jesus Christ, who never abandoned her, and who finally restored to her the peace disturbed by temptation. It is on such occasions that a soul must hope against all hope (Rom 4:18); and it will always be sustained.“[10]

However, to some souls, because they are very weak, the difficulty brings them down more easily, causing them to fall into despair. To these it is necessary to say: “If, after the fall, you feel confused, uneasy and distrustful, the first thing you must do is to recover peace, tranquillity of heart and confidence, and with these weapons have recourse to God’s help.”[11]

Models of virtue

Therefore, our models of confidence should be the saints. They never doubted the covenant established by God, nor did they cease to trust in supernatural help, for if they had, what would their lives have been like?

What would have become of the Apostles if, after they had received Pentecost, with the future of the Church in their hands, they had doubted that this work would reach its maximum splendour and last until the end of time? But they trusted in the promise of Our Lord: “The gates of hell shall not prevail against her” (Mt 16:18). Evidently, they had to go through misunderstandings, sufferings, even to the point of martyrdom. But in the most terrible hours, nothing could shake them, because they firmly kept their trust in the Divine Master, in Him who has overcome the world (cf. Jn 16:33).

Could we, on the other hand, imagine a St. Francis Xavier, conqueror of many lands in the East for the Catholic religion, doubting that this was the work he was to accomplish? If he asked himself the following questions: Should I really carry out these missions? Haven’t I have made a mistake in my decision? Was not St. Ignatius, my founder, mistaken in interpreting God’s designs for me? Surely, if he thought so, he would not have had the courage to face even the initial sufferings of his long mission, nor would he have been able to accomplish it.

Finally, let us mention the greatest example: Our Lady, model par excellence of confidence. We can imagine her distressed and anguished beside Our Lord on the Cross. The evidence was cruel: the Incarnate Word was dying, His Apostles had abandoned Him, the promise of triumph seemed denied. Yet what happened within her interior? Those prophetic words: “But on the third day He will rise again” (Mt 17:23) were not extinguished. There was no one else on the face of the earth who vehemently believed in the Resurrection of the Lord. She was the only one who remained standing, confident in the victory of her Divine Son.

Let us ask Our Lord, through His Blessed Mother and all the saints, for an ardent confidence in Him, and let us strive not to doubt in those moments when all seems lost, because only from Heaven will we obtain the victory!

By Juan Esteban Lozano

[1] CATECISMO da Igreja Católica. 11. ed. São Paulo: Loyola, 2001, p. 484.

[2] Thomas Aquinas, Saint. Summa Theologica. 2. ed. São Paulo: Loyola, 2005, v. 7, p. 113 (S.Th. II-II, q. 129, a. 6, ad. 3).

[3] SAINT-LAURENT, Thomas de. O Livro da Confiança (The Book of Confidence). Trad. M. P. São Paulo: Artpress, [s.d.],  p. 19.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid., p. 20: “What sovereign force fortifies hope to the point of making it unshakable in the face of the assaults of adversity? The confident soul remembers the promises of the Heavenly Father; it meditates on them deeply. It knows that God cannot fail to keep His word, hence its imperturbable certainty. When danger threatens, envelopes and overwhelms her, she always maintains her serenity.”

[6] THOMAS AQUINAS. Op. cit. p. 111-112. (S.Th. II-II, q. 129, a. 6, co.).

[7] SCUPOLI, Lorenzo. O Combate espiritual. 2. ed. Saõ Paulo: Cultor de Livros, 2019, p. 56: “It is, then, with the weapons of distrust of self, of confidence in God, of prayer and exercises, that you must begin to combat the Enemy.

[8] SAINT-LAURENT. Op. cit., p. 25: “Without grace man cannot long observe, and in their entirety, the commandments of God. Without grace he cannot resist all the temptations, sometimes so violent, that assail him. Without grace he cannot have a good thought, make even the shortest prayer; without it he cannot even piously invoke the name of Jesus.”

[9] MICHEL, J. Tratado do desânimo nas vias da piedade (Treatise on Discouragement on the Pathways of Piety). São Paulo: Cultor de Livros, 2016, p. 29.

[10] Ibid., p. 30.

[11] SCUPOLI. Op. cit., p. 86.

Compiled by Roberta MacEwan