Without the virtue of perseverance, nothing can be brought to completion or perfection. The following excerpt, taken from Saint Albert the Great’s, The Paradise of the Soul, discusses what perseverance is, its importance, and how it differs from false perseverance.
True Perseverance
True perseverance comprises the frequent application of oneself to good works, continual efforts to attain to spiritual and moral perfection, and the most diligent observance of all graces and virtues until the moment of death. The Lord invites us to cultivate and embrace this virtue of perseverance when He says in the book of Revelation, “Be faithful unto death, and I shall bestow upon you the crown of life!” Holy Job exhibited this virtue of perseverance in an exemplary degree when he declared, “Until I die, I shall not waver from my innocence.” Tobit also displayed this holy perseverance when he continued to bury the bodies of the dead, even though the king of Assyria had threatened to despoil him of his possessions and kill him because of this.
A consideration of the great usefulness and benefits of holy perseverance ought to induce us to love and cultivate this virtue. For it is only by dint of perseverance that all our good works and all our other virtues can come to be consummated and crowned. Indeed, without perseverance, salvation is impossible, according to the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For He declared, “It is the one who perseveres until the end who will be saved.” Without perseverance, no good work or virtue will be able to endure long enough to merit its reward. Without perseverance, nothing will be brought to completion or perfection!
For example, what did it profit the apostle and traitor Judas that he had once chosen to leave the world and to follow Christ? What benefit did his long-lasting friendship with Jesus bring him? Or the holy preaching, which he had so often listened to from the Lord’s own mouth, or the multitude of miracles which he had so frequently witnessed, or the holy company of the other apostles with whom he had long been associated, or even the ministry of preaching and miracles which he himself had undertaken? For this traitor, Judas, had certainly been amongst the chosen twelve when the Lord said to them, “Go forth, and proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand. Cure the sick, raise up the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons!” [Clearly, in the end, such good works did not assist Judas at all, since he lacked the virtue of holy perseverance to continue in the good path he had begun.]
Signs of True and False Perseverance
A sure sign of true perseverance is when a person will not deliberately depart from what he knows to be right in the face of any adversity, trial, or temptation—neither love of life, nor fear of death, nor threats, nor promises will be able to deter him from his holy resolve. This perseverance was exhibited by Susanna when she boldly declared, “If I have sinned, then let me die!” Likewise, in the first book of the Maccabees, the brave Mattathias said, “Even if all the nations obey King Antiochus, and even if each one departs from the laws of their forefathers to submit to his wicked decrees, I and my sons and my brothers shall all remain unswervingly faithful to the law of our ancestors. May the Lord be merciful to us!”
A sign of false or deluded perseverance is when a person has so much confidence in his own sanctity that he believes it is not possible for him to fall away. Out of this presumptuous confidence, a harmful and dangerous liberty of soul is born, and the person soon ceases to keep custody of his own thoughts and actions. Hence it is impossible that such a person will be able to persevere in sanctity in the longer term. Indeed, if the holy apostles continued to live in this world of temptations and trials and they failed to keep custody of their minds and hearts, even they would eventually slip into sin! King David provides us with an instructive example of the importance of guarding oneself in order to achieve holy perseverance. For, although he was both wise and holy, he committed adultery and murder, all because he had neglected to keep custody of his eyes!
Prayer for Perseverance
O Jesus, make me constant
And faithful to Your law,
And teach me perseverance,
To stand firm evermore.
And let my heart not waver,
Nor wander from Your light;
Grant holy perseverance
In all that’s just and right.
ooo
This article is taken from a chapter in The Paradise of the Soul: Forty-Two Virtues to Reach Heaven by Saint Albert the Great which is available from TAN Books.
