Growing in hope is not about becoming optimistic or positive by temperament: it is allowing the theological virtue by which the soul strives with all its strength toward God as its only happiness, and relies on Him to lead it there, to grow within oneself. Christian hope is not a vague wish that “everything will turn out fine”: it is the certain expectation of a specific good—eternal life—founded not on ourselves, but on God’s faithfulness to His promises.
It is the most discreet of the three theological virtues, and the one most often neglected. People readily speak of faith and charity; hope is forgotten, as if it were self-evident. Yet without it, faith withers and charity grows weary. Charles Péguy saw it as a little girl walking between her two big sisters, and in reality leading the whole procession[1]. The saints, for their part, never praised it from afar: they lived it as a strength that stands firm in the storm, “a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul” (Heb 6:19)[2].
This article is devoted to the practical path: how hope grows, by what means, and by avoiding which pitfalls—despair on one side, presumption on the other. For the saints’ own words on this theme, see the anthology What do the saints say about hope. For common misunderstandings—hope confused with optimism, fatalism, or escapism—see Common errors concerning hope. For the filial attitude of trust and surrender that is its affective heart, see How to grow in trust and How to grow in abandonment to God. For the other two theological virtues, see How to grow in faith and How to grow in charity.
Why seek to grow in hope?
The forgotten virtue
Of faith we know the struggle; of charity we sing the works; but hope remains a shadowy virtue, assumed to be acquired. It is precisely this silence that Péguy wanted to break, lending to God Himself this sense of wonder:
“The faith I love best, says God, is hope. […] That little girl hope. Immortal. […] It is she, this little one, who leads everything. For Faith sees only what is. And she sees what will be. Charity loves only what is. And she loves what will be.” — Charles Péguy, Le Porche du mystère de la deuxième vertu[3]
This image says it all: hope is turned toward God’s future. It is the virtue of the journey, of the “not yet,” of the soul on the way that has not yet arrived. As long as life lasts, we are travelers; and the traveler endures only by the hope of arriving. To neglect it is to risk moving forward without direction, or sitting down by the roadside.
“For we have been saved, but it is in hope”
Hope is not an ornament of the Christian life: it touches on salvation itself. Saint Paul dares a dizzying formula, which Benedict XVI placed at the head of his encyclical on hope:
“For we have been saved, but it is in hope.” — Letter to the Romans 8:24[4]
“Spe salvi facti sumus”: we are already saved, but in hope, that is, salvation is given to us as a goal still awaited, toward which we journey. Benedict XVI drew from this that “the present, even a painful present, can be lived and accepted if it leads toward a goal and if we can be sure of that goal”[5]. Growing in hope, therefore, is making this goal—Heaven, God Himself—real and certain enough to transform the way we live the present.
What keeps us from discouragement
The most immediate reason to cultivate hope is that it is the bulwark against discouragement. The Catechism makes it one of its vital functions:
“The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men’s activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of Heaven; it protects from discouragement; it sustains in every abandonment; it widens the heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. The impetus of hope preserves from selfishness and leads to the happiness of charity.” — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1818[6]
Here is the practical promise: a soul that grows in hope does not collapse under failure, is not devoured by anxiety about the future, does not resign itself to mediocrity. It stands firm—not by temperament, but by virtue. This does not mean it no longer feels anything: sensibility may remain troubled and the heart pierced with anguish without the will having consented — temptation is not despair[7].
Understanding What We Seek to Acquire
Before discussing the means, a decisive clarification: many fail to grow in hope because they aim for a counterfeit. It is confused with optimism, with positive thinking, with a confident mood. The theological virtue of hope is something entirely different, and defining it precisely is already half the journey.
A Theological Virtue, Not Optimism
The Catechism gives the canonical definition, which must be meditated on word for word:
“Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire as our happiness the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal Life, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.” — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1817[8]
Three words make all the difference from optimism. First, theological: its origin, its object, and its motive are God, not a human calculation about the future. Next, the promises of Christ: hope does not rest on a probability, but on the word of a faithful God. Finally, not on our own strength: the optimist relies on himself, his resources, his luck; the person of hope relies on grace. This is why hope can stand where optimism collapses: at the hospital bed, in ruin, at the hour of death. Optimism looks at the world and says “it will be alright”; hope looks at God and says “He will keep His word.”
The Two Objects: Heaven and Divine Help
Saint Thomas Aquinas established the internal structure of hope with a precision that illuminates all growth. Its proper object is “the future good, arduous but possible to obtain”—and this good, ultimately, is God Himself, possessed in beatitude[9]. But hope aims at this goal in two inseparable ways:
- it hopes for God as the end—eternal life, the beatific vision, endless happiness;
- it hopes for God as help—the aid of His grace, without which this goal remains out of reach[10].
This distinction is golden for practical life. To hope for Heaven without relying on help leads to presumption (I will attain it by my own strength); to doubt the help leads to despair (I will never get there). The virtue holds both together: an infinitely desirable goal, and an infinitely sure support. This is what Father d’Elbée illustrated through Thérèse’s “little way”: too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection, she lets herself be carried as by an elevator — “The elevator that must raise me to Heaven is Your arms, O Jesus!”; Father d’Elbée draws out its meaning: what the soul cannot accomplish by itself, Jesus accomplishes in it and carries it Himself to the summit[11]—it wants to arrive, but lets itself be carried.
To Hope for Heaven, and Everything Else “in Addition”
The primary object of hope is Heaven; but because it expects from God the sovereign good, it also expects from Him all that leads to this good: the forgiveness of sins, final perseverance, the graces along the way, and even temporal goods insofar as they serve salvation[12]. The order is essential: we hope first for God, then for the rest “in addition” (Mt 6:33). To reverse this order—to hope above all for health, success, relief, and only incidentally for Heaven—is to shrink hope until it becomes a human expectation. To grow in hope is, on the contrary, to order it rightly: to put God at the summit of what we expect, and everything else in its place.
Distinguishing Hope and Trust
Hope and trust are so close that they are often confused; yet they must be distinguished in order to cultivate them rightly. Hope is the theological virtue, ordered to eternal beatitude and founded on the promises; trust is like its filial and affective face, the movement of the heart that abandons itself to a God regarded as Father. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus brought this trust to its summit in the “little way”; but this trust is nothing other than hope become childlike tenderness. One can say that trust is the soul of hope, and hope the doctrinal body of trust. The article How to Grow in Trust develops this filial aspect; the present article focuses mainly on the theological virtue and its proper means.
An Infused Gift, First Received
One last truth, and the most consoling: hope is not a conquest of our will. It is an infused virtue, poured into the soul with sanctifying grace, which we do not manufacture but receive. Saint Paul designates its source and makes it the object of a wish:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” — Letter to the Romans 15:13[13]
God is called “the God of hope”: it comes from Him, it is His gift, it overflows “by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The practical consequence is immense: since hope is first received, the primary means of growing is not effort, but asking. This will be discussed further.
The Two Enemies of Hope
Hope has two enemies that Saint Thomas and the Catechism name precisely: despair, which gives up the goal; presumption, which distorts expectation. Knowing them protects growth, for one can ruin one’s hope by falling to either side.
A decisive clarification, for the word “excess” misleads here: toward God, we do not sin by excess — we never hope too much in Him, we never trust Him too much. The measure of hope is God Himself, who exceeds all human capacity; trust in Him therefore has no ceiling[14]. Presumption is not “too much trust”: it is a disordered expectation — hoping for forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit, or claiming to save oneself by one’s own strength, without help from on High (CCC § 2092).
Despair: Ceasing to Hope
The first enemy is despair: giving up on expecting salvation from God, either out of weariness or by exaggerating one’s own misery. The Catechism measures its gravity:
“By despair, man ceases to hope for his personal salvation from God, for help to attain it, or for the forgiveness of his sins. He opposes the Goodness of God, his Justice — for the Lord is faithful to his promises —, and his Mercy.” — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2091[15]
One will notice the root of despair: it does not come from too high an idea of one’s sins, but from too low an idea of the mercy of God. To despair is to judge one’s faults greater than forgiveness, one’s misery stronger than grace — which is, at bottom, a lack of humility disguised as humility. As long as the soul endures these thoughts without consenting to them — troubled sensibility, temptation — it does not despair: despair begins with the consent of the will[16]. The remedy, therefore, is not to think oneself better, but to believe God greater. This is the whole meaning of Thomas a Kempis’s cry: “Do not rely on yourself, and rest only on God alone”[17]. For the subtle forms of this temptation — spiritual discouragement, acedia, the sadness of good — see How to grow in the fight against acedia.
Presumption: Hoping Badly
The opposite enemy is presumption, which sins by excess. The Catechism distinguishes two forms:
“There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on High), or he presumes upon the almighty power or the divine mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit).” — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2092[18]
The first presumption is that of the proud person who relies on himself: he keeps the word “hope” but has lost its object, for he relies on his own strength and not on grace. The second is that of the slothful person who abuses mercy: he hopes for Heaven without conversion, forgiveness without contrition, the crown without combat, sometimes under the mask of a misunderstood mercy that would dispense with all effort. It ruins hope not by extinguishing it, but by relaxing it until it becomes harmless.
The Golden Mean: Hoping “With Confidence, Without Presuming”
Between these two abysses, the virtue stands in a balance that tradition sums up in a formula: to hope “with confidence, and not by presuming.” The Catechism expresses it by associating hope with filial fear:
“Hope is the confident expectation of divine blessing and the beatific vision of God; it is also the fear of offending God’s love and of incurring punishment.” — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2090[19]
True hope thus walks on two feet: a trust in God that has no ceiling, and a filial fear of offending Love — which Saint Thomas linked to the gift of fear of the Holy Spirit, which forms a whole with hope and grows with it[20]. It is not trust that becomes excessive: it is expectation that goes astray when it does without conversion or divine help — there presumption begins; and it is trust that is lacking when fear remains alone — there despair begins. To hold both is precisely to possess the virtue. The following table sets out this discernment.
| Despair | Hope | Presumption | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Error | One gives up the goal | Trust without ceiling and filial fear | One distorts expectation |
| About God | One denies his mercy | One relies on his promises | One abuses his goodness |
| About oneself | One believes oneself irredeemable | One relies on grace | One believes oneself self-sufficient, or dispensed from conversion |
| Fruit | Sadness, abandonment, paralysis | Peace, courage, perseverance | Lukewarmness or pride, illusion |
Reading the table: hope is not a fragile point between two dangers, but a fullness that holds together what each vice separates — an infinitely desired goal and an infinitely sure help. One grows in hope by keeping trust without ceiling and refusing disordered expectation.
Concrete Means to Grow in Hope
Here is the practical heart of this article. The spiritual masters did not merely praise hope: they indicated precise, repeatable means, accessible to everyone. These can be grouped into several major areas.
Asking for Hope as a Grace
The first and most decisive means: since hope is an infused gift, we do not manufacture it ourselves; we ask for it. The act of hope — “My God, I hope with firm confidence that you will grant me, through the merits of Jesus Christ, your grace in this world and, if I keep your commandments, eternal happiness in the other, because you have promised it and you are faithful in your promises”[21] — is not a pious formula: it is the very exercise of the virtue, which makes it grow each time we make it. Jesus invited Gabrielle Bossis to this precise movement:
“Make acts of hope. Step out of yourself. Enter into Me.” — Jesus to Gabrielle Bossis, He and I[22]
To often repeat an act of hope, especially in times of discouragement, is to rekindle the virtue before it wanes. To ask for it is already to exercise it.
Relying on the Promises, Not on Oneself
Hope relies “on the promises of Christ” (CCC § 1817): it is therefore nourished by the Word of God, where these promises are deposited. Meditating on passages of promise — the beatitudes, the parables of the Kingdom, the farewell discourses in Saint John, the Apocalypse of the new Jerusalem — is to give hope its substance. The more the promised goal is known, desired, contemplated, the firmer hope becomes. Conversely, a hope that does not know its promises floats without an anchor. Saint Paul sums up this dynamic: “Hoping against all hope, he believed” (Rom 4:18) — not because Abraham relied on himself, at ninety-nine years old, but because, “before the promise of God, he did not hesitate [...] and gave glory to God, for he was fully convinced that God has the power to accomplish what He has promised” (Rom 4:20-21). And Sarah, too, “thought that God is faithful to His promises” (Heb 11:11)[23].
Turning One’s Gaze Toward Heaven
Hope is strengthened by looking toward its goal. The saints return tirelessly to this means: lifting one’s eyes to Heaven, remembering that we are on a journey, that our homeland is elsewhere. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus made this her daily medicine:
“like this year has passed, our life too will pass and soon we will say: ‘It is over,’ let us not waste our time, soon eternity will shine for us!” — Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Letter 101[24]
This remembrance of Heaven is not an escape: it puts trials into perspective without denying them, and restores the present to its proper measure. Saint Paul experienced this to the point of heartbreak: “I feel torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but, for your sake, to remain in this world is still more necessary.” (Phil 1:23-24)[25]. The Curé of Ars put it more simply: “We are in this world, but we are not of this world [...]. We must therefore await our reward when we are ‘at home,’ in the Father’s house.”[26]. For a rich collection on this theme, see the anthology What do the saints say about hope.
Hoping in Trial, Against All Hope
Hope is exercised and purified in the fire of trial. It is not the night that gives birth to it — it is first received as a gift — but it is in the night that it is proven: on easy days, we do not know if we truly hope or are simply comfortable. Tradition lends Padre Pio a motto striking in its simplicity: to pray, to hope, and not to worry[27].
Worry, when the will consents to it — claiming to carry alone a future that God alone holds — stifles hope; endured without consent, it is a trial, not a sin against hope[28]. To hope in trial is not to deny the pain, but to refuse to let pain have the last word. Saint Thérèse experienced it herself and wrote to her sister: “I suffer!... but the hope of the Homeland gives me courage, soon we will be in Heaven...”[29]. Stripped of every visible support, the act of hope can become very pure, for it no longer relies on anything — only on God; not that the harshness of the trial alone measures this purity, but because the soul, having nothing left to hold on to, has only God left. This is the hope of Abraham and Job, the one that “against all hope” still believes.
Living the Present Moment and Surrendering Oneself
A great part of our despair comes from the future that we carry in anticipation: the fear of tomorrow, the anxiety of what is not yet. Hope is cultivated by entrusting this future to God and inhabiting the present moment. Saint Faustina made this her rule:
“Why probe the future? For me, only the present moment is dear. […] We must entrust to God what the future holds.” — Saint Faustina, Diary, § 2[30]
To hope is not to guarantee the future, but to entrust it. The present moment is the only place where grace is given; the future exists only in the hand of God. It is here that hope meets surrender: we expect everything from God without calculating how He will do it. See How to grow in abandonment to God.
Drawing from the Sacraments of Hope
Hope is nourished not only by thoughts: it has its sacraments. The Eucharist is par excellence the sacrament of hope, “pledge of the life to come”: in already receiving the risen Christ, the soul receives an advance of the Heaven it awaits[31]. The liturgy repeats it at every Mass: “we await the fulfillment of this blessed hope: the coming of Jesus Christ, our Savior”[32]. Likewise, confession lifts up hope cast down by sin, by restoring the certainty of forgiveness against the temptation of despair. To receive Communion, to adore, to confess, is to stand at the sources where hope is revived. See How to grow in frequent Communion and How to grow in regular confession.
Prayer: Prayer, School of Hope
Finally, hope and prayer sustain each other. We pray because we hope, and we learn to hope by praying. Saint Augustine taught that everything hope awaits, the Our Father asks for: the Lord’s Prayer is the very expression of hope, ordered word by word toward the goods to come[33]. The Catechism teaches: it is the Holy Spirit who educates us to pray in hope, and prayer, in return, nourishes hope in us[34]. Each “thy Kingdom come,” each “deliver us from evil” is an act of hope that deepens in us the longing for the Kingdom.
The Fruits of a Growing Hope
How can we recognize that we are truly growing in hope? Not by a feeling, but by stable fruits that the saints consistently describe.
Joy and Peace
The first fruit is a profound joy, which is not euphoria but the peaceful assurance of one who knows where he is going. Saint Paul explicitly links hope to joy and peace (Rom 15:13). It is the peace of the “noble traveler” described by the Book of Heaven: insulted, stripped, threatened on a land that is not his own, he remains calm, “for he is convinced that the more he suffers, the more he will be honored [...] when he takes possession of his land”[35]. Hope does not remove the trial, but it takes away its crushing weight, because it knows its end.
Courage and Perseverance
The second fruit: strength. Hope gives courage because it assures us that effort is not in vain. The Book of Heaven puts it in these words:
“The soul will have lost its timidity. And Hope will give it strength and courage so that it becomes stable like a pillar in the midst of storms, that is, the various tribulations of life will not shake it in any way.” — The Book of Heaven, vol. 2, September 19, 1899[36]
From this firmness is born perseverance, that virtue of endurance without which no spiritual work is completed. We hope, therefore we continue; we continue, therefore we arrive. See How to grow in perseverance and How to grow in strength.
Outreach to Others
The third fruit: hope overflows. Whoever possesses a treasure wants to share it. Hope urges us to bear witness, to console, to give reason for what makes us live: “Always be ready to present a defense before anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15)[37]. A hope that grows makes one missionary, because it cannot keep for itself the announcement of Heaven. Thus it joins charity, its great sister: hope “leads to the happiness of charity” (CCC § 1818) and, in the words of the Book of Heaven, “Hope leads to Love”[38].
Hope in the Divine Will
The spirituality of the Divine Will, transmitted to the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta (1865-1947), gives hope its final accent. Yet one must say what this gift is, for everything else depends on it. Receiving the Divine Will as life is not only doing God’s will — every fervent Christian does that — it is receiving His Will itself so that it may live and act in us: no longer two wills, one of which submits, but one alone, our own effaced to leave all room for His. Obedience belongs to human holiness, necessary and first; living in the Divine Will is divine holiness, received as a gift. In this light, hope changes measure: it no longer expects from God only help for the journey, it expects everything from this God whose Will already lives in it — His grace, His Heaven, His Kingdom accomplished.
In Luisa’s writings, this hope is not a passive waiting: it is a fruitful mother, a door, a force that obtains everything from God because it relies on Him without reserve.
Luisa places hope among the three roots of the tree of virtues, on which everything else depends:
“The three roots of the tree trunk are Faith, Hope, and Charity. […] Faith, Hope, and Charity encompass everything and are the foundation of the tree which can produce nothing without them.” — The Book of Heaven, vol. 2, September 9, 1899[39]
But it is on hope that the pages of September and October 1899 insist the most, to the point of making it the key to Heaven:
“Ah! yes! Hope allows the soul to obtain everything it wants. It is the door of heaven, the only means of entering it. For “whoever hopes for everything, obtains everything.” — The Book of Heaven, vol. 2, September 19, 1899[40]
This hope fulfills because it expects everything from a God who has everything:
“Hope contains all goods, present and future. And the soul who lives and grows on her knees will obtain everything. […] Moreover, as she is the master of masters, every soul who enrolls in her school will learn the science of true holiness.” — Inner voice reported in The Book of Heaven, vol. 2, October 14, 1899[41]
And Luisa herself concludes: “In short, hope gives us everything.”
Finally, in this light, hope becomes the source of peace in trial, because it sees in everything the hand of a God who is the sovereign Good:
“By the virtue of Hope, the soul accepts everything that happens to it with peace, because it knows that everything is decreed by God, who is its greatest Good.” — The Book of Heaven, vol. 1, 97[42]
To grow in hope, from this perspective, is to allow oneself to be raised to God's own measure: to expect from Him not crumbs, but everything — His grace, His Heaven, His Will received as life and acting in us — with the calm boldness of a child who knows that his Father can neither lie nor fail.
Mary, Mother of Hope
We do not grow in a virtue by setting it as an abstract ideal, but by contemplating those who have lived it perfectly. And hope has a sovereign mistress.
The Church greets her every day as “our life, our sweetness, and our hope” in the Salve Regina[43]. Mary is the one who hoped to the very end: at the foot of the Cross, when all seemed lost, she stood firm, bearing the hope of the whole Church. This is why Benedict XVI invokes her at the end of his encyclical as the star of our journey:
“Holy Mary, Mother of God, our Mother, teach us to believe, to hope and to love with you. Show us the way to his reign! Star of the Sea, shine upon us and lead us on our way!” — Benedict XVI, Spe salvi, § 50[44]
To take Mary as mistress of hope is to learn to keep our gaze fixed on the promise when the present closes in, to hope “against all hope” as she did at Calvary, and to let God fulfill what he has said. To grow in hope, ultimately, is to become, under her gaze, a person of the “not yet” who already walks in the light of the goal—a witness to that “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13)[45] that nothing, not even death, can disappoint.
A Concrete Path, Day by Day
Hope does not grow through grand resolutions, but through small and repeated fidelity. The means studied can be summed up in a simple program, graduated from the most accessible to the most demanding:
| Frequency | Exercise of hope | What it develops |
|---|---|---|
| Every day | Make an act of hope: “My God, I hope in you” | Hope as a gift received |
| Often | Entrust the future to God, dwell in the present moment | Abandonment against anxiety |
| Every day | Lift your eyes to Heaven, know you are on the way | Memory of the promised goal |
| Regularly | Meditate on a promise from Scripture | Relying on the word, not on oneself |
| In trial | Renew the act of hope “against all hope” | The virtue purified by the night |
| Regularly | Receive Communion, adore, go to Confession | The sacraments of hope |
| Often | Pray the Our Father as an act of hope | Prayer, school of waiting |
How to read the table: none of these exercises is spectacular; it is their faithful repetition that transforms. Start with one or two, keep them, then add more.
The essential thing is not to aim for hope in general, but to make, today, the concrete act that presents itself: this anxiety to surrender, this discouragement to refuse, this gaze to lift. For hope is the virtue of the traveler; and every traveler endures by the certainty of arriving. Saint Peter-Julian Eymard brought everything back to the essential: provided we arrive at the goal, the road — short or long, easy or difficult — counts only as God’s graces and mercies.[46]
To Go Further
- What do the saints say about hope — a selection of great sayings from saints, doctors, and mystics on this virtue and on the gaze turned toward Heaven.
- Common errors concerning hope — misunderstandings to avoid: hope confused with optimism, fatalism, or escape from the present.
- How to grow in trust — the filial and affective side of hope, the “little way” of abandonment to God the Father.
- How to grow in abandonment to God — entrusting the future into God’s hands, the practical heart of hope.
- How to grow in faith and How to grow in charity — the other two theological virtues, sisters of hope.
- How to grow in perseverance — the virtue of endurance, the proper fruit of a hope that endures.
Notes and References
Charles Péguy (1873-1914), Le Porche du mystère de la deuxième vertu, Cahiers de la Quinzaine, 1911; reprint Œuvres poétiques complètes, Gallimard, “Bibliothèque de la Pléiade.” Hope is depicted there as a “little girl” walking between her two elder sisters, faith and charity, and who in reality “leads everything.”
1Letter to the Hebrews 6:19, official liturgical translation (AELF): “This hope we have as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul; it enters beyond the veil, into the Sanctuary.” Quoted in CCC § 1820.
2Charles Péguy, Le Porche du mystère de la deuxième vertu (1911), opening: “The faith I love best, says God, is hope.” The quotation in the body is an assemblage of non-contiguous verses (cuts marked by [...]: “That little girl hope. Immortal. [...] It is she, this little one, who leads everything. For Faith sees only what is. And she sees what will be. Charity loves only what is. And she loves what will be.”). Collation of October 4, 2026: opening verse verified word for word against the scan (Wikisource, Œuvres complètes, vol. 5, Le Porche, page “La foi que j'aime le mieux, dit Dieu, c'est l'espérance”); “leads everything” confirmed in the work by full-text Wikisource search. Reference edition: Œuvres poétiques complètes, Gallimard, “Bibliothèque de la Pléiade.” Full text on Wikisource.
3Letter to the Romans 8:24, official liturgical translation (AELF): “For we have been saved, but it is in hope” (spe salvi facti sumus). Verse placed as the epigraph of Benedict XVI’s encyclical Spe salvi (2007).
4Benedict XVI, encyclical letter Spe salvi (November 30, 2007), § 1: “Redemption is offered to us in the sense that hope has been given to us, a trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present.” This same § 1 carries the sentence quoted in the body: “the present, even a painful present, can be lived and accepted if it leads toward a goal and if we can be sure of that goal, if that goal is so great that it can justify the efforts of the journey” (collated word for word with the Vatican.va edition). Full text on Vatican.va.
5Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1818 (official French edition, Mame/Plon, 1992), quoted in full in the body, without cuts.
6Father Jean du Cœur de Jésus d’Elbée (1892-1982), Croire à l’Amour (retreat after the little way of Saint Thérèse; Pierre Téqui ed., reprint 2007), pp. 128-129: meaning rendered here in paraphrase — the work could not be reopened during the session, exact place to be reconfirmed on the paper copy. The doctrine in view: to distinguish within oneself the nature that moans, is troubled and rebels, and the will united to that of Jesus (“Homo duplex”); as long as the will says “yes” and does not consent to the movements of nature, there is no sin — hence no despair.
7 16 28Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1817 (official French edition, Mame/Plon, 1992): the definition (first sentence of the paragraph) is quoted in the body; the rest of the paragraph cites Heb 10:23 and Titus 3:6-7. Canonical definition of hope as a theological virtue. Taken up by Pope Francis, general audience of May 8, 2024.
8Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 17, a. 1-2: the object of hope is “the future good, arduous, possible to obtain” (bonum futurum arduum possibile haberi); its principal object is God himself, whose beatitude is awaited. Reference edition: Summa Theologiae, Éditions du Cerf.
9Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 17, a. 4: we hope on the one hand for eternal life (final object), on the other for divine help (auxilium divinum) by which we obtain it; hope relies mainly on the power and mercy of God who helps.
10Father Jean du Cœur de Jésus d’Elbée (1892-1982), Croire à l’Amour, ed. Pierre Téqui, 2007, pp. 47-48: the work quotes Thérèse of Lisieux there — “The elevator that must raise me to Heaven is Your arms, O Jesus!” (Manuscript C, 3 r°) — and draws out its meaning, rendered here in paraphrase (not a literal quotation of Fr. d’Elbée): what the soul cannot accomplish by itself, Jesus accomplishes in it and carries it Himself to the summit. Figure of reliance on grace and not on one’s own strength.
11Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 17, a. 2, ad 2: one can hope from God, besides eternal life, for all goods ordered to it—forgiveness, perseverance, necessary graces—but always in reference to beatitude as the ultimate end.
12Letter to the Romans 15:13, official liturgical translation (AELF): “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” God is named there “the God of hope,” source of the virtue that “overflows” by the power of the Holy Spirit.
13Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 64, a. 4: the rule of the theological virtue is God Himself — “our faith is indeed regulated by divine truth [...] our hope by the greatness of His almighty power and mercy [...] thus one can never [...] hope in Him as much as one ought. Thus one can still less put excess into it.” Toward God, then, no excess is possible; disorder is only “by accident,” on our side.
14Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2091 (official French edition, Mame/Plon, 1992): the second part of the paragraph is quoted in the body. Despair, a sin against hope, opposes the Goodness, the Justice, and the Mercy of God.
15Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380-1471), The Imitation of Christ, book I, ch. 7, 1 (Lamennais trans.; text collated word for word on Wikisource): “Foolish is he who puts his hope in men or in any creature whatsoever. […] Do not rely on yourself, and rest only on God alone.”
17Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2092 (official French edition, Mame/Plon, 1992), quoted in full in the body (the official edition reads “Il y deux sortes de présomption,” a typo normalized here as “Il y a”). The two forms of presumption: presuming on one’s own abilities (to save oneself without grace) or presuming on divine mercy (forgiveness without conversion, glory without merit).
18Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2090 (official French edition, Mame/Plon, 1992): the second part of the paragraph is quoted in the body (the paragraph opens with God’s call and the hope of receiving from Him the capacity to love Him). In it, hope is joined to filial fear of offending the love of God.
19Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 19, a. 9: the gift of fear of the Holy Spirit corresponds to hope (“filial fear and hope form a whole and perfect each other”); and a. 10, reply 2: when hope grows, “filial fear grows, for the more one awaits with certainty the acquisition of some good through the help of another, the more one fears to offend him and to be separated from him.”
20Traditional formula of the act of hope, handed down by catechisms and missals (here in the formal address; a familiar-address variant also circulates): condition of “if I keep your commandments” and conclusion on God’s faithfulness included.
21Jesus to Gabrielle Bossis (1874-1950), Lui et moi. Entretiens spirituels, dialogue of January 5, 1937: “Make acts of hope. Step out of yourself. Enter into Me.” (Lui et moi — Œuvre complète ed., Rassemblement à son Image, Plouisy, 2021). Scope of the imprimatur: that of Msgr. Jean-Marie Fortier, Archbishop of Sherbrooke, of November 14, 1969, appears in the condensed English edition (He and I, trans. Evelyn M. Brown, Pauline Books); it does not cover the French original quoted here.
22Letter to the Romans 4:18, 20-21, official liturgical translation (AELF): “Hoping against all hope, he believed; thus he became the father of a great number of nations, according to this word: Such shall be your descendants!” (4:18); “Before the promise of God, he did not hesitate, he did not lack faith, but found his strength in faith and gave glory to God, for he was fully convinced that God has the power to accomplish what He has promised.” (4:20-21). Letter to the Hebrews 11:11 (AELF): it is of Sarah, and not of Abraham, that it is written that “she thought that God is faithful to His promises” — “Through faith, Sarah, too, despite her age, was made capable of being the origin of descendants, because she thought that God is faithful to His promises.” Abraham remains the Pauline model of hope based solely on God’s faithfulness.
23Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897), Letter 101 (to her sister Céline, December 31, 1889), Correspondance générale, Cerf/DDB: “like this year has passed, our life too will pass and soon we will say: ‘It has passed,’ let us not waste our time, soon eternity will shine for us!”
24Letter to the Philippians 1:23-24, official liturgical translation (AELF): “I feel torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but, for your sake, to remain in this world is still more necessary.”
25Saint John Vianney, the Curé of Ars (1786-1859): “We are in this world, but we are not of this world, since we say every day, ‘Our Father, Who art in Heaven...’ We must therefore await our reward when we are ‘at home,’ in the Father’s house.” (Les Pensées, Artège Pocket ed., 2015, presented by Bernard Nodet; source given: Esprit 22, i.e. the Esprit du Curé d'Ars by Abbé Alfred Monnin, Douniol, 1864). Wording corroborated by collections of his catecheses: “We are in this world, but we are not of this world, since we say every day, 'Our Father, Who art in Heaven.' We must wait, then, for our reward till we are at home, in our Father's house.” (The Little Catechism of the Curé of Ars, Br Sean ed., 2008).
26Saint Padre Pio (1887-1968): motto handed down by tradition and witnesses (It.: Prega, spera e non ti agitare, var. non ti preoccupare); no exact written source — work, letter, or dated saying — has been identified: formula received here at the level of tradition, not as a verbatim quotation.
27Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Letter 95 (to Sister Agnès of Jesus, 1889): “I suffer!... but the hope of the Homeland gives me courage, soon we will be in Heaven...” Correspondance générale, Cerf/DDB.
29Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), Diary, § 2: “When I look to the future, fear comes upon me. But why probe the future? For me, only the present moment is dear. […] We must entrust to God what the future holds.” Ed. Hovine / Marians.
30Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1402-1405: the Eucharist is “pledge of the life to come” (antiphon O sacrum convivium: “where is given to us the pledge of the life to come,” CCC § 1402) and anticipation of the heavenly banquet; it nourishes the hope of eternal life.
31Embolism after the Our Father (Roman Missal, 2021 trans.): “[...] we await the fulfillment of this blessed hope: the coming of Jesus Christ, our Savior.” ([...] covers the beginning of the embolism, “Deliver us from all evil [...]”).
32Saint Augustine (354-430), Enchiridion (Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Charity), to Laurentius, ch. 114-116: everything pertaining to hope is embraced in the Lord’s Prayer; the Our Father is the expression of hope. Cf. CCC § 1820 and § 2761.
33Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2657 (official French edition, Mame/Plon, 1992): “The Holy Spirit who teaches us to celebrate the Liturgy in expectation of Christ’s return, educates us to pray in hope. Conversely, the prayer of the Church and personal prayer nourish hope in us.”
34The Book of Heaven, vol. 2, September 19, 1899 (French ed. Lumen Luminis, pp. 100-101). The parable of the “noble traveler” belongs to Luisa’s meditation following the close of Jesus’ words (“O holy Hope, how admirable you are! A soul filled with you is like a noble traveler [...]”): unknown on a land not his own, mocked, insulted, stripped, he remains at peace “for he is convinced that the more he suffers, the more he will be honored [...] when he takes possession of his land [...]. Thus Hope leads to Love.” ([...] cover the elided passages of the narrative).
35 38Jesus to Luisa Piccarreta, The Book of Heaven, vol. 2, September 19, 1899 (French ed. Lumen Luminis, pp. 98-99): “The soul will have lost its timidity. And Hope will give it Strength and Courage so that it becomes stable like a pillar in the midst of storms.”
36First Letter of Saint Peter 3:15, official liturgical translation (AELF): “Honor in your hearts the holiness of the Lord, Christ. Always be ready to present a defense before anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”
37Jesus to Luisa Piccarreta, The Book of Heaven, vol. 2, September 9, 1899 (French ed. Lumen Luminis, pp. 95-96): “The three roots of the tree trunk are Faith, Hope, and Charity […] they encompass everything and are the foundation of the tree which can produce nothing without them.”
39Jesus to Luisa Piccarreta, The Book of Heaven, vol. 2, September 19, 1899 (French ed. Lumen Luminis, p. 99): “Hope allows the soul to obtain all it desires. It is the gate of heaven, the only means of entering. For ‘whoever hopes for everything, obtains everything.’”
40The Book of Heaven, vol. 2, October 14, 1899 (French ed. Lumen Luminis, pp. 121-122). The text introduces an inner voice — “Even if I am resolved to speak no more of Hope, a voice resounds in me and says: ‘Hope contains all goods, present and future. [...] every soul who enrolls in her school will learn the science of true holiness.’” — and closes its quotation marks before “In short, hope gives us everything,” Luisa’s own conclusion. Hope is depicted there as an infinitely rich “mother” who gives everything without being impoverished.
41Jesus to Luisa Piccarreta, The Book of Heaven, vol. 1, no. 97 (French ed. Lumen Luminis): “By the virtue of Hope, the soul accepts everything that happens to it with peace, because it knows that everything is decreed by God, who is its greatest Good.”
42Marian antiphon Salve Regina (11th century, attributed to Hermann Contract): “Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiæ, vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve”—“Hail, Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope, hail.”
43Benedict XVI, Spe salvi (November 30, 2007), § 50, final prayer addressed to Mary, “star of hope”: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, our Mother, teach us to believe, to hope and to love with you. Show us the way to his reign! Star of the Sea, shine upon us and lead us on our way!” Official text on Vatican.va.
44Letter to Titus 2:13, official liturgical translation (AELF): “...awaiting the fulfillment of the blessed hope: the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” ([...] covers the beginning of the verse, “She teaches us to renounce...”). The embolism of the Roman Missal (2021) takes up these words after the Our Father.
45Saint Peter-Julian Eymard (1811-1868): summary of his doctrine, not a literal quotation, after the Conseils de vie spirituelle, Nouvelle Cité, 2015, p. 12 — all is well provided we reach the goal; once the end is attained, whether the road was short or long, easy or difficult, all weighs only as God’s graces and mercies. Meaning corroborated by his correspondence (letter to his sisters, anniversary of his baptism: “All is well, provided we reach our goal at the end...,” Counsels for Spiritual Life, English trans.).
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