Lent 2026 - Reading #1 - Prudence
Reading
On this Ash Monday (celebrated in several Eastern rites; the Latin rite begins on Ash Wednesday), we begin with the words of the Angelic Doctor on the queen of the cardinal virtues. Thomas Aquinas writes: "Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid." Aquinas further teaches that prudence is not merely caution or timidity, but a robust intellectual virtue that perfects the practical reason. In the Summa Theologica, he explains: "Prudence is of good counsel about matters regarding man's entire life, and the end of human life." It is the charioteer of the virtues, guiding all others to their proper expression. Without prudence, justice becomes rigid, fortitude becomes recklessness, and temperance becomes mere abstinence without purpose. The prudent soul learns to see reality clearly, to deliberate well, and to act decisively. This is not a passive virtue but an active engagement with the world as it truly is, seeking always what is genuinely good rather than what merely appears good.
Reflection
Today, as ashes are traced upon our foreheads, we embark on a forty-eight-day journey through the seven great virtues that Lent calls us to cultivate. This is the first day of a pilgrimage, not to a distant shrine, but inward, toward the person God created us to become. We begin, as Thomas Aquinas would have us begin, with prudence: the virtue of seeing clearly. Ash Wednesday strips away pretension. "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." There is a clarity in those words, a refusal to let us hide behind comfortable illusions. This is precisely what prudence demands‚ not cleverness, not calculation, but the courage to see things as they truly are. In a season that asks us to fast, pray, and give alms, prudence is the virtue that helps us discern how to do each of these well, in a way fitted to our particular life and circumstances. As we begin this Lenten walk, let us ask for the grace of clear sight. The journey ahead will take us through all seven virtues, from the practical wisdom of prudence to the transcendent fire of charity in Holy Week. Each virtue builds upon the last. But it all starts here, with the willingness to open our eyes and see, ourselves, our neighbor, and our God, without flinching.