LONG-SUFFERING

Long-suffering, a moral virtue that perfects the irascible appetite so that one is able to continue in good action over an extended period of time in spite of difficulties arising from external obstacles. It is also called constancy. Long-suffering is very similar to the virtue of perseverance; it differs, however, by reason of the difficulties that must be sustained. Perseverance strengthens the appetite against the difficulty that exists simply because a course of action must be continued for a prolonged period; constancy is concerned with withstanding the hardships that may come from external causes when virtuous action is extended over a period of time.

St. Peter attributed long-suffering to God: "The Lord does not delay in his promises, but for your sake is long-suffering, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance" (2 Pt 3.9). The human virtue imitates its divine model by a willingness to endure the sufferings imposed from external impediments to the Christian life such as bad example and the onslaught of special temptations from the world. The vices of inconstancy and pertinacity are opposed to the virtue of longsuffering. Inconstancy is the vice of those who are unwilling to endure the tedium of prolonged action in the face of obstacles. They are "soft" and easily abandon the pursuit of virtue in the face of exterior difficulties, such as the jibes of others. Pertinacity is the vice of those who refuse to desist from some course of action even after persistence has become unreasonable. Pertinacity is usually found in self-opinionated and stubborn people who, because of vanity, refuse to abandon a position once they have assumed it.

Bibliography: thomas aquinas, Summa theologiae 2a2ae.137.3. a. royo, The Theology of Christian Perfection, tr. and ed. j. aumann (Dubuque 1962).

[r. doherty]