ABANDONMENT. —
I. Ascetical Theology
1. Notions
Abandonment (virtue, spirit, act of abandonment) is an attitude of spiritual life of high perfection, whose nature, degrees, exercises, and deviations are studied especially from the 16th century onward. Abandonment in the active sense is defined as: “complete conformity to the will of God in all things, arising from love and dedication.”The ancients spoke of *resignatio* (Imit. Christi III, 15, 17, 37; IV, 8), that is, the surrendering (as it were, returning into God’s hands) of one’s own will to God.
The nature of abandonment in its specific characteristics is revealed in comparison with the concepts proper to the neighboring or related virtues of resignation, acceptance, acquiescence, conformity, and indifference, from which it differs by delicate but essential nuances. Resignation denotes an “after-the-fact” acceptance of conditions or events that one undergoes, whereas abandonment is a spontaneous attitude of “prior” acceptance. Yet it is something more than mere acceptance, which implies a position of a party almost in contract and thus a certain sense of parity rather than subordination. Acquiescence involves a prior slight inner debate, which is not present in abandonment, while conformity signifies a “state” that, however, seems to presuppose a rather laborious adjustment. Indifference, on the other hand, is a preliminary disposition to abandonment, preparing the soul to receive all divine ordinances without resistance, yet it does not convey the concept of abandonment, which implies a positive, full, and ineffable self-giving to God and to His will, recognized as the only one entirely good (C. Gay, *De la vie et des vertus chrétiennes*, II, Paris 1883, pp. 372-373). Nevertheless, St. Francis de Sales identifies abandonment with perfect indifference.
At the foundation of the virtue of abandonment lies the doctrine of the twofold causal principle of Christian perfection, namely, the two wills, that of God and that of man (cf. Council of Carthage XVI, canons 3-5: Denz. U. 103-105; Second Council of Orange: Denz. U. 176-180; Council of Trent, sess. 6, canon 4: Denz. U. 814, and chap. 7: Denz. U. 799). The divine will, infinitely holy and identified with infinite wisdom, takes the initiative and plays the principal role in the work of the creature’s sanctification; the creature can do no better than to adhere completely to whatever this highest will desires or ordains. St. Vincent de Paul rightly observes: “Perfection consists in so uniting our will to that of God that His and ours are no longer anything but one and the same willing and not willing; and whoever excels in this point will be the most perfect” (*Entretiens*, ed. Coste, vol. IX, p. 318).
The object of abandonment is all divine wills, whether expressed by the *voluntas beneplaciti* or by the *voluntas signi*, though with a special emphasis on those of the divine good pleasure. The divine will of good pleasure is that by which God absolutely wills that things be as they will in fact be. In this sense, all events fall under His will, not excluding sin, which, though forbidden and disapproved by God, is permitted as a possible event for the sake of the goods that will follow from it (St. Augustine, *De libero arbitrio* III, 5: PL 32, 1276). The *voluntas signi*, on the other hand, is that by which God prescribes all that manifests His will, even if its execution does not necessarily follow, such as commandments, precepts, counsels, and inspirations.
Abandonment is exercised especially with regard to God’s hidden dispositions, past, present, and future; conformity to the manifest signs of the divine will rather merits the name of obedience (Lehodey, I, 4). The objects of indifference proposed by St. Ignatius of Loyola—“desolation and consolation, illness and health, poverty and wealth, contempt and honor, short life and long life” (*Exerc. Spir.*, Principle)—are also proper objects for the exercise of abandonment in God.
The theological foundations of this virtue are found in the teaching and examples of Jesus Christ, who recommended it for both temporal and spiritual matters (Mt 6:25-34; Lk 11:9; 12:31; 22:42; Mt 26:39, etc.) and practiced it throughout His mortal life, which He chose to conclude with the incomparable words: “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit” (Lk 23:46). St. Peter and St. Paul also inculcate the same doctrine (1 Pet 5:7-8; Rom 8:28). It is based on the dogma of God’s Providence, with two essential points: nothing happens in this world unless by the sovereign will of God, as St. Augustine says: “Therefore nothing happens unless the Almighty wills it to happen, either by permitting it to happen or by doing it Himself,” and that this will is infinitely good and beneficial, so that it accomplishes its beneficent designs even through the evils of life and the evil wills of wicked men.
2. Practice
The perfect practice of abandonment is certainly a synthesis of all the theological and cardinal virtues (Bernies, *Amour et abandon*, Paris 1912, pp. 136 and 162). Bossuet finds in a single act the union “of the most perfect faith, the highest hope, and the purest and most faithful charity” (*Instruct. sur les états d'oraison*, tr. I, IX, no. 18). A. Piny maintains that abandonment represents the most perfect practice of pure love of God, because it embraces total renunciation and detachment from self in order to entrust oneself in love and body completely to God (*Le plus parfait*, chaps. 7-19). For this reason, St. Francis de Sales calls abandonment “the virtue of virtues: the chrism of charity, the fragrance of humility, the merit of patience, and the *fiat* of perseverance” (*Entretiens* II). All the Masters of spirituality place it among the points of perfection that lead souls to great holiness (Surin, *Catéchisme spirituel*, I, p. 4, col. 8). Its principal fruits are freedom, joy, and peace of spirit.The exercise of abandonment in the sense of accepting in the soul everything that God wills, as He wills it, and because He wills it, is to be inculcated in all Christians. Such practice has ever more perfect degrees in proportion to the self-giving. It is presupposed in the highest mystical states. As a habitual state, it is attained by only a few—not because God does not call souls to it, but because few correspond to such grace. In the literary history of spirituality, various formulas and prayers are known that express the spirit of abandonment (cf. J. B. Saint-Jure, *Connaissance et amour de J. C.*, III, 1, chap. 8, § 9; J. P. Caussade, *L’abandon à la Divine Providence*; etc.).
3. Deviations
False abandonment is the exaggeration consisting in leaving to God the care of what concerns man, both in the temporal and spiritual realms. In the management of material interests, imprudence soon brings its palpable consequences, which serve to dispel the illusion. But far more dangerous are the deviations in the spiritual order. The Church has condemned doctrines that insinuate absolute passivity and inertia in prayer or in spiritual combat. Thus, one cannot accept one’s own sins before they occur, nor one’s own damnation. False abandonment is also the indifference toward virtues and one’s own perfection, Bernières (v.), condemned in 1689, or the pretension to perceive the divine motion within oneself before acting (v. QUIETISM). The danger of such errors is found in all false mysticisms, which exaggerate the passivity of the soul (cf. Pius XII, enc. *Mediator Dei*).Historically, false abandonment has manifested itself in the West among the heterodox Beghards and the Brethren of the Free Spirit in the fourteenth century, and in the Spanish *alumbrados* (q.v.) of the sixteenth century, remotely influenced by the pantheistic and predeterministic doctrines of the Arab-Islamic tradition (Qur’an XXXV, 9; XXXVII, 94). False abandonment is found in the Lutheran doctrine of trust in the imputation of Christ’s merits, and in the doctrine on prayer and spiritual life of the Quietists and semi-Quietists, particularly Spanish (Molinos), Italian (Falconi, Petrucci), and French (Lacombe). The controversy (q.V. PURE LOVE) between Bossuet, Fénelon, and M. de La Mothe-Guyon regarding exaggerated abandonment is famous; it ended with the condemnation of Fénelon’s *Maximes des Saints* (1699). In Italy, the Quietist errors, especially those of Molinos (q.v.), were opposed by Frs. Paolo Segneri, Giuseppe Agnelli, and Gottardo Belluomo. For the Christian East, see HESYCHASM; PALAMAS.
II. Law
Strictly speaking, abandonment is a unilateral juridical act by which a person relinquishes a thing with the intention of definitively renouncing ownership over II. Like the *derelictio* of Roman law, its principal effect is the loss of property; hence the abandoned thing becomes *res nullius* and may be acquired through occupation.However, this is not the only meaning of the term; it is also used synonymously with renunciation, desistance, abdication, or withdrawal, depending on the nature of the object in question.
In civil law, particularly important are the juridical figures of abandonment of land, a ship or aircraft, a spouse, or a domicile, as well as the crimes of abandonment of an infant, of minors or incapacitated persons, of animals, of a public office, or of a position.
In canon law, the following deserve mention: 1) abandonment of residence, which is considered by law (CIC, can. 188, n. 8) as a tacit resignation from office by a cleric, and under certain conditions (cf. can. 2381) assumes the character of a true and proper delict (q.V. RESIDENCE); 2) abandonment of the ecclesiastical habit (q.V. ECCLESIASTICAL HABIT); 3) abandonment of office, for which the penalty of suspension *a divinis* for a time to be determined by the ordinary, in relation to the gravity of the case, is provided (can. 2399); 4) abandonment of a suit, which occurs in accordance with can. 1736 when, for two years in a first-instance trial or for one year in an appellate trial, the parties take no procedural action.