ABBANDONO. -
I. ASCETICS
1. Notions. - A. (virtue, spirit, act of a.) is an attitude of spiritual life of high perfection, whose nature, degrees, exercises, and deviations have been the object of study especially since the sixteenth century. A. in the active sense is defined as: “complete conformity to the good pleasure of God in all things, springing from love and devotion.”The ancients spoke of resignatio (Imit. Christi III, 15. 17. 37; IV, 8), that is, placing (as though returning into his hands) one’s own will in God’s hands.
The nature of a. in its specific characteristics is revealed by comparison with the concept 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 “consequent” acceptance of conditions or events that one undergoes, whereas a. is a spontaneous attitude of “antecedent” acceptance. It is, however, something more than simple acceptance, which implies the position of a party, almost a contracting party, and therefore a certain sense of equality rather than subordination. Acquiescence implies a prior, slight interior discussion, which is absent from a.; whereas conformity signifies a “state” that seems nevertheless to presuppose a kind of previously effected adjustment, rather laborious. Indifference, on the contrary, is a preliminary disposition to a., preparing the soul to receive all divine ordinances without offering resistance; but it does not convey the concept of a., which expresses the positive, complete, and ineffable self-giving to God and to his will, apprehended as the only will that is wholly good (C. Gay, De la vie et des vertus chrétiennes, II, Paris 1883, pp. 372 ff.). Nevertheless, s. Francesco di Sales identifies a. with perfect indifference.
At the basis of the virtue of a. lies the doctrine of the twofold causal principle of Christian perfection, namely, the two wills, of God and of man (cf.
Conc. Cartagin. XVI, cann. 3-5; Denz. U. 103-105; Conc. d’Orange II; Denz. U. 176-80; Conc. Trid. sess. 6, can. 4; Denz. U. 814, and cap. 7; Denz. U. 799). The divine will, infinitely holy and identified with infinite wisdom, has the initiative and the principal role in the work of sanctifying the creature; the latter can do nothing better than adhere completely to whatever is desired or ordained by this supreme will. S. Vincenzo de’ Paoli aptly observes: “Perfection consists in so uniting our will to that of God that his will and ours are no longer anything but one and the same willing and refusing; and whoever excels most in this regard will be the most perfect” (Entretiens, ed. Coste, vol. IX, p. 318).
The objects of a. are all the divine wills, expressed both by the voluntas beneplaciti and by the voluntas signi, though with particular emphasis on those of the divine good pleasure. The divine will of good pleasure is that by which God wills absolutely that the things which truly will be should be. In this sense all events fall under his will, sin not excluded; although forbidden and disapproved by God, it is materially permitted as a possible event, because of the goods that will result from it (s. Agostino, De libero arbitr. III, 5; PL. 32, 1276). The signified will of God, on the other hand, is that by which God prescribes everything that manifests his will, even if its execution does not follow, such as commandments, precepts, counsels, and inspirations.
A. is exercised above all with regard to the hidden divine dispositions of the past, present, and future; conformity to the manifest signs of the divine will deserves rather the name of obedience (Lehodey, I, 4). The objects of indifference proposed by s. Ignazio di Loyola—“desolation and consolation, sickness and health, poverty and riches, contempt and honor, a short life and a long life” (Exerc. Spir., Principium)—are also proper objects for the exercise of a. in God.
The theological foundations of this virtue are found in the teaching and examples of Jesus Christ, who recommended it with regard to temporal and spiritual matters (Mt. 6, 25-34; Lc. 11, 9; 12, 31; 22, 42; Mt. 26, 39, etc.) and practiced it throughout his mortal existence, which he wished to conclude with the incomparable words: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lc. 23, 46). S. Pietro and s. Paolo likewise inculcate the same doctrine (I Pet. 5, 7-8; Rom. 8, 28). It is founded on the dogma of God’s Providence, with its two essential points: that nothing occurs in this world except by the sovereign will of God, according to s. Agostino’s statement: “Non ergo fit aliquid nisi Omnipotens fieri velit, vel sinendo ut fiat vel ipse faciendo,” and that this will is infinitely good and beneficent, so that it accomplishes its beneficial designs even through the evils of life and the evil wills of wicked men themselves.
2. Practice. - The perfect practice of a. is certainly a synthesis of all the theological and cardinal virtues (Bernies, Amour et abandon, Paris 1912, pp. 156 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, n. 18). A. Piny maintains that a. represents the most perfect practice of the pure love of God, because it embraces renunciation and total detachment from self in order to entrust oneself, soul and body, completely to God (Le plus parfait, chaps. 7-19). Therefore s. Francesco di Sales calls a. “the virtue of virtues: the flowering 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, Cotichisme spirituel, I, p. 4, col. 8). Its principal fruits are freedom, joy, and peace of spirit.
The exercise of a. in the sense of making the soul accept everything that God wills, as he wills it and because he wills it, is to be inculcated in all Christians. This practice has ever more perfect degrees in proportion to the self-giving involved. It is presupposed in the higher mystical states. As a habitual state, it is attained only by a few, not because God does not call souls to it, but because few correspond to such a grace. In the literary history of spirituality, various formulas and prayers expressing the spirit of a. are well known (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 a. is the exaggeration consisting in leaving to God the care of everything concerning man, both in the temporal and in the spiritual sphere. In the management of material interests, imprudence immediately produces tangible consequences that serve to dispel the illusion. Far more dangerous, however, are 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 in advance, nor one’s own damnation. False a. is also indifference regarding the virtues and one’s own perfection, Bernières (v.) and condemned in 1689, or the claim to perceive within oneself the divine motion before acting (v. QUIETISM). The danger of such errors is found in all forms of mystical spirituality of poor quality, which exaggerate the passivity of the soul (cf. Pio XII, enc. Mediator Dei).
Historically, false abandonment manifested itself in the West among the heterodox Begards and the Brothers of the Free Spirit of the fourteenth century, and among the alumbados (v.) of sixteenth-century Spain, remotely influenced by the pantheistic-predeterministic doctrines of the Arabo-Islamic tradition (Qur’an XXXV, 9; XXXVII, 94). False abandonment is found in the Lutheran doctrine of confidence in the imputation of Christ’s merits, and in the doctrine concerning prayer and the spiritual life of the Quietists and Semi-Quietists, particularly the Spanish (Molinos), Italian (Falconi, Petrucci), and French (Lacombe). In connection with exaggerated abandonment, the controversy (v. AMORE PIRO) between Bossuet, Fénelon, and Mme Guyon, which ended with the condemnation of Fénelon’s work Maximes des Saints (1699), is famous. In Italy, Fathers Paolo Segneri, Giuseppe Agnelli, and Gottardo Belluomo fought against Quietism, and MOLINISMO (v.). For the Christian East, V. ESICASMO; PALAMAS.
II. LAW
In the strict sense, it is the unilateral juridical act by which someone detaches himself from a thing with the intention of definitively renouncing his dominion over II. Like the derelictio of Roman law, its principal effect is the loss of ownership; hence the abandoned thing becomes res nullius and is capable of acquisition by occupation.This, however, is not the word’s only meaning; it is also used as a synonym for renunciation, withdrawal, abdication, relinquishment, depending on the nature of the object to which it refers.
In state law, particular importance attaches to the legal forms of abandonment of land, ship or aircraft, spouse, domestic residence, as well as to the offences of abandonment of an infant, minors or incapacitated persons, animals, public office, and post.
In canon law, the following deserve mention: 1) abandonment of residence, which by law (CIC, can. 188, n. 8) is considered a tacit renunciation of office by the cleric, and under certain conditions (cf. can. 2381) assumes the character of a genuine offence (v. RESIDENZA); 2) abandonment of ecclesiastical habit (v. ABITO ECCLESIASTICO); 3) abandonment of office, for which the penalty of suspension a divinis is prescribed (can. 2399) for a period to be determined each time by the ordinary, in relation to the gravity of the case; 4) abandonment of an action, which occurs pursuant to can. 1736 when, for two years in proceedings at first instance, or for one year in appellate proceedings, the parties to the case perform no procedural act.