HEROIC ACT OF CHARITY, (also improperly called HEROIC VOW). — The S. Congregation of Indulgences, in the Collection of Prayers and Pious Works, published in 1898, defines it as: «a spontaneous offering which the faithful, in suffrage for the Souls in Purgatory, make to His Divine Majesty of all their satisfactory works during life, and of all the suffrages they may have after death» (no. 302; cf. Decr. S. Congr. indulg., 19 Dec. 1885).
To understand its nature, it is necessary to distinguish the threefold value of every action performed in a state of grace: meritorious, satisfactory, and impetratory. The first constitutes personal, inalienable merit (an increase of grace on earth and of glory in heaven); the second is given by the sacrifices inherent in the supernaturally good act, and has the efficacy of expiating, in proportion, the temporal punishment due to sin; the third consists in the power of intercession, or moral force, to obtain grace from God, for oneself and for others. The h. act concerns only the satisfactory value, insofar as we deprive ourselves of it in order to offer it to Divine Justice on behalf of the souls in Purgatory. The merit of good works always remains to us, together with the freedom to intercede for anyone; indeed, the h. act itself is a source of great merits, because it is an act of heroic charity.
Although by its nature it is perpetual, the h. a. may be revoked at any moment without any sin (S. Congr. Ind., 20 Feb. 1907: Acta Sanctae Sedis, 40 [1907], p. 370 ff.); and in this it differs essentially from a vow. But whoever makes the h. a. need not fear remaining in Purgatory for a long time, because he may rightly trust in divine mercy (cf. Mt. 25, 40; Lc. 6, 38; I Pt. 4, 8). Moreover, the slightest increase in merit is a far greater good than deliverance from the greatest punishment of Purgatory: the latter is temporal, whereas the former is eternal, with an increase of glory.
The origins of the h. act go back to s. Geltrude, who, by virtue of her example, was in a sense its initiator; but it seems that p. Ferdinando de Monroy (d. in Lima in 1646) was the first to make the h. act properly so called. In the following century p. Gaspare
Oliden of Alcalà, a Theatine, became its apostle, advising that the act itself be placed in the hands of Maria S.ma. S. Alfonso, through the brief formula of offering inserted in the Eternal Maxims, rendered himself particularly deserving of this pious practice, canonically approved by Benedict XIII on 23 Aug. 1728. Numerous documents of the Holy See continually increased its spiritual benefits through indulgences and privileges, including, for priests, that of the Privileged Altar, and, for all the faithful, the plenary Indulgence upon receiving Holy Communion (S. Congr. Ind., 20 Sept. 1852 and 20 Nov. 1854; cf. Preces et Pia Opera, published by the Apostolic Sacred Penitentiary in 1938, no. 547). The decree of the S. Congregation of Indulgences, dated 19 Dec. 1885 (signed by Cardinal Franzelin), contains various declarations concerning the nature and practice of the h. a. (Acta Sanctae Sedis, 18 [1886], pp. 337–39).
The heroic act does not require a special formula: it is enough to have the intention; good formulas, however, are proposed by the various manuals of piety (e.g., by Riva’s Filotea). Spiritual directors, following the directives of the Holy See (S. Congr. indulg., 19 Dec. 1885), advise placing the offering of our suffrages in the hands of Our Lady, so that the Universal Mediatrix may dispose of them in favor of the souls whom she desires to free from Purgatory more quickly; and they exhort the faithful frequently to renew this act of offering in order to stir themselves to greater fervor. Indeed, being founded on the dogma of the Communion of Saints, the h. a. fosters piety and moral perfection, thus constituting an excellent means of avoiding Purgatory itself.
BIBLI: F. Beringer-A. Steinen, Les indulgences, I, 4e ed., Paris 1925, pp. 420-24; J. Lacau, Il prezioso tesoro delle indulgenze, Turin 1925, pp. 411-18; D. Manajoli, L'a. e. di c., in suffr. delle anime del purg.: trattato teologico, Rome 1932; A. Tanqueray, Synopsis theologiae moralis et pastoralis, I, 12e ed., Paris 1936, p. 373 ff.; M. Jugie, Le purgatoire, ibid. 1940, pp. 341-55. Iacino Cecchetti