HEROIC ACT OF CHARITY (also improperly called an heroic vow). — The Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, in the *Raccolta di orazioni e pie opere* published in 1898, defines it as: “a spontaneous offering which the faithful, in suffrage for the Souls in Purgatory, makes to His Divine Majesty of all his satisfactions in life and of all the suffrages he may have after death” (n. 302; cf. Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, Dec. 19, 1885).
To understand its nature, it is necessary to distinguish the threefold value of every action performed in a state of grace: the meritorious, the satisfactory, and the impetratory. The first constitutes personal merit, which is inalienable (an increase of grace on earth and of glory in heaven); the second is given by the sacrifices inherent in the supernatural 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 heroic act pertains only to the satisfactory value, inasmuch as we deprive ourselves of it in order to offer it to Divine Justice on behalf of the suffering souls. The merit of good works, together with the freedom to intercede for anyone, always remains to us; indeed, the heroic act itself is a source of great merits, because it is an act of heroic charity.
Although it is by nature perpetual, the heroic act can be revoked at any time without sin (Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, Feb. 20, 1907; *Acta Sanctae Sedis*, 40 [1907], pp. 370–71). In this it is essentially distinguished from a vow. Moreover, one who makes the heroic act need not fear remaining long in Purgatory, for one may justly trust in divine mercy (cf. Matt. 25:40; Luke 6:38; 1 Pet. 4:8). Yet the least increase of merit is a greater good than the release from the greatest temporal punishment of Purgatory: the latter is temporal, the former eternal, with an increase of glory.
The origins of the heroic act go back to St. Gertrude, whose example made her virtually its initiator; but it seems that Fr. Ferdinand de Monroy (d. at Lima in 1646) was the first to make the heroic act in the strict sense. In the following century, Fr. Gaspare Olliden of Alcalá, a Theatine, became its apostle, advising that the act be placed in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Alphonsus, with a brief formula of offering included in the *Massime eterne*, rendered particularly meritorious service to this pious practice, which was canonically approved by Benedict XIII on August 23, 1728. Numerous documents from the Holy See have continually increased its spiritual benefits with indulgences and privileges, including, for priests, the civil *altare* and, for all the faithful, a plenary indulgence when receiving Holy Communion (Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, Sept. 20, 1832 and Nov. 20, 1854; cf. *Preces et Pia Opera*, published by the Apostolic Penitentiary in 1938, n. 547). The decree of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences dated December 19, 1885 (signed by Cardinal Franzelin) contains various declarations regarding the nature and practice of the heroic act (*Acta Sanctae Sedis*, 18 [1886], pp. 337–39).
The heroic act does not require a special formula: it suffices to have the intention; however, good formulas are proposed in various manuals of piety (e.g., in the *Filotea* of Riva). Spiritual directors, following the directives of the Holy See (Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, Dec. 19, 1885), advise placing the offering of our suffrages in the hands of the Madonna, so that the universal Mediatrix may dispose of them in favor of the souls she wishes to free from Purgatory sooner; and they exhort one to renew this act of offering frequently so as to stir up greater fervor. Indeed, founded on the dogma of the Communion of Saints, the heroic act fosters piety and moral perfection, thus constituting an excellent means of avoiding Purgatory altogether.