EROICO, ATTO. – Every human act is called heroic that cannot be performed by a person except with extraordinary or very great moral difficulty. It is not always possible to determine with absolute certainty when heroism is present, since objective and subjective circumstances of various kinds, at times immeasurable, contribute to constituting the a. e. Even the exercise of virtue, however ordinary and easy to observe when considered in its individual manifestations, may constitute true heroism if it is continued throughout life or for a very long period and observed with particular perfection. Ordinarily, beatification (v.) canonization (v.) of the servants of God. This heroism, however, which may be called habitual, differs from that required to perform a single action or a series of a few actions, for which the subject must be required to despise life itself or one of the person’s greatest goods, e.g. liberty.
Theologians and moralists mean to speak of a. e. in this second sense when they treat of the object of the law and ask whether it is possible to impose upon the mass of subjects or upon some of them a. e. of this nature. Following the Church’s approach, the answer is negative when the law concerns subjects as a whole: the law cannot impose a. e. The only exception to this rule is constituted by the divine-natural laws, not only because God is the absolute master of everyone’s life, but also because, in imposing them, God in fact always provides the natural and supernatural means necessary for their observance. For this reason, each person must rather suffer death than renounce the faith. But apart from the divine-natural laws, not even the divine-positive laws constitute an exception, since, in cases where true heroism is necessary for them to be observed, it is legitimately presumed that God suspends their obligation. Thus, for example, no one will be obliged to sanctify the feast by hearing Mass or abstaining from work if, in order to go to church, there is a serious danger of being killed by the enemy, or if, by not working, the necessary means of subsistence for continuing to live would be lacking.
Purely human laws, both civil and ecclesiastical, on the other hand, can never impose a. e. in a general way; they can do so in particular cases only on condition that this is absolutely required by the common good, or that the persons concerned have spontaneously placed themselves in social situations such as to require heroic actions. For the first reason, the sentry must perform his duty even at the cost of his own life, since this is required by the common good; for the second, clerics in holy orders and religious must observe perfect chastity; parish priests and pastors of souls must generally remain at their posts, even at the risk of their lives; religious dedicated to the service of the afflicted or of lepers must serve them even with the imminent danger of fatal contagion.
As a consequence of the principles set forth, laws do not ordinarily impose a. e. Nevertheless, moralists observe that, if they did so, apart from the exceptions mentioned above, they would have no effect. The reason for this lies in the fact that among the conditions required by the law for it to be valid is that its observance be practically possible. Nor is it difficult to demonstrate that a law generally imposing truly heroic a. e. upon subjects would be practically unobservable or at least intolerable: it would therefore cease to be directed toward the common good, since it would be useless, and hence would cease to be a law.
For the a. e. of charity in suffrage for the souls in Purgatory, V. ATTO EROICO DI CARITÀ.