prudence

The prudent steward. What is prudence? Prudence is called the auriga virtutum – the charioteer of the virtues. It is called the charioteer or the carrier of the virtues because the cardinal virtue of prudence concerns itself with the action to be taken in a particular circumstance and how that particular action is to be carried out in that particular circumstance. Simply said it is doing the right thing, at the right time and in the correct manner – that is prudence.

Going to church is good and admirable, but to go to church to the detriment of your other pressing responsibilities at a particular time you would like to go to church, may not be a virtue. Our desire to pray in the church must be carried so to say by the charioteer of the virtues called prudence – the right thing to do at the right time – to go to church at the more appropriate time.


Prudence is the charioteer of the virtues because it concerns itself with the what, when, where and how of virtue. 

Ask yourself the following – what is the good action – to visit the sick; when are you going to visit the sick, surely not during office hours when you are expected to do your duty for which you are paid for or at a time when the sick needed rest; how are you going to visit, the manner in which you are going to do a good action – shall you bring gifts, what gifts, will these help the sick in his recovery? It is a what and how, when and where questions. You ask questions like these because not all good actions are good, and not all virtues are real virtues when these does not pass through what we call correct judgment which is prudence.
In the gospel prudence is taught in the context of preparation for the Lord’s coming. In the letter of Paul to the Thessalonians people were abandoning their work because they thought that the Lord is coming soon and therefore why work? So Paul had to correct them, let those who do not work should not eat. It was good that they prepared but their how was misguided. There was no correct judgment, they were not prudent.