St. Josemaría describes prudence as “wisdom of the heart,” a clear-sighted commitment to good that involves taking time to think things through, knowing when to ask for help, not being afraid of a challenge, turning good intentions into action as soon as possible, taking responsibility for mistakes, throwing yourself into caring for others, and loving the will of God (see Friends of God, no. 85-87). That’s a lot of characteristics for a single virtue.

Prudence isn’t the most important virtue (that’s charity, love itself), but it runs through everything else. It’s discerning what’s right and choosing the best way to get there.

When your friend is in a crisis, it strengthens your commitment to taking care of him and helps you decide whether, in this moment, serious advice or a silly distraction is going to help more. When you’re in a crisis, it helps you see the light at the end of the tunnel and start crawling, stomping, or skating toward it.

About three-quarters of the way through David Copperfield, there’s a character named Annie whose childhood friend tries to convince her that she’s in love with him, and not with her husband. She admits that she might have married him if she’d never met her now-husband, but says that they would have been miserable together. “If I were thankful to my husband for no more,” she says, “I should be thankful to him for having saved me from the first mistaken impulse of my undisciplined heart” (chapter 45).

She says that after making some heroically prudent decisions that we’re not going to list here. The point is that these words stay with David (no spoilers, but he’s made some major life choices from an undisciplined heart) and they’re a way to start thinking about practical ways of growing in prudence.

An undisciplined heart is the opposite of a wise heart. Two essential steps in moving from the first to the second are learning how to listen – to God’s voice, above all, and to trustworthy people who can help you think through your decisions and encourage you to keep acting like the kind of person you want to be – and accepting your mistakes.

It’s also very helpful to think about what’s right first when you’re making a decision, and only afterward about how to overcome the difficulties related to doing it. In questions of good and evil, caring for people, and loving God, something being hard can’t be a determining factor.

St. John, who describes himself as the apostle Jesus loved, is one of the patrons of Opus Dei’s formation for young people because he threw himself wholeheartedly into following Jesus. He was the youngest apostle and the only one at the foot of the Cross with Mary. That’s prudence, too: seeing what God wants and not waiting even a second before putting love into action.

In short:

• Definition: prudence is seeing what's right and choosing the best way to get there.
• Young saints: St. John (the youngest apostle and the only one at the foot of the Cross) shows us what prudence looks like: seeing what God wants and putting love into action without delay.
• Books & movies: In David Copperfield, Annie reflects that her husband saved her from making a huge mistake from an “undisciplined heart.” In contrast, a wise heart listens, reflects, and loves deeply.
• From St. Josemaría: “A person is prudent not because he never makes a mistake, but because he corrects his errors... He will run the risk of his decisions. Fear of failure will not make him give up in his effort to do good” (Friends of God, no. 88). More here.
• Practical tips:
  • Take time to think things through, and listen to God and the people you trust.
  • Act on good intentions quickly. Why wait when love is calling?
  • Don't let something being difficult be a reason not to do what's right.
  • Own up to your mistakes.