SUPEREROGATION, WORKS of (Lat. supererogata, over and above things required), a class of works which, in the Roman Catholic system, are described as not absolutely required of each individual as conditions to his eternal salvation. Roman Catholics found this definition on the distinction between what they believe to be commanded and what they hold to be only counseled, for an example of which they appeal to the words of our Lord to the young man in Matthew xix. 21, which distinguish one class of works which are necessary in order to "enter into life," and a further class which must only be done if we "would be perfect." Roman Catholics do not profess to recognize in works of supererogation any distinctive essential quality by which they differ, whether in their physical or their moral entity, from other works, and in virtue of which, by their own nature, the individual may found upon them a personal claim to reward. For works of supererogation, as for all supernaturally good works, they hold that the assist ance of God's grace is indispensably necessary; and they do not ascribe to them any merit, except that which arises from God's own free and gratuitous promise. In one
word, the only distinctive characteristic of a work of supererogation lies in its not being supposed to be prescribed or commanded as absolutely necessary for the salvation of the individual, and its being done for the sake of greater perfection; and the doctrine which teaches the possibility of such works is, according to Catholics, a necessary consequence of the unequal fervor and unequal degrees of holiness which exist even in the class of the virtuous servants of God. A further consequence of this doctrine is that God may accept the superabundant works of one in atonement for the defective service of another; and hence, in the Catholic theory of indulgences (q.v.), along with what they regard as the infinite and inexhaustible treasure of the merits of our Lord, they also regard, al though in a degree infinitely inferior, the superabundant merits of the saints as forming part of that "treasure of the church" which is applied in the form of indulgences.