As the recipient of graces experiences, on his part, sentiments of gratefulness, and expresses these sentiments in thanks, the word gratioe (plural of gratia) also stands for thanksgiving in the expressions gratias agere and Deo gratias, which have their counterpart in the English, to say grace after meals.Ī comparison of these four senses of the word grace reveals a clear relationship of analogy among them, since grace, in its objective signification of “gratuitous gift” or “favor”, occupies a central position around which the other meanings may be logically grouped. xliv, 3), because charm calls forth benevolent love in the giver and prompts him to the bestowal of benefactions. In this connection grace also stands for charm, attractiveness as when we speak of the three Graces in mythology, or of the grace poured forth on the lips of the bridegroom (Ps. In the former (subjective) sense, the king’s grace grants life to the criminal condemned to death in the latter (objective) sense the king distributes graces to his lieges. In the first place, subjectively, grace signifies good will, benevolence then, objectively, it designates every favor which proceeds from this benevolence and, consequently, every gratuitous gift ( donum gratuitum, beneficium). (a) The definition of actual grace is based on the idea of grace in general, which, in Biblical, classical, and modern language, admits of a fourfold meaning. Its comprehension is exhibited to us by (a) its definition its extension, by the complete enumeration of all Divine helps of grace in other words, by (b) the logical division of the idea, inasmuch as the sum of all the particulars represents, in every science, the logical extent of an idea or term. To know the nature of actual graced, we must consider both the comprehension and extension of the term. The third, and difficult, question of the relationship between grace and liberty shall be reserved for discussion in the article Controversies on Grace. As to actual grace, we have to examine: (I) its Nature (2) its Properties. Later, we shall discuss habitual grace more fully under the name of sanctifying or justifying grace. Its opposite, therefore, is not possible grace, which is without usefulness or importance, but habitual grace, which causes a state of holiness, so that the mutual relations between these two kinds of grace are the relations between action and state, not those between actuality arid potentiality. It derives its name, actual, from the Latin actualis (ad actum), for it is granted by God for the performance of salutary acts and is present and disappears with the action itself. For this reason we adopt this distinction as our principle of division in the following exposition of the Catholic doctrine. But, in consequence of modern controversies regarding grace, it has become usual and necessary in theology to draw a sharper distinction between the transient help to act (actual grace) and the permanent state of grace (sanctifying grace). Before the Council of Trent, the Schoolmen seldom used the term gratia actualis, preferring auxilium speciale, motio divina, and similar designations nor did they formally distinguish actual grace from sanctifying grace.
Among the three fundamental ideas-sin, redemption, and grace-grace plays the part of the means, indispensable and Divinely ordained, to effect the redemption from sin through Christ and to lead men to their eternal destiny in heaven. Christian grace is a fundamental idea of the Christian religion, the pillar on which, by a special ordination of God, the majestic edifice of Christianity rests in its entirety.
Eternal salvation itself consists in heavenly bliss resulting from the intuitive knowledge of the Triune God, who to the one not endowed with grace “inhabiteth light inaccessible” (I Tim., vi, 16). Grace ( gratia, charis), in general, is a supernatural gift of God to intellectual creatures (men, angels) for their eternal salvation, whether the latter be furthered and attained through salutary acts or a state of holiness.
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