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| | CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Sanctifying Grace |
 | | 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. |
 | | Grace, however, preserves an inner relation to a supernatural activity, because it does not impart to the soul the act but rather the disposition to perform supernatural and meritorious acts therefore grace is remotely and mediately a disposition to act (habitus remote operativus). |
 | | For the identity of grace and charity some of the older theologians have contended--Peter Lombard, Scotus, Bellarmine, Lessius, and others--declaring that, according to the Bible and the teaching of the Fathers, the process of justification may be at times attributable to sanctifying grace and at other times to the virtue of charity. |
| www.newadvent.org /cathen/06701a.htm (7704 words) |
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