STATE OF GRACE. - I. DOCTRINE. - S. of G. means the permanent and supernatural condition or mode of being of the soul, cleansed of every mortal sin and adorned with Grace. It entails sanctifying Grace, an entitative habit or quality inherent in the essence of the soul, the virtues, operative habits, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, infused into the spiritual faculties.
The s. of G. is acquired through the Sacraments of the dead, that is, through Baptism and Penance, or through an act of perfect contrition (v.) explicitly or implicitly joined to the desire for the Sacrament, and it is lost through grave sin. Indeed, the state of aversion to God, brought about by sin, is opposed to and cannot coexist, in the same subject, together with the friendship and union with God that Grace entails. Venial sins do not cause the loss of the s. of G.; however, if frequent and deliberate, they can dispose one to lose it through mortal sin, by diminishing fervor in doing good.
II. NECESSITY
1. The state of grace, at the moment of death, is necessary for salvation by an absolute necessity of means, that is, it cannot be supplied for. It is indeed impossible that a soul which ends its state of wayfaring in aversion and enmity with God should attain the beatific vision.
2. The state of grace is required for merit de condigno (cf. Council of Trent, sess. VI, can. 32), since in order to produce good fruits it is necessary to be grafted into Christ, as the branch into the vine (Jn 15), and only he who has obtained through grace divine adoptive sonship has the right to eternal life. Moreover, since eternal life is superior to human nature, man cannot by his natural powers alone perform acts of merit proportionate to it. Nor is a right to the goods proper to God conceived in one who is His enemy through sin.
3. The state of grace is not necessary for the validity of the Sacraments (cf. Council of Trent, sess. VII, can. 12). This was clarified in the controversy over the repetition of the Sacraments (v.) administered by heretics. Against the upholders of the invalidity of such Sacraments, the holy Fathers, especially St. Augustine in his works against the Donatists, defended their validity, distinguishing between the ministerial cause and the principal cause, which is Christ. The Scholastics, then, took up this point of doctrine, shedding light on the office of the minister, who, since he acts as it were as an instrument of Christ, even if he is in sin, does not cause the Sacrament to lose its value. The state of grace, however, is required for the lawful administration of the Sacraments (cf. Roman Ritual, tit. I, nn. 3-4), because sacred things must be handled in a holy manner, but especially because the minister represents Christ, acts in His name, and has been consecrated to that office. Moralists commonly hold that such a state of grace is required in the minister sub gravi, at least when it is a matter of the celebration and solemn administration of a Sacrament, to whose conferral he is deputed by sacred Order. Therefore he sins gravely, if he is not in a state of grace: an ordained minister who celebrates and administers a Sacrament, that is, as a public minister of the Church, in the prescribed rite, outside the case of necessity. It is disputed whether, if any of these conditions is lacking, there is still grave sin. The unworthy minister, conferring a Sacrament on many at the same time, probably commits only one sin.
The state of grace required in the administration of the Sacraments need not necessarily be acquired through Confession, but contrition is sufficient, except in the case of the celebration of Mass (v.), for which, if the minister is in sin, he must put himself in a state of grace through Confession, unless there is a necessity of celebrating and no confessor is available. In such a case contrition is sufficient; however, the minister is then bound to confess as soon as possible (cf. Council of Trent, sess. XIII, c. 7; CIC, can. 807). In order to receive the Sacraments of the living lawfully and fruitfully, the state of grace is necessary in the subject, which can be acquired through perfect contrition. For the Eucharist, however, confession is required by a special precept, unless there is a necessity of communicating and no confessor is available (cf. Council of Trent, sess. XIII, c. 7, can. 11; CIC can. 856 and v. COMUNIONE EUCARISTICA). By knowingly receiving a Sacrament of the living without the state of grace, one commits a grave sin of sacrilege (v.), because one profanes a sacred thing.
4. The state of grace is necessary in the subject for the gaining of indulgences (v. INDULGENZA), at least when the last prescribed work is performed. There can indeed be no remission of punishment as long as guilt remains. It is disputed whether the state of grace is also required for indulgences to be gained in favor of the dead.
Bibliography3 works
Vincenzo Carbone