Chapter I. The Nature Of Actual Grace

Section 1. Definition Of Actual Grace

1. GENERAL NOTION OF GRACE.--The best way to arrive at a correct definition
of actual grace is by the synthetic method. We therefore begin with the
general notion of grace.

Like "nature,"(3) grace (_gratia_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) is a word of wide reach, used in
a great variety of senses. Habert(4) enumerates no less than fourteen;
which, however, may be reduced to four.

a) Subjectively, grace signifies good will or benevolence shown by a
superior to an inferior, as when a criminal is pardoned by the king's
grace.

b) Objectively, it designates a favor inspired by good will or
benevolence. In this sense the term may be applied to any free and
gratuitous gift (_donum gratis datum_), as when a king bestows graces on
his lieges.

c) Grace may also mean personal charm or attractiveness. In this sense the
term frequently occurs in Latin and Greek literature (the Three Graces).
Charm elicits love and prompts a person to the bestowal of favors.

d) The recipient of gifts or favors usually feels gratitude towards the
giver, which he expresses in the form of thanks. Hence the word _gratiae_
(plural) frequently stands for thanksgiving ("_gratias agere_," "_Deo
gratias_," "to say grace after meals").(5)

The first and fundamental of these meanings is "a free gift or favor." The
benevolence of the giver and the attractiveness of the recipient are
merely the reasons for which the gift is imparted, whereas the expression
of thanks is an effect following its bestowal.

Dogmatic theology is concerned exclusively with grace in the fundamental
sense of the term.

e) Grace is called a gift (_donum_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}), because it is owing to free
benevolence, not required by justice. It is called gratuitous (_gratis
datum_), because it is bestowed without any corresponding merit on the
part of the creature. A gift may be due to the recipient as a matter of
distributive or commutative justice, and in that case it would not be
absolutely gratuitous (_gratis_). Grace, on the contrary, is bestowed out
of pure benevolence, from no other motive than sheer love. This is
manifestly St. P