enly when he was in the
midst of sin, his heart was perfectly moved by God to hear, to learn,
to come; and hence he received grace suddenly.

Reply Obj. 3: An agent of infinite power needs no matter or
disposition of matter, brought about by the action of something else;
and yet, looking to the condition of the thing caused, it must cause,
in the thing caused, both the matter and the due disposition for the
form. So likewise, when God infuses grace into a soul, no preparation
is required which He Himself does not bring about.
________________________

THIRD ARTICLE [I-II, Q. 112, Art. 3]

Whether Grace Is Necessarily Given to Whoever Prepares Himself for
It, or to Whoever Does What He Can?

Objection 1: It would seem that grace is necessarily given to whoever
prepares himself for grace, or to whoever does what he can, because,
on Rom. 5:1, "Being justified . . . by faith, let us have peace,"
etc. the gloss says: "God welcomes whoever flies to Him, otherwise
there would be injustice with Him." But it is impossible for
injustice to be with God. Therefore it is impossible for God not to
welcome whoever flies to Him. Hence he receives grace of necessity.

Obj. 2: Further, Anselm says (De Casu Diaboli. iii) that the reason
why God does not bestow grace on the devil, is that he did not wish,
nor was he prepared, to receive it. But if the cause be removed, the
effect must needs be removed also. Therefore, if anyone is willing to
receive grace it is bestowed on them of necessity.

Obj. 3: Further, good is diffusive of itself, as appears from
Dionysius (Div. Nom. iv). Now the good of grace is better than the
good of nature. Hence, since natural forms necessarily come to
disposed matter, much more does it seem that grace is necessarily
bestowed on whoever prepares himself for grace.

_On the contrary,_ Man is compared to God as clay to the potter,
according to Jer. 18:6: "As clay is in the hand of the potter, so are
you in My hand." But however much the clay is prepared, it does not
necessarily receive its shape from the potter. Hence, however much a
man prepares himself, he does not necessarily receive grace from God.

_I answer that,_ As stated above (A. 2), man's preparation for grace
is from God, as Mover, and from the free-will, as moved. Hence the
preparation may be looked at in two ways: first, as it is from
free-will, and thus there is no necessity that it should obtain
grace, since the gift of grace exceeds eve