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- (a) When the fact is beyond natural powers in the manner of occurrence: as when a blind man instantly can see; and
- (b) When the fact fundamentally and entirely surpasses all powers of the natural order: as when God imparts a part of His life to man through the gift of sanctifying grace.
   The Sanctifier and Grace
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Editor's Note: This series is an effort to return to basics since too often we all make the holy Faith complicated, whereas in reality the truths and traditions of the Catholic Faith are quite simple. God doesn't complicate things, man does. Realizing the fact that, for many generations indoctrinated by conciliar ambiguities, it all seems so confusing, we are introducing this series which is an adaptation of an earlier series titled "Appreciating the Precious Gift of the Faith" in utilizing a combination of the excellent compendium of the late Bishop Morrow's pre-Vatican II Manual of Religion My Catholic Faith and Dom Prosper Gueranger's incomparable The Liturgical Year as well as the out-of-print masterpieces The Catholic Church Alone The One True Church(1902) and the Cabinet of Catholic Information (1903). Through prayer and discussions, we've decided to employ this revised series to simplify the tenets of the Faith for those who continue to wallow in what they think is the 'Catholic Church' out of obedience to a man and his hierarchy who long ago betrayed Christ and His flocks. This then, is an affirmation of the basic truths the Spotless Bride of Christ has always taught and cannot change or evolve as "living documents" for truth is truth. As we say every day in the Act of Faith, "We believe these and all the truths which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, Who canst neither deceive nor be deceived." If you have been deceived, and the vast majority have been, then realize what you've been indoctrinated with over the past 50 years cannot be from God but from His adversary. Our advice: flee the conciliar confines as well as other man-made religions which do not teach these truths without compromise. Seek out a traditional chapel nearest to you. There is a list of churches you can absolutely trust at Traditional Latin Masses
The Holy Ghost is God and the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity and the Giver of Grace.
Jesus Christ often spoke of the Holy Spirit.
One of the most solemn occasions was when He charged the Apostles: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (St. Matthew 28:19).
On certain occasions, the Holy Ghost appeared in visible form. When Christ was baptized by Saint John the Baptist, the Holy Ghost appeared in the form of a dove. On Pentecost, the Spirit our Lord has spoken of descended with a mighty rushing wind, and rested over the apostles in the form of tongues and fire.
The signs are symbolic of the action of the Holy Ghost. The form of a dove symbolizes the gentleness with which the Holy Spirit works in our souls. The rush of wind represents the sstrengthening of the will. The fire represents zeal, fervor, and the illumination of the mind.
The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son.
This does not mean that the Holy Ghost began to exist later in time than the Father and the Son. He proceeded from them from all eternity; He is to them as warmth is to fire, existing and proceeding at the same time. There can be no fire without warmth; if there were an eternal fire, there would be an eternal warmth. So since there are the eternal Father and Son, there is the eternal Sanctifier, the Advocate. The Holy Ghost is the eternal, mutual love that the Father and Son bear each other; but instead of being mere feeling, He is a Person, a Being, God.
The Holy Ghost is equal to the Father and the Son, because He is God.
True, God as the Father and the Son are, the Holy Ghost is eternal, all-knowing, almighty. The Third Person is called Holy Spirit, from the Latin word spiritus, a breath. He was breathed forth by the Father and the Son. Other names used to refer to the Holy Ghost are: Advocate, Paraclete, Consoler, Comforter, Substantial Love, Spirit of Truth, and Sanctifier,etc.
The Holy Ghost dwells in the Church as the source of its life, and sanctifies souls through the gift of grace. Although all Divine works depend on all Three Persons, we attribute the work of santification to God the Holy Ghost, because He is the oneness of love of the Father and the Son, and the sanctification of man by grace reveals that boundless love.
"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16).
After Baptism, we have the Holy Ghost in our hearts and He remains with us as long as we have no mortal sin on our souls. This is the gift of "sanctifying grace."
Then we say that the Spirit of God dwells in us. We should therefore treat our body with great reverence, for it is the temple of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is given in a very special manner in the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders prior to the man-made changes by conciliar leader Paul VI.
The Sanctifier is the source of the life of the Church. He consoles, guides, and imparts strength to it, as Christ promised.
"The Church was filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:31). "Many things yet I have to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will teach you all the truth" (St. John 16: 12-13).
The dwelling of the Holy Ghost in the Chuch was first visibly manifested on Pentecost Sunday, when He came down upon the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire. After the Ascension, the Apostles together with the Blessed Virgin Mary and disciples, men and women, numbering about 120 persons, gathered in the Cenacle, the upper room in Jerusalem where the Last Supper had been taken. There they spent the time in prayer, awaiting the fulfillment of Christ's promise "Wait here in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high" (St. Luke 24:49).
Jesus had promised to send the Holy Ghost to the Apostles. He said at the Last Supper: "It is expedient for you that I depart. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you" (St. John 16:7). On Pentecost, ten days after the Ascension, the Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles and disciples.
"And when the days of Pentecost were drawing to a close, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a violent wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire, which settled upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign tongues, even as the Holy Ghost prompted them to speak" (Acts 2: 1-4).
On Pentecost three thousand members were baptized after the preaching of Saint Peter. Many believed, because the Apostles had the "gift of tongues"; that is they spoke in one language, but those of different races who listened heard what was said in their own different languages. We celebrate the descent of the Holy Ghost today as Pentecost Sunday, ten days after Ascension Thursday, fifty days after Easter. Pentecost means fifty.
The nine days in the Cenacle while the Apostles and disciples waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit were spent in prayer, the first novena in the Chuch. "All these with one mind continued steadfastly in prayer with the women and Mary, and the mother of Jesus" (Acts 1:14). In imitation of that first novena, it is our custom today to make novenas especially in preparation for great feasts. We also make novenas of petition or thanksgiving as well with the Novena to the Holy Ghost being the first Novena approved by the Church.
The Sanctifier will dwell in the Church until the end of time.
"I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate to dwell with you forever, the Spirit of truth" (St. John 14: 16-17).
The Holy Ghost watches over the Church, protecting it from destruction. From the beginning the Church spread very rapidly. At the death of the Apostles, in spite of persecutions, it was known in all parts of the then civilized world. Thence it has spread to the ends of the earth.
Saint Paul could say; "Yes, indeed, their voice has gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world" (Romans 10:18).
The Holy Ghost gave testimony of Christ, and strengthened the Apostles to give testimony of Christ.
Our Lord said, "But when the Advocate has come, Whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth Who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness concerning Me. And you also bear witness" (St. John 15: 26, 27). By His descent, the Holy Ghost proved that all Jesus Christ had said and done was true, that He was indeed the Son of God. After the coming of the Third Person, the Apostles gave testimony of Christ by going all over the world, (cf. Acts 1:8), preaching and suffering for Christ, meeting death joyfully ( cf. Acts 5:41; Rom. 8:18), saying, "I can do all things in Him Who strengthens me."
The Holy Ghost dispenses the graces of God merited by Our Lord Jesus Christ; He bestows and perfects what is already earned. In a similar manner the sun does not make the plants, but develops what is already planted; without the sun plants would die and be useless to man.
A soul in the state of grace is very beautiful in the sight of God. Then we are friends and children of God and heirs of Heaven; then we are like the very angels. We must always try to avoid sin.
But when the soul has lost the grace of God by mortal sin, nothing on earth can be uglier in God's sight. If we are so careful about our personal appearance before mortals, how much more should we be careful about the appearance of our immortal soul, that God may be pleased with us.
Grace is a supernatural give of God bestowed on us through the merits of Jesus Christ for our salvation.
"And He said: 'This is why I said to you, 'No one can come to Me unless he is enabled to do so by My Father''" (St. John 6:66).
Grace is a favor, a free gift, granted to us though we have no claim to it. God grants us graces because He is good, not because we deserve them. God grants us graces for the sake of His Son, Who died on the cross to earn for us these graces; we men can never merit these graces.
"All have sinned and have need of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ" (Romans 3:23-24).
The supernatural is that which is beyond natural powers. It is of two kinds:
The assistance of the Holy Ghost is necessary. Without the help of the graces that He dispenses, with merely natural powers, we cannot do the least work to merit salvtion. Without God, we are nothing.
In order to reach Heaven, we need God's grace; so we say with the Apostles: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything, as from ourselves but our sufficiency is from God" (2 Corinthians 3-5); "By the grace of God I am what I am...I have labored more than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10).
Sanctifying Grace
There are two kinds of grace: sanctifying grace and actual grace.
Sanctifying grace is that grace which confers on our souls a new life, that is, a sharing in the life of God Himself.
By sanctifying grace, our souls are made holy and pleasing to God. It is an abiding or permanent grace, which we gain by baptism, and lose only by mortal sin. By Adam's sin all mankind lost the friendfship of God; that is, we are born in original sin, without sanctifying grace. Our Lord's death won back sanctifying grace for us; it is granted freely at baptism.
A soul to whom God grants sanctifying grace receives not merely a gift from God, but God Himself. The Holy Spirit lives in him and becomes united with him, so that he receivbes a new life, a new nature.
St. Paul refers to this acquisition of sanctifying grace as the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new. It is as if an old and worn man were suddenly to become a handsome young man full of the vigor of life. The beauty of a soul in the state of sancitfying grace is too great for human eyes to bear. As a child said, when asked how his soul would look immediately after his confirmation, if it could be photographed, "Why, it would look like God!"
The chief effects of sanctifying grace are first, that it makes us holy and pleasing to God. When we are in possession of sanctifying grace, we are free from mortal sin; the two cannot dwell together. The fire of the Holy Spirit sears away all that God abhors, so that we acquire God's friendship.
However, although free from mortal sin, we do not, with sanctifying grace, become free from the remains of sin. So even saints feel the human inclination to sin, against which the struggle is lifelong, and from which we should gain merit. This human frailty is imbedded in our flesh, and is present in our souls as a result of original sin.
Sanctifying grace, however, although it does not cure us of the weakness of the flesh, strengthens our will, so that for us the war against sin becomes easier. The charity accompanying sanctifying grace makes us more prone to good works, more attracted to God, with minds illumined as to the folly of sin.
Second, it makes us adopted children of God. With sanctifying grace, the Holy Ghost enters our soul; we are led by His Spirit, and are therefore His children: "For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14).
"Now you have not received a spirit of bondage so as to be again in fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by virtue of which we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself gives testimony to our spirit that we are sons of God" (Romans 8:15-16).
Third, it makes us temples of the Holy Ghost. Sanctifying grace brings the Sanctifier to dwell in us as in a temple. St. Paul says, "For you are the temple of the Living God" (2 Corinthians 6:16).
"Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, him will God destroy; for holy is the temple of God and this temple you are" (1 Corinthians 16,17).
Through the merits of Jesus Christ we have been given the right to Heaven. But we must cooperate with God's graces. Sanctifying grace is necessary for salvation because it is the supernatural life, which alone enables us to attain the supernatural happiness of Heaven. When we are in sanctifying grace, we are inspired to do good works. The Holy Ghost does not sleep within us, but expands our heart with His grace, and urges our will to do good. And as we are adopted children of God, such actions become meritorious for Heaven.
If we are children of God, we are at the same time heirs, and therefore have a right to His Kingdom. "We are the sons of God. But if we are sons, we are heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16-17).
The presence of God in the soul give it life. When the Holy Ghost is dwelling in the soul, it is enabled to know and love God, to do supernatural works. Speaking of the "gift of God", Our Lord said it "shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up unto life everlasting" (St. John 4:14). Without sanctifying grace, the soul is without God; and without God, the soul becomes the devil's.
One cannot gain any merit for Heaven as long as he is not in sanctifying grace, what is termed "in the state of grace". For without sanctifying grace one is an enemy of God, and cannot enter His kingdom.
Mortal sin makes the soul displeasing to God, and thus deprives it of sanctifying grace.
Actual Grace
Actual grace is a supernatural help of God which enlightens our minds and strengthens our will to do good and to avoid evil. By actual grace the Sanctifier shows us the emptiness in themselves of earthly things. He makes us see our own sins, and the true goal of life. By it we can perform a virtuous act or reject a temptation.
Actual grace is transient; that is, it is given to us only when we need it, to perform a good act, or to overcome a temptation. An example of the wonderful action of the Holy Ghost in enlightening the mind and strengthening the will is the First Pentecost. Before the descent of the Advocate, the apostles were ignorant and afraid; after His descent, His grace made them wise and fearless men, going forth to preach Christ everywhere, ready to die for their faith.
God gives us always sufficient grace to be saved. A true Christian should view his whole life in the light of grace. All God's gifts granted for man's salvation are graces. A good family, a good education,--these are graces. But even sickness and hardships are God's graces, and may be the steps by which to ascend to heaven. And God grants graces to protect us against temptation, never suffering us to be tempted beyond our strength. If we do our part, avoid the occasions of sin, and cooperate with His graces, we shall win. Actual grace is necessary for all who have attained the use of reason, because without it we cannot long resist the power of temptation, nor perform other actions which merit a reward in heaven.
We all need actual grace. Sinners need it to rise from sin. The just need it to persevere in good. Without grace, we fall into sin. Herod was offered actual grace when he heard of the birth of the Messiah from the three wise men; but Herod rejected the grace, and added to his sins.
The case of Saul of Tarsus is one of the most wonderful instances of cooperation with God's grace. Saul of Tarsus was one of the most active persecutors of the early Christians. On the way to Damascus to arrest Christians, Saul was struck down by a brilliant light, and heard a voice say: "Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute Me?" Saul asked, "Who art Thou, Lord?" And Jesus answered, "I am Jesus, Whom Thou art persecuting." Saul immediately grasped at grace, and asked, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me do?" From then on he turned his back on his former life, and belonged completely to Christ, till as the incomparable Apostle Paul he was martyred in Rome.
Grace is given to all men, although not in equal amounts. Some receive more, some less. Some ordinary graces are granted to all men; certain extraordinary graces are granted to chosen ones. God is free to bestow His gifts as He likes. The Blessed Virgin Mary received more than other mortals. Christians receive more than pagans. Those in the state of grace are likely to receive more than those in the state of mortal sin. In a way, our graces depend also on our dispositions. If we are faithful in corresponding with what we get, we receive more abundantly. Often our carelessness and indifference turn away God's graces from us. We reject Him who only wishes to make us saints, whose "delight is to be with the children of men" (Proverbs 8:31).
The principal ways of obtaining grace are prayer and the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist.
The sacraments of Baptism and Penance give grace to those not possessing it; the other sacraments increase grace in those already in the state of grace.
Actual grace is obtained by good works. It is especially obtained by the use of means offered by the Church, such as hearing Mass, sermons, etc., and receiving the sacraments, particularly the Holy Eucharist, which contains God, the Source of Grace.
Although we cannot merit grace by our good works, still our good works can beg God for us, to give us grace. Good works are necessary, for God will not save us without our cooperation.
Actual grace is made to act through various means; through sermons, reading of good books, illness and death, advice of superiors and friends, good example, etc. The first converts at Pentecost were moved by the preaching of the Apostles. Saint Ignatius of Loyola was moved by the reading of the lives of the saints; Saint Francis of Assisi, during an illness; Saint Francis Borgia, upon seeing the corpse of Queen Isabella. Often God sends us sufferings as a means by which the Holy Ghost may speak to us.
We can resist the grace of God, for our will is free, and God does not force us to accept His grace.
Grace does not force us. It leaves us free to choose between good and evil. The Holy Ghost guides and enlightens, but we can still close our eyes to His grace. If we cooperate, we gain other graces.
As Christ said, "For to him who has shall be given, and he shall have abundance" (St. Matthew 13:12). He who persists in rejecting the gift of God's grace and refuses to be converted will die in his sin and will be forever excluded from the sight of God. "From him who does not have, even that which he seem to have shall be taken away. But as for the unprofitable servant, cast him forth into the darkness outside, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth" (St. Matthew 25: 29-30). Would it not be an insult to a king if he keeps offering gifts to one of his people, and these gifts are despised?
We should be on the lookout for the graces of God, ready to accept them as soon as they are offered. The action of the Holy Ghost on the individual soul is not continuous in particular graces. Therefore we must be ready when He comes with special gifts.
Some receive only one summons to the banquet. In the desert, the Israelites who rose late found the manna melted away. There are times of special grace for the Christian, such as Lent, a retreat, etc.
We can make our most ordinary actions merit a heavenly reward by doing them for the love of God, and by keeping ourselves in the state of grace.
God grants us the right to a heavenly reward for the most ordinary good actions in the supernatural order, provided we are in the state of grace. God does not ask us to do extraordinary things. If we do the most ordinary tasks of the day, our daily duties if you will in whatever our state of life demands like cooking, studying, doing small chores, special skills, writing, sewing, and such, in a spirit of love and obedience to Him, our acts will deserve merit before God's eyes.
God does not expect all of us to be great scientists saving thousands of lives each day, great discoverers, great lawyers, great statesmen. Does God need our help? All He wants is our love; and this we can give in the most ordinary daily actions. "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever else you do, do all to the glory of God."
WARNING: By mortal sin one loses the merit he has gained from his good actions. It is necessary that he regain that state of grace before he can regain that merit. To regain God's friendship, we must be sorry for our sins, make a good confession, and resolve never to displease Him again. Then the Sanctifier can work in us once more for He will give us back the gift of His grace and love, and the merit of all our good works, but only when we are in the state of Sanctifying Grace. Without it, we are dead to God, dead to eternal life.
Previously: Step Nine: The Church's Role in Salvation
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