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ACTUAL GRACE; ITS ENDS.

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"What is actual grace? Before replying to this, I must remind you, My daughter, that man by himself can do nothing meritorious of Heaven without the grace of God. You will now easily understand what actual grace is. Actual grace is a transient succour which God gives to man that he may know, will, or perform what is supernaturally good, by exciting and aiding him to know it, will it, or do it.

"It is a succour which is necessary to man, because sin has made him full of weakness, and he is powerless to attain a supernatural end. It is a transient succour. This distinguishes it from habitual grace, which resides in the soul in a permanent manner.

Now,

"I have added, My daughter, that this succour excites and aids man, to show you that this succour disposes him to action and upholds him when he performs it. For what action is this succour given to man? For an action either interior or exterior. for every action there are two things: the disposition to perform it and the performance of it. As regards the disposition to act, it is the understanding of man which is specially at work; and this succour of God enlightens his understanding. As regards the performance of the action, it is the will; and this succour of God excites and assists the will to perform it. Whether the action be interior, as an act of love, or exterior, as an exercise of piety, in order that this action may be good the succour of God is necessarily required, and this is called actual grace.

"Actual grace is given for two ends: first, for the practice of good, as I have just pointed out to you, and next for the avoidance of evil; whence it follows, My daughter, that if this grace is necessary, it is so for doing good and also for avoiding evil.

"Actual grace is necessary for doing good, for producing supernatural acts of faith, hope, and charity; because faith, hope, and charity are supernatural virtues, and man, by the sole force of his nature, cannot produce such acts. Even he who possesses sanctifying grace has need of actual grace for producing these acts, for this sanctifying grace, like all supernatural habits which God establishes in the soul in a permanent manner, is pretty much in regard to supernatural acts, what the natural powers and faculties are in regard to simply natural

acts.

"It must not on that account be said, My daughter, that the acts of men which are not preceded and aided by grace are bad acts, or that man without grace can do nothing that is good; but the truth is, that without grace he can do nothing meritorious of Heaven.

"Actual grace is necessary for doing good and also for avoiding evil. Yes, My daughter, it is necessary even to the man who is in the state of grace, and without this actual grace it is impossible for him to pass a long time without falling into venial sin. It is necessary, not only for avoiding venial sin, but also mortal sin. In fact, to avoid evil he must resolve on what is good, and perform it; for he who does not advance goes back, and he who is not continually accumulating scatters. Now, for a man to resolve on what is good, and to do it, there is needed, besides the predisposition given by habitual grace, an existing and an actual succour for performing it.

"My daughter, actual grace will never be wanting to you; receive it and make use of it according to

SANCTIFYING GRACE; ITS CAUSES.

the design of God. will practise good.

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Thus you will avoid evil and

"I will not detain you longer; to-morrow, return to Me, and I will speak to you of sanctifying grace. I will tell you what are its causes, its nature, and the effects it produces in the soul."

3. Of sanctifying grace; different causes of sanctifying grace; its intimate nature and effects; it does not do away with concupiscence.

On the morrow the Saviour Jesus spoke to me as follows: "My daughter, actual grace is the first means which disposes the soul for the possession of God, the beatific vision, and the glory of Heaven; but it does not put it in immediate relation with its supernatural end. It is not, then, the final means which conducts to the vision of God or to its attainment, but it leads the soul to the acquisition of habitual or sanctifying grace, which is in very truth the immediate preparation for the possession of God, because it plants within it the participation of the Divine life.

"There are several causes of the sanctifying grace which God bestows upon you :—

"The productive or creative cause of grace; which is God Himself, the author of every gift, whether natural or supernatural.

"The meritorious cause of this grace; which is none other but the Son of Man and the sufferings of His Passion.

"The instrumental cause, or that by which God gives you grace, is the sacraments.

"The formal cause of grace, or the nature of grace

as imparted to the soul, is the justice of God com municated to that soul.

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'And, lastly, My daughter, the final cause of grace, or the motives for which God communicates it, are three in number: the first motive is His own glory. God, as I have already told you, has made everything for His own glory; but nothing can contribute more to His glory than the gift of habitual grace, whereby He raises the soul to Himself, which will be to Him as an everlasting praise to be rendered to Him for endless ages.

"The second motive is the glory of His Son made Man for the salvation of mankind. What is glory? It is the irradiation of a being; it is the manifestation of the attributes which are in him. Now, man by grace becomes a member of My body, and, being united to Me, he is just, he is holy, he is the friend of God, he is the son of God; and this sonship, this friendship, this holiness, this justice shine in him in all their splendour, and manifest Me, who am one with him. The third motive is the participation of man in the glory of God and in My glory, which is attained definitively for ever only when man is definitively and for ever a partaker of the glory of My Father and of My glory.

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What, then, is the nature of sanctifying grace? or what is sanctifying grace? Sanctifying grace is a supernatural gift of God, gratuitous and created, intrinsically inherent in the soul, and abiding in it in the form of a habit; by which man, partaking of the Divine life, justified, sanctified, and pleasing to God, becomes His adopted son and acquires a title to eternal life.

"Do you understand, these words, My daughter?"

DEFINITION OF SANCTIFYING GRACE.

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"Lord, I understand some of them, but others are full of obscurity to me." "Do you wish to hear an explanation of them?" "Yes, Lord, and I shall receive it with avidity."

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"You understand, My daughter, that sanctifying grace is a supernatural and gratuitous gift?" "Yes, Lord, you have already told me so." Well, My daughter, sanctifying grace is also a created gift, that is to say, how great soever its perfection may be, this gift is not the very substance of God, for this gift is intrinsically inherent in the soul; that is to say, it comes to modify the soul but not to destroy it, or to change it so that it ceases to be a soul. It is inherent and in the form of a habit, that is, of an inclination, a propensity, to do good. Now, if this gift was the very substance of God, there would be not only an inclination to do good, there would be the continual action of good, because God is sovereignly and eternally the author of good.

"Sanctifying grace is a participation in the Divine Nature. My daughter, you cannot understand either the import or the nature of this word; you will understand it in Heaven, and this will be your happiness in your true country.

"Nevertheless, I will give you an explanation, or by means of an image, I will convey to you an idea of what this participation is.

"I told you, when speaking to you of God, that in God there are Three Persons; that the Father knows Himself, and by this knowledge generates His Son; that the Father and the Son love each other, and that this love of the Father and the Son is the Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. This eternal knowledge of the Father, this eternal tendency of the

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