The sacraments receive their power to give grace from God, through the merits of Jesus Christ.
- The sacraments are actions of Christ: through the visible rite, it is He Who sanctifies us, just as truly as when He said to Mary Magdalene, “Thy sins are forgiven.”
1. Each sacrament possesses the power from God to make the soul of the recipient holy and pleasing to Him. This supernatural power is termed sanctifying grace.
- Sanctifying grace is abiding and permanent and lost only by mortal sin. The sacrament that first gives this grace is Baptism. The sacrament that restores this grace to those who have lost it by sin is Penance. The other sacraments give an increase of sanctifying grace.
2. Each sacrament also gives a grace proper to itself, a special effect on the soul, distinct from the effects of other sacraments; this is called sacramental grace.
- Sacramental grace consists in divine help towards the fulfillment of the duties imposed by the particular sacrament. For example, the sacramental grace of Matrimony gives a right to the assistance of God in fulfilling the duties of the married state.
3. If received with the proper dispositions, the sacraments always give grace.
- They derive their efficacy from Christ; consequently they give grace of themselves, as long as we have the right dispositions.