Council of Carthage (418): "Whoever says that… if grace were not given, it would be possible but not easy to obey God's commandments without that grace: let him be anathema. For the Lord was speaking of the observance of the commandments when he said: "Without me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5). He did not say: "Without me it will be more difficult for you to do anything." (Jesuit Fathers of St. Mary's College, The Church Teaches, p.219)

Council of Trent (1545-63): "Unless a person is born again of water and the holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. The Council further declares that actual justification in adults takes its origin from a predisposing grace of God through Jesus Christ, that is, from his invitation which calls them, with no existing merits on their side." (Session 6, Chap.5: Norman Tanner, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, p.672)

Vatican II (1962-65): "From the liturgy, then, especially from the eucharist, grace comes flowing to us as if from a fountain." (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 10: Norman Tanner, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, p.823)

Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994): Making clear the different fundamental notions of grace, it teaches us that:

"Grace is favour, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life." ( n.1996)

"Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life." (n.1997)

"The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the sanctifying or deifying grace received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the world of sanctification." (n.1999)

"Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love." (n.2000)

"Habitual grace is the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God's call." (n.2000)

"Actual graces refer to God's interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification." (n.2000)

"There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments." (n.2003)

"There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning 'favour,' 'gratuitous gift,' 'benefit.' Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church [cf. 1Cor 12]." (n.2003)

"Among the special graces ought to be mentioned that graces of state that accompany the exercise of the responsibilities of the Christian life and of the ministries within the Church: 'Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.' (Rom 12:6-8)" (n.2004)

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