Sanctifying Grace question

[Montgomeryatty]

As I understand it, the Sacraments give us sanctifying grace, both creating/restoring and maintaining our right relationship with God. But a mortal sin destroys this grace. As a Baptised Christian, I fully believe I received sacramental grace in being baptised, as I also received when I was married. Since those times, however, as I’ve spent several months studying Catholicism, I’ve also committed what I recognize as mortal sin. I acknowledge that there is no valid excuse for committing such a sin. However, one of the best tools in the Christian arsenal for fighting off temptation is the grace conveyed by the Sacraments. I am looking seriously at the Church, but am not yet in RCIA, and thus won’t have the joy of entering the Church any time soon. For non-Catholics who accept and agree with Catholic doctrine, are there any means of grace that we can obtain to strengthen us for the battle with temptation?? The obvious answer is prayer, and I don’t doubt that prayer has its effect, but I suppose the distiction I’m drawing is that prayer, for all its goodness, is not sacramental. By definition, then, it does not give us grace. Does it? Thoughts everyone?

 

[dylanschrader]

Grace is given apart from the sacraments as well, but the sacraments are called the “ordinary means” of conferring grace because they actually effect grace.

There are different types of graces, too. Sanctifying grace is what makes the soul supernaturally alive, but God also gives us “actual graces” which help us to do what is right in certain cases.

Since you are baptized, you do not have to go through the whole RCIA process, you can receive instruction from a priest and be received into the Church and confirmed after appropriate instruction.

You can receive sanctifying grace, even if you have committed a mortal sin, by having perfect contrition. This means being sorry for your sins because you love God. Once you are far enough along in the process of becoming Catholic, you should go to Confession, which is the ordinary way sins are forgiven after Baptism.