What is the state of grace?

Being in the state of grace means having sanctifying grace in your soul: God's own life, given to you at Baptism, that makes you his friend and his child. You lose it only by mortal sin, and you get it back through Confession. That's why the Church asks you to be in the state of grace before you receive Communion.

What is sanctifying grace?

Grace is God's free and undeserved help, given so that we can answer his call to become his children and share in his life (CCC 1996). It isn't something we earn. It's a gift, and it starts with him.

Sanctifying grace is the deepest form of that gift. The Catechism calls it "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" (CCC 1999). You first received it at Baptism. It isn't a feeling or a passing push in the right direction. It's a lasting gift that changes the soul itself and makes it able to live with God and act out of his love (CCC 2000).

So "the state of grace" simply means that this gift is alive in you right now. You are in friendship with God.

Sanctifying grace and actual grace

The Catechism distinguishes two kinds of grace (CCC 2000). Sanctifying grace, also called habitual grace, is the stable gift: it stays unless you send it away. Actual graces are God's help in particular moments: the nudge to pray, the strength to walk away from a temptation, the courage to go to Confession after years.

This matters because God keeps giving actual graces even to someone who has lost sanctifying grace. The desire to come back is itself one of them. If you're reading this because you want to be right with God again, that desire came from him.

How do you lose the state of grace?

Only by mortal sin. A mortal sin is a sin of grave matter, committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent (CCC 1857). The Catechism says it results in "the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace" (CCC 1861).

All three conditions have to be there. Something serious done in real ignorance, or under strong pressure, fear or deep-rooted habit, may not be mortal at all. Our page on what a mortal sin is goes through each condition.

Venial sins don't take away the state of grace. They weaken charity and slow you down, but they don't break your friendship with God (CCC 1863). Impatience, a white lie or a distracted prayer doesn't put you outside of grace.

How do you get back into the state of grace?

Through Confession. Christ gave the sacrament of Penance above all for those who have fallen into grave sin after Baptism, so they can "recover the grace of justification" (CCC 1446). When the priest gives absolution, your sins are forgiven and sanctifying grace is restored. It doesn't matter how long it's been or how serious the sins were.

There's a second way that leads to the same place. Perfect contrition, sorrow that comes from love of God, obtains forgiveness even of mortal sins, as long as it includes the firm intention to go to Confession as soon as possible (CCC 1452). So if you've sinned gravely, don't wait to tell God you're sorry. Make an act of contrition tonight, and then go to Confession at your next chance.

How can I know if I'm in the state of grace?

Not with absolute certainty, and the Church says so plainly. Grace belongs to the supernatural order, so it "escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith" (CCC 2005). You can't feel your way to it, and you can't be sure by counting your good works.

That isn't meant to make you anxious. It's meant to free you from checking. You can have a calm, reasonable confidence, the kind theologians call moral certainty, and that's all God asks. A simple test:

• Have I made a good Confession since my last mortal sin?
• Since then, have I knowingly and freely chosen something I knew was gravely wrong?

If the answer to the second question is no, you can go in peace. If you honestly can't tell whether you fully knew or freely chose it, that doubt isn't the same as being aware of grave sin, which is what keeps someone from Communion (can. 916). Still, if it's a serious sin you've been falling into often and you suspect you gave in again, go to Confession first or ask a priest. If you tend to doubt every confession and every Communion, that last caution isn't meant for you.

The Catechism also says that looking back on God's blessings in your life, and in the lives of the saints, gives you assurance that grace is at work in you (CCC 2005). It quotes St. Joan of Arc, asked at her trial whether she was in God's grace. She answered that if she was not, she prayed God would put her there, and if she was, she prayed he would keep her there. That's a good prayer for anyone who worries.

If that kind of doubt follows you everywhere, talk to a priest about it. Confessors usually tell scrupulous people not to treat a doubtful sin as a certain one. Our page on scrupulosity has more.

Why does the state of grace matter for Communion?

"Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace" (CCC 1415). Someone aware of mortal sin should go to Confession before receiving (CCC 1385; Code of Canon Law, can. 916). Communion is meant for people living in friendship with Christ. It strengthens that friendship, and it can't take the place of Confession for someone who has lost it.

If you're not in the state of grace, still go to Mass. You can stay in the pew, or make a spiritual communion, telling Jesus you want to receive him and asking him to come into your heart. No one is keeping track. Then go to Confession soon. If you've already received while in mortal sin, see receiving Communion in mortal sin: that too is forgiven in Confession.

Other times the state of grace matters

• Confirmation. You need to be in the state of grace to be confirmed (CCC 1310), so most parishes offer Confession beforehand.
• Marriage. The Church encourages engaged couples to go to Confession before the wedding (CCC 1622).
• Indulgences. You need to be in the state of grace, at least by the time you finish the work, to gain an indulgence. More in plenary indulgences.
• The hour of death. This is when it matters most. It's a good reason not to put off Confession, and a reminder that coming back is never too late while we live.

Staying in the state of grace

You don't stay in grace by willpower. You stay close to the One who gives it. A few habits help: go to Mass every Sunday, pray a little each day, look back over each evening and tell God you're sorry for what went wrong, and go to Confession regularly, not only when something big happens. When you fall, get up quickly. God never tires of forgiving, and the door of the confessional is open again next Saturday.