104 Q. How many kinds of grace are there?  A. There are two kinds of grace:  sanctifying grace and actual grace.

105 Q. What is sanctifying grace?  A. Sanctifying grace is that grace which makes the soul holy and pleasing to God.

“Sanctifying,” that is, making us holy by cleansing, purifying our souls.  Sin renders the soul ugly and displeasing to God, and grace purifies it.  Suppose I have something bright and beautiful given to me, and take no care of it, but let it lie around in dusty places until it becomes tarnished and soiled, loses all its beauty, and appears black and ugly.  To restore its beauty I must clean and polish it.  Thus the soul blackened by sin must be cleaned by God’s grace.  If the soul is in mortal sin—­altogether blackened—­then sanctifying grace brings back its brightness and makes it pleasing to God; but if the soul is already bright, though stained or darkened a little by venial sin, then grace makes it still brighter.

106 Q. What do you call those graces or gifts of God by which we believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him?  A. Those graces or gifts of God by which we believe in Him, and hope in Him, and love Him, are called the divine virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

“Virtues.”  Virtue is the habit of doing good.  The opposite to virtue is vice, which is the habit of doing evil.  We acquire a habit bad or good when we do the same thing very frequently.  We then do it easily and almost without thinking; as a man, for instance, who has the habit of cursing curses almost without knowing it, though that does not excuse him, but makes his case worse, by showing that he must have cursed very often to acquire the habit.  If, however, he is striving to overcome the bad habit, and should unintentionally curse now and then, it would not be a sin, since he did not wish to curse, and was trying to overcome the vice.  One act does not make a virtue or a vice.  A person who gives alms only once cannot be said to have the virtue of charity.  A man who curses only once a year cannot be said to have the vice of cursing.  Faith, hope, and charity are infused by God into our souls, and are therefore called infused virtues, to distinguish them from the virtues we acquire.

107 Q. What is faith?  A. Faith is a divine virtue by which we firmly believe the truths which God has revealed.

“A divine virtue” is one that is heavenly or holy.  Faith is the habit of always believing all that God has revealed and the Church teaches.  “Firmly,” that is, without the slightest doubt.  “Revealed,” that is, made known to us.  Revelation is the collection of all the truths that God has made known to us.  But why do we believe?  Because we clearly see and know the truth of what is revealed?  No, but because God reveals it; we believe it though we cannot see it or even understand it.  If we see it plainly, then we believe it rather because we see it than because God makes it known to us.  Suppose a friend should