Grace, princess consort of Monaco

Grace, 1929–82, princess consort of Monaco, b. Philadelphia as Grace Patricia Kelly. She acted on stage and television in New York, and made her film debut in 1951. Cool, blonde, and patrician, she became a major film star after her first Hollowood picture, High Noon (1952). Her major films include three released in 1954: Dial M For Murder and Rear Window, both directed by Alfred Hitchcock Hitchcock, Sir Alfred, 1899–1980, English-American film director, writer, and producer, b. London. Hitchcock began his career as a director in 1925 and became prominent with The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938).
..... Click the link for more information. , and The Country Girl, for which she won an Academy Award. She also starred in To Catch a Thief (1955), The Swan (1956), and High Society (1956), among others. She retired from moviemaking in 1956 when she married Rainier III Rainier III (rĕnyā`), 1923–2005, prince of Monaco (1949–2005), a member of the Grimaldi family, which has ruled the tiny
..... Click the link for more information. , the ruling prince of Monaco. Princess Grace died following an automobile accident (1982) in France.

Bibliography

See biographies by S. Bradford (1984), J. Spada (1987), R. Lacey (1994), J. Curtis (1998), and J. R. Taraborrelli (2003).

grace, in Christian theology

grace, in Christian theology, the free favor of God toward humans, which is necessary for their salvation. A distinction is made between natural grace (e.g., the gift of life) and supernatural grace, by which God makes a person (born sinful because of original sin original sin, in Christian theology, the sin of Adam , by which all humankind fell from divine grace . Saint Augustine was the fundamental theologian in the formulation of this doctrine, which states that the essentially graceless nature of humanity requires
..... Click the link for more information. ) capable of enjoying eternal life. In general, the term grace is restricted to supernatural grace, usually considered as the keystone of the whole Christian theological system.

Supernatural grace is usually defined as being actual or sanctifying. Actual grace turns the soul to God; sanctifying grace confirms and perpetuates the ends of this conversion and makes the soul habitually good. Most theologies (except in Calvinism Calvinism, term used in several different senses. It may indicate the teachings expressed by John Calvin himself; it may be extended to include all that developed from his doctrine and practice in Protestant countries in social, political, and ethical, as well as
..... Click the link for more information. ), wishing to maintain humanity's freedom in addition to God's complete freedom in granting grace, distinguish prevenient grace, which frees a person and awakens him or her to God's call, from cooperating grace, by which God assists to salvation the free person who seeks it.

When God seems to confer on a person such actual grace that his or her conversion appears inevitable, the grace is said to be efficacious. The apparent difficulty of claiming that grace may be efficacious while a person is free was explained by St. Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, Saint (əkwī`nəs) [Lat.
..... Click the link for more information. on the ground that it was a peculiar nature of this grace granted to some people that it should be ineluctable; it was this doctrine that Luis Molina Molina, Luis (lwēs mōlē`nä), 1535–1600, Spanish Jesuit theologian. He taught at Coimbra and Évora.
..... Click the link for more information. and the Molinists disputed. Differing in effect from efficacious grace is merely sufficient grace, which, while sufficient to conversion, may be rejected by a person at will. Calvinism rejects merely sufficient grace, holding instead that grace is irresistible.

In every Christian theology God is considered to grant grace quite freely, since its gift is far greater than any person can merit. As to which persons are offered this grace, there is great difference. The generality hold that it is offered to people who place no obstacle in the way of salvation rather than to those who neglect what ways to grace they have been given; the Jansenists (see Jansen, Cornelis Jansen, Cornelis (kôrnā`lĭs yän`sən), 1585–1638, Dutch Roman Catholic theologian. He studied at the Univ.
..... Click the link for more information. ), however, believed that grace was not given outside the church, and the Calvinists hold that it is offered only to those predestined to election.

Sanctifying grace may be said to succeed justification as actual grace precedes it. The operation of sanctifying grace brings holiness to the individual soul. The indwelling of God in the soul and the soul's actual participation in God's nature (in an indefinable manner) are the perfections of sanctifying grace. As to the means, there is a serious cleavage in Christianity, notably in regard to sacramental grace. According to Roman Catholics and Orthodox, the grace accompanying a sacrament is ex opere operato, i.e., by God's ordinance the sacrament actually confers grace, the good disposition of the minister being unimportant and that of the recipient being not always a condition; Protestants hold that the sacraments are ex opere operantis, i.e., the faith of the recipient is all-important, and the sacrament is the sign, not the source of grace.

Certain Christian systems have developed quite different ideas of grace, and Pelagianism Pelagianism (pəlā`jənĭzəm), Christian heretical sect that rose in the 5th cent. challenging St.
..... Click the link for more information. has its advocates in liberal 20th-century Protestantism. The great emphasis on grace is a distinction of Christianity. In recent years among orthodox theologians there has been a renewed interest in the theology of grace. Among traditional usages, they distinguish three forms of grace: God's communication of Himself to the Christian soul is grace; the favorable attitude of God toward the soul is grace; the ontological modification of Christian life by God's favor is grace.

grace

In Christian theology, the unmerited gift of divine favour, which brings about the salvation of a sinner. The concept of grace has given rise to theological debate over the nature of human depravity and the extent to which individuals may contribute to their own salvation through free will. Though in principle the ideas of merit and grace are mutually exclusive, the question of whether grace may be given as a reward for good works or for faith alone was important in the Protestant Reformation. There has also been controversy over the means of grace: Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and some Protestants believe that it is conferred through the sacraments, while some other Protestants (e.g., Baptists) hold that participation in grace results from personal faith alone. See also justification; original sin.

Grace

One of a group of Greek goddesses who personified charm and beauty. Originally fertility goddesses, they were frequently associated with Aphrodite. Their number varied in different legends, but often there were three. They were sometimes said to be the daughters of Zeus and Hera and sometimes of Helios and Aegle, daughter of Zeus.