What is the difference between habitual grace and actual grace?

Answer 1

Habitual grace is the grace of God IN our souls, received through the reception of the sacraments. It remains in our soul until such time as we are guilty of a serious sin..... a mortal or grievous sin.

Actual grace is sent to us, is a transient grace, which comes from God, the Holy Spirit, to urge us to love, to do good things. We can ignore it or we can accept (use) it. The more we use it, the more we are aware of its presence in our lives.

If we commit a serious sin, it is actual grace that urges us to receive the sacrament of reconciliation, penance, in order to once again have Habitual grace in our soul and thereby more readily use the actual graces offered by the Holy Spirit.