Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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REVIVIFICATION

Belief that all the sacraments, except the Eucharist and penance, confer the grace originally available, once the obstacle preventing the grace is removed. It is assumed that a person wants to receive the sacrament but lacks the proper dispositions, mainly the state of grace for sacraments of the living and adequate contrition for sacraments of the dead. When one attains the state of grace or arrives at sufficient contrition, the grace of the sacraments is "revived" without repeating the sacramental rite. The validity of baptism, confirmation, matrimony, and orders is always certain in these circumstances. Revivification pertains only to the fruitfulness of the sacraments, i.e., their conferral of sacramental grace.