Not just protestantism. The followers of Cathol had that idea of grace LONG before there were protestants or even, for that matter, the schism between them and the Orthodox.
But yes, it's an equivocation. Nowadays thinking you're graceful (physically or in any other sense) or extending grace to others is COMPLETELY different from what it meant even in the time of Jeanne d'Arc. Seriously, it was a theological question they tried to trip her with. According to RCC doctrine, thinking you have grace was heresy, since only God could know if he gave his grace to you.
(In the end they *ahem* flamed her just for wearing pants as a woman. And you thought your conservative parents were absurdly strict about your clothing, eh?
)
It wasn't until the Council Of Trent in mid-16th century that the idea of grace meaning some objective transformative change (as opposed to just divine favour) even existed, as far as I can tell. And even then it just applied to your soul, not your body.
The part about a body being
graceful is much later.
And the idea of a human just being able to extend it to other humans would have gotten you on top of a pile of kindle the next day. Cf the Council Of Trent, God himself had to initiate the process by giving you a trial grace. ("Prevenient.") You couldn't even presume to start it yourself. God had to start that quest. The idea that you could just start it for random other people... ooheer... that would have probably given a couple of cardinals a heart attack.
