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Bulletin Article on Indulgences and Additional Options for Indulgences
Indulgences
“An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned… the Church… applies the treasury of the satisfaction won by Christ and the saints” to the recipient of the indulgence. “An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.” (Indulgentiarum doctrina, Norms 1 & 2)
The indulgences received can only be applied to oneself or the deceased. Indulgences are granted to encourage the faithful to grow in the perfection of charity. Only the baptized who are in a state of grace while doing the prescribed work according to the time and manner prescribed, and intend to gain the indulgence, can do so.
Only one plenary indulgence can be received per day, but multiple partials can be granted per day. To gain a plenary indulgence, one must perform the work specified and meet the following conditions:
1. Detachment from all sin (even venial)
2. Sacramental confession (within several days, applicable to multiple indulgences)
3. Holy Communion (for each indulgence)
4. Prayer for the pope’s intentions (for each indulgence; can be satisfied with one Our Father and one Hail Mary)
If any one of these conditions is not met, then the indulgence will be partial instead of plenary. A partial indulgence adds to the good work an equivalent remission of temporal punishment to what the work itself receives.
A plenary indulgence (applicable only to the souls in purgatory) is granted to those who devoutly visit a church on All Souls Day (Nov. 2nd) and pray an Our Father and the Creed. By special permission from the Pope, this year only, this plenary indulgence can be obtained on any other day of the month chosen by each member of the faithful. Likewise, a plenary indulgence can be granted to a soul in purgatory when the faithful visit a cemetery and pray for the dead from Nov. 1st thru Nov. 8th. This year, the indulgence can be obtained by anyone who visits a cemetery, even if only mentally, on any day in November, and devoutly prays for the faithful departed.
For more information, see The Handbook of Indulgences Norms and Grants.
Additional Options
Plenary Indulgences can also be obtained in any of the following ways, in addition to the ways mentioned above for the month of November, along with the 4 conditions required above:
1. Making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament to adore Him for at least one half hour.
2. Spending at least one half hour reading Sacred Scripture, as spiritual reading, with the veneration due to the Word of God.
3. Making the Way of the Cross (Stations of the Cross). This includes walking from Station to Station. (At publicly held Stations, if this cannot be done in an orderly way, at least the leader must move from Station to Station.) No specific prayers are required, but devout meditation on the Passion and Death of Our Lord is required (not necessarily on the individual Stations).
4. Recitation of the Rosary (of at least 5 decades), with devout meditation on the Mysteries, in addition to the vocal recitation. It must be said in a church, family group, religious community, or pious association.
