A Question Regarding Indulgences

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Ioana

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Since my grandfather has recently died I was wanting to obtain a plenary or at least partial indulgence for him. My access to churches (so to say) is limited so I usually only attend on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligations (eg today). I have a question regarding the “attachment to sins” requirement. Suppose I go to Confession. I then receive the Eucharist (and commit venial sins in between that time). After receiving the Eucharist I once again commit a venial sin. If I say an Act of Contrition (assume it is perfect contrition) after that then am I free from attachment to sin or do I need to go to confession again to obtain the plenary indulgence? Also how many partial indulgences can be obtained a day? I was told that the “Eternal rest grant onto them O Lord” is a partial indulgence. About plenary indulgences I had two options I thought I could reasonably do. a) pray the rosary in a church and b) read Scripture for 30 min (or was it 1h). If I choose option b) does anybody have any good recommendations regarding a course of action so I don’t flip around hopelessly for half an hour? And generally, could somebody explain the whole “free from attachment to sin” requirement again in a bit more detail. Is it having no sin on your soul at the moment and really making a realistic resolution not to ever sin again? Oh and a request, please pray for my granddad. His name is Valeriu. He died fairly young compared to the trend in longevity in his family. He was the only one in the family with blue eyes, struggled with alcoholism, loved his garden, his flowers, his now abandoned village and though he was not perfect he has lived and seen a lot. Grandma sometimes described him as having the habit of reading Scripture often. He played chess with his granddaughter who now sincerely hopes they have chessboards in Heaven. Thank you in advance for any help. God bless you all 🙂
 
You’re trying to trick God into granting something by some sort of fancy legal footwork.

Not gonna work.

If you have to ask “I am not sure if I’m free from attachment to sin or not”, then most likely you are not free from attachment to sin and will be granted a partial indulgence.
 
  1. As long as you stay in a state of grace after your confession (no mortal sin), you do not need to confess again for 20 days. The priest will not want you rushing in there every minute anyway. The freedom from “attachment to sin” is a state of mind, and means you have no intention of sinning and reject the idea of even committing a venial sin. I think your “realistic resolution not to sin again” is the general concept. You will likely commit some venial sins anyway, because you are human. The act of contrition and a statement that you reject all attachment to sin (said quietly to yourself) is a nice idea.
  2. You can get unlimited partial indulgences per day.
  3. Yes, the Eternal Rest prayer is partial indulgence, to be applied to souls in purgatory only. There are many more. I will post the link to the current online Enchiridion for you:
    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.basilica.ca/documents/2016/10/Sacred%20Apostolic%20Penitentiary-The%20Enchiridion%20of%20Indulgences.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjqzP3TqJ7XAhXLPFAKHQM6B0QQFggxMAE&usg=AOvVaw0GJAXOx_KHVZNDVL13Mwmr
  4. When I read Scripture for the indulgence I either just pick a book of the Bible and read it straight through, or else I go to USCCB site and read all the daily readings for a couple weeks or a month.
  5. I’ll pray for your granddad, he sounds like a lovely man apart from the alcoholism. My ex boyfriend and some of my friends were alcoholics and my grandfather had a gambling addiction, so it happens to otherwise good people.
Also don’t forget you can get one plenary a day this week till Nov 8 for a soul in purgatory by visiting a graveyard and praying there, and meeting the other conditions. And you can get the All Souls Day Plenary tomorrow, Nov 2, by visiting a church or oratory and saying one Our Father and the Creed there and meeting the other plenary conditions.

God bless
 
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Spyridon said:
If you have to ask “I am not sure if I’m free from attachment to sin or not”, then most likely you are not free from attachment to sin and will be granted a partial indulgence.
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She’s not trying to trick God, she’s trying to do this right and help her loved one to heaven.

The reality is that we could have total confidence we are free from attachment to sin and God would not see it that way. The reality is also that most of us may not get a plenary. But that shouldn’t stop us trying. We dont know exactly how much remission our Lord might give. We could end up with 99 percent credit, or 90 percent. It’s like trying to ace a test, you might not ace but you can try to do as well as possible.

And by repeatedly trying to get these indulgences, we’re motivating ourselves to pray more, do more adoration, read that scripture when we might put it off. I tried to get the scripture plenary last night. I fell asleep at the 25 minute mark, so I only get a partial. But the important thing was making the effort, and the partial credit helps both my spirituality and the poor soul who Jesus applies it to.
 
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Cheers for the reply it was very helpful :). Isn’t the plenary for visiting a grave in each one of those 8 days or is there a plenary associated with each visit between Nov 1 and Nov 8?
 
If you check that link I gave you, it is number 13, Visit to a Cemetery. You can get the indulgence once a day any day of the year. On the days Nov 1 through Nov 8, it is plenary (if you meet the other conditions, which would mean one confession covering all the days, one communion for each day, and one set of prayers for Holy Father’s intentions each day, plus lack of attachment to sin.). On all other days it is partial.

Articles on that particular indulgence often get it wrong and say you have to go all 8 days for one plenary. That’s not what the book says.

But note you can get at most one plenary a day, so if you manage to get a plenary for scripture, then the cemetery visit on the same day will be partial.
 
No argument from me there.

That comment was about “well if I go to confession this way and do that then maybe God will do this”… sometimes I see people here treat God like he’s some sort of mechanistic thing which has legalities and rules which can by circumvented by taking certain actions.

That’s not how it works.
 
I agree that the indulgences tend to give rise to mechanistic thinking. That is a drawback of them. At the same time we have to have some trust in God’s mercy because unless we are St Therese of Lisieux we are probably not going to do this exercise perfectly, and there is a tendency to despair and say this is hopeless, I will never be able to help anyone get to heaven.

I have felt quite depressed about my own efforts many times. But I keep trying, so I don’t want anyone else to give up. It does push me to successfully avoid certain possibly mortal sins, like missing Mass, so there’s that.
 
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Ioana said:
“attachment to sins”
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Regarding the “attachment to sins” requirement, the Church has stated this in a different way within another decree: “as long as they are totally free from any desire to relapse into sin.” (Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary on the Gift of an Indulgence During the “Year of the Eucharist”, 25 Dec 2004).

God bless,
Dave
 
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Ioana said:
Since my grandfather has recently died I was wanting to obtain a plenary or at least partial indulgence for him. My access to churches (so to say) is limited so I usually only attend on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligations (eg today). I have a question regarding the “attachment to sins” requirement. Suppose I go to Confession. I then receive the Eucharist (and commit venial sins in between that time). After receiving the Eucharist I once again commit a venial sin. If I say an Act of Contrition (assume it is perfect contrition) after that then am I free from attachment to sin or do I need to go to confession again to obtain the plenary indulgence? Also how many partial indulgences can be obtained a day? I was told that the “Eternal rest grant onto them O Lord” is a partial indulgence. About plenary indulgences I had two options I thought I could reasonably do. a) pray the rosary in a church and b) read Scripture for 30 min (or was it 1h). If I choose option b) does anybody have any good recommendations regarding a course of action so I don’t flip around hopelessly for half an hour? And generally, could somebody explain the whole “free from attachment to sin” requirement again in a bit more detail. Is it having no sin on your soul at the moment and really making a realistic resolution not to ever sin again? Oh and a request, please pray for my granddad. His name is Valeriu. He died fairly young compared to the trend in longevity in his family. He was the only one in the family with blue eyes, struggled with alcoholism, loved his garden, his flowers, his now abandoned village and though he was not perfect he has lived and seen a lot. Grandma sometimes described him as having the habit of reading Scripture often. He played chess with his granddaughter who now sincerely hopes they have chessboards in Heaven. Thank you in advance for any help. God bless you all 🙂
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Your Grandfather is in my prayers. 🙏🕊️
Getting indulgences for the dead is one of the great works of mercy.
We can attempt to gain them all year around.

In getting an indulgence
One Sacrament of Reconcilliation is good for about 8 days. And can be used for several indulgences. So if you only go to Mass on Sundays, try to get two indulgences in with two Masses after Reconcilliation.
Holy communion should be on the day of the indulgence work.
Remember to pray for the Pope’s intentions too.

Venial sin is not mortal sin and we ask for forgiveness and are granted it, from venial sin every Sunday in Mass.
Being creatures, we will sin again. But we keep asking forgiveness as we Journey closer to God.

Tisbear has put the link to the indulgence manual in the room.
And there are three ways to get an indulgence that are quite simple
Half hour of scripture reading anywhere
Rosary said in Church , (in public).
Adoration

But also at this time of year, prayer in a cemetery. @Tis_Bearself. What must we do at the cemetery?

I try to gain indulgences for those in Purgatory all year around.
I trust in God to apply them as appropriate 🕊️🙏🌹
 
You just visit the cemetery and pray devoutly for the dead souls.
Doesn’t have to be a Catholic cemetery.
It’s no. 13 in the Enchiridion.
I do it the rest of the year from time to time too, for the partials, as there are a lot of cemeteries around here right in the church yards when I attend Mass at the old historic churches.

I’m going to try to go every day from now to the 8th and see a different little cemetery each time.

I’m also pretty sure another person was doing it with me at the Catholic cemetery this morning after Mass. We just pulled in, parked, said some prayers and drove away.
 
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I am across the paddocks from a small cemetery. Do we go into the cemetery or outside the gates?
 
Tis_Bearself said:
It’s no. 13 in the Enchiridion.
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It’s no. 29 in the 4th edition, if anyone has that version. I just picked it up. 🙂 The numbering is all different, even though the content is generally pretty much the same.
Roseeurekacross said:
Holy communion should be on the day of the indulgence work.
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That is what is recommended and encouraged, but it does not strictly have to be. Receiving Communion (and praying for the pope) can be done “several days” before or after performing the indulgenced act.
 
Thanks Guys

and a reminder today is First Friday and tomorrow a First Saturday. Communion and the Sacrament of Reconcilliation can be combined for all these.
Yesterday on All Souls Day our Priest reminded us all about that days indulgence, during Mass.
i thought that was lovely.
 
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