All Souls and All Saints Indulgences

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It seems wrong to me that we could help people so much–but it’s not common knowledge. Maybe it’s because I’m only 17, but my mom hadn’t ever heard of this either, and she’s a pretty good Catholic.

So… is an indulgence simply remission of sin? What exactly does it mean when you say “people do do [indulgences]” and “if you’re present to hear… you are granted indulgence”?
There are two kinds of punishment for sin: spiritual punishment and temporal punishment. Spiritual punishment is the punishment that condemns us to hell and separates us from God, and is forgiven by confession. This is what is commonly thought of when someone mentions “sin.” Protestants believe in it, too. Temporal punishment is a concept that I’m not aware of being present in any Protestant denomination. Temporal punishment is the punishment that is “taken out on us” or “administered to us” when we go to Purgatory. The sacrament of confession does not forgive temporal punishment. Temporal punishment is released from your soul by doing indulgences, which are granted due to the pope’s power to the “keys to the kingdom.” He is the person that “makes up” new indulgences, so to speak.

There are two kinds of indulgences: partial and plenary. Partial indulgences forgive a part of temporal punishment that you have accrued, and are very easy to get. Plenary indulgences forgive all temporal punishment you have accrued, and are comparatively extremely hard to get. To get a partial indulgence, you just have to do the act that is assigned to it. To get a plenary indulgence, you have to do the act assigned to it, plus all the other things that I listed in my first post. If you fail to do one of the parts, then the plenary indulgence “turns into” a partial indulgence.

When I said, “People do do indulgences,” I mean that people still actually do them even though they’re not widely known about anymore. When I mentioned the Urbi et Orbi, I meant that if you are present to hear the speech, you are granted the indulgence. There is a part of some speeches the pope gives called the Urbi et Orbi. It’s a blessing, of sorts. If you are present to hear it, you are granted a plenary indulgence by the pope. That’s just one example of several plenary indulgences you can receive, though.
 
I just went and read the Enchiridion of Indulgences. I can’t quite wrap my mind around this. Since when has Catholocism been this formulaic? It seems that I could be gaining at least partial indulgences almost daily, if I tried really hard and went to mass and confession a lot. I guess that kind of makes sense to me…

The reason I’m struggling with this concept so much is that it’s completely changing my perception of purgatory. I’ve had countless discussions with my LDS friends about Baptisms for the Dead, and I’ve always said that after someone dies, the faithful on earth can pray, but that’s really all we can do. It’s between them and God. But how is the idea of a plenary indulgence so different? If Mormons are in good standing with their church, they can get a temple recommend and perform saving baptisms to get people into heaven–how is this so different?
There are many “formulaic” parts of Catholicism. Mass itself is supremely formulaic. Specific acts that constitute an indulgence are the same way. You CAN receive partial indulgences, every single day. And you’re wrong about having to go to mass and receive confession. Mass, Eucharist and confession is only required to receive plenary indulgences. All you have to do to receive partial indulgences is just do the act. Read the Bible for a half hour, bam, partial indulgence.

Whether or not there is a comparable concept in LDS, I wouldn’t base my understanding of indulgences and purgatory on what they do. It will skew your understanding. Please try to understand these things from a Catholic-only point of view before you compare them to similar things in other religions. The thing about praying for the dead, though, is that it does “do something.” It’s not just empty hope and begging God. It does do something. And it’s different from LDS because it actually works.

Indulgences is a massive concept to wrap your head around at first. But you will get it eventually. Just give it time.
 
A state of grace occurs at baptism, and after sacramental confession.

From the Norms on Indulgences (fourth edition 1999):

N. 17 - § 1 [30] To be capable of gaining indulgences a person must be baptized, not excommunicated, and in a state of grace at least at the end of the prescribed work.

§ 2 [31] order that the person who is capable gain them, ought to have at least the general intention of acquiring them and fulfill the enjoined works at the appointed time and in the manner, terms of the grant.
thank you for answering, God bless 🙂
 
Thanks. So… do I get to decide who the indulgence covers? For example, could I pray for my deceased grandfather to receive the indulgence I earn and he’ll be released from temporal sin? Does it matter if he/she is Catholic? I do have a habit of reading the Bible daily–so on the days that I read for at least half an hour, have I been gaining partial indulgences for people?

Thanks for your patience. 🙂 I’ve heard that repenting in purgatory is much harder than on earth; is that true? Indulgences seem to make the process much less painful…
 
Thanks. So… do I get to decide who the indulgence covers? For example, could I pray for my deceased grandfather to receive the indulgence I earn and he’ll be released from temporal sin? Does it matter if he/she is Catholic? I do have a habit of reading the Bible daily–so on the days that I read for at least half an hour, have I been gaining partial indulgences for people?

Thanks for your patience. 🙂 I’ve heard that repenting in purgatory is much harder than on earth; is that true? Indulgences seem to make the process much less painful…
As far as picking who, I don’t know.

Your habit hasn’t accumulated you indulgences, no, because to receive an indulgence, you have to have as an intention to receive an indulgence before you do the act. Since you didn’t know what indulgences are before a few days ago, the times you’ve read the Bible before then do not count as indulgences. But now, each time you read the Bible, as long as you make some sort of intention to be receiving an indulgence while reading it, you will. This intention can obviously just be a small mental note or something.

Does it matter if the person is Catholic? I don’t know. But even if the indulgence doesn’t apply to that person, you’re still helping someone out, regardless.
 
Chelsea111, I will try to answer two questions at least.

What is attachment to sin? The Faith Explained by Leo J. Trese, p.473, states:
“In practice, we seldom can be certain that we have gained a plenary indulgence in its fullness. To gain a plenary indulgence completey, it is necessary that we be completely detached from all deliberate sin. This means that we have true sorrow for all venial sins as well as mortal, and that we be resolved to avoid all deliberate venial sins, as well as mortal, in the future. It is not often that we can be confident that our renunciation of sin is so all-embracing. However, in granting a plenary indulgence, the Church does so with the understanding that if we are not properly disposed to receive the indulgence fully, then we shall gain the indulgence at least partially according to the perfection of our dispositions.”
It is interesting that the partial is in proportion.
“Regarding partial indulgences, with the abolishment of the former determination of days and years, a new norm or measurement has been established which takes into consideration the action itself of the faithful Christian who performs a work to which an indulgence is attached.”

“Since by their acts the faithful can obtain, in addition to the merit which is the principal fruit of the act, a further remission of temporal punishment in proportion to the degree to which the charity of the one performing the act is greater, and in proportion to the degree to which the act itself is performed in a more perfect way, it has been considered fitting that this remission of temporal punishment which the Christian faithful acquire through an action should serve as the measurement for the remission of punishment which the ecclesiastical authority bountifully adds by way of partial indulgence.”
ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P6INDULG.HTM

The indulgence can be assigned to yourself (but not to anyone else alive) or to one of the faithfully departed (which means the saved). Since there are for remission of the temporal effects of sins, it helps those that die in a state of grace. The Catechism states:
1471 The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of Penance.

What is an indulgence?
"An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints."81 "An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin."82 The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.83

1472 To understand this doctrine and practice of the Church, it is necessary to understand that sin has a double consequence. Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the “eternal punishment” of sin. On the other hand every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the “temporal punishment” of sin. These two punishments must not be conceived of as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God from without, but as following from the very nature of sin. A conversion which proceeds from a fervent charity can attain the complete purification of the sinner in such a way that no punishment would remain.84
 
Looking for indulgences that are coming up, so I thought I’d bump up this thread.
 
Looking for indulgences that are coming up, so I thought I’d bump up this thread.
November 2nd Plenary Indulgence, Norm 15, ENCHIRIDION INDULGENTIARUM, 1999 fourth edition:N. 15. In omnibus ecclesiis, oratoriis publicis vel — ab illis qui legitime iis utuntur — semipublicis acquiri potest indulgentia plenaria, quae defunctis tantum applicari potest, die 2 Novembris.

In ecclesiis vero paroecialibus acquiri insuper potest indulgentia plenaria bis in anno: die festo Titularis, et die 2 Augusti, quo « Portiunculae » indulgentia occurrit, vel alio opportuniore die in Ordinario statuendo.

Omnes praedictae indulgentiae acquiri poterunt vel diebus supra definitis vel, de consensu Ordinarii, die Dominico antecedenti aut subsequenti.
Ceterae indulgentiae ecclesiis vel oratoriis adiunctae quamprimum recognoscentur.

N. 15. In all churches, oratories or public or semi-public - from those who are legitimately make use of them - a plenary indulgence can be acquired, it can be applied only to the dead, on the 2nd of November.
In addition, a plenary indulgence can be acquired twice in a year of parish churches: on the feast of the church’s titular saint and on August 2, when the “Portiuncula” occurs, or in some other convenient day in the Ordinary of the by setting.
All the indulgences mentioned above can be acquired either on the days of limited, or, with the consent of the Ordinary, on the day preceding or the following Sunday.
Other indulgences attached to churches and oratories to be revised as soon as possible.

29
Pro fidelibus defunctis
§ 1. Plenaria indulgentia, animabus in Purgatorio detentis tantummodo applicabilis, conceditur christifideli qui

1°55 singulis diebus, a primo usque ad octavum novembris, coemeterium devote visitaverit et, vel mente tantum, pro defunctis exoraverit;

2°56 die Commemorationis omnium fidelium defunctorum (vel, de consensu Ordinarii, die Dominico antecedenti aut subsequenti aut die sollemnitatis Omnium Sanctorum) ecclesiam aut oratorium pie visitaverit ibique recitaverit Pater et Credo.

§ 2. Partialis indulgentia, animabus in Purgatorio detentis tantummodo applicabilis, conceditur christifideli qui,

1°57 coemeterium devote visitaverit et, vel mente tantum, pro defunctis exoraverit;

2°58 Laudes vel Vesperas Officii defunctorum, vel invocationem Requiem aeternam devote recitaverit.

Competentes Coetus episcopales curabunt addere in editionibus Enchiridii pro sermonum varietate preces pro defunctis magis in suis territoriis usitatas et christifidelibus caras.

Requiem aeternamdona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Requiescant in pace. Amen.
(Ordo exequiarum)

vatican.va/roman_curia/tribunals/apost_penit/documents/rc_trib_appen_doc_20020826_enchiridion-indulgentiarum_lt.html

29 For the Faithfully Departed

§ 1. A plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls detained in Purgatory, is granted to the faithful who
1 55 ° of each day, from the first until the eighth of November, devoutly to be visited and the cemetery, or the mind only, for the dead has won pardon;
2 ° 56 on the day of the commemoration of all the faithful departed (or, with the consent of the Ordinary, or on Sunday the preceding or the following day of the solemnity of All Saints) piously visited with the church or an oratory and there recite an Our Father and the Creed.
§ 2. A partial indulgence, applicable only to the souls detained in Purgatory, is granted to the faithful who,
1 ° 57 and visited the cemetery with devotion, or in the mind only, pardon for the dead;
2 ° 58 Lauds or Vespers of the Office of the Dead, or the invocation of eternal rest, devoutly recite.
Add in a variety of editions of the Manual for the Assembly should ensure competent episcopal prayers for the dead in their territories, and used the Christian value.
Rest aeternamdona them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Rest in peace. Amen.
(The funeral)
 
Indulgence : On All Souls Day (Wednesday, November 2), a plenary indulgence is granted for the souls in purgatory if you visit a church and recite one Our Father and the Creed.
Just a nit-picky correction, but All Souls Day is on Friday this year
 
The Vatican has stated that the confession may be about 20 days before or after completion of the other requirements (and one must be in the state of grace at the completion of all the requirements).
Does anyone have a reference for this? I thought it had to be within 7 days of the indulgenced acts.

God bless.

Fr. Bryan
 
I thought it would be kind for the sake of the community to notify everyone of the All Souls and All Saints plenary (not partial) indulgences available.

Indulgence 1: From November 1-8, a plenary indulgence is granted for the souls in purgatory if you visit a cemetery and pray for those departed from us. You can also do this on other days of the year, but it will only be a partial, not plenary, indulgence.

Indulgence : On All Souls Day (Wednesday, November 2), a plenary indulgence is granted for the souls in purgatory if you visit a church and recite one Our Father and the Creed.

For the indulgences to be plenary, the following conditions must be met:
  1. Sacramental confession.
  2. A prayer for the intention of His Holiness the Pope must be recited for each indulgence. One prayer can be satisfied by reciting one Our Father and one Hail Mary, or by praying whatever else for His Holiness’s intention. And no, you don’t actually have to know His Holiness’s officially published intention.
  3. Reception of the Eucharist.
  4. You must be free from all sin, both mortal and venial.
If any of the numbered requirements are not met or if one is attached to even venial sin, then the indulgence is partial only. I suggest going to confession as soon as possible before mass, attending mass and receiving the Eucharist, and then doing the prayers for the intention of the Pope, and then doing the indulgenced act itself. This ensures that you get it done quickly, so you don’t fall inadvertently into venial sin and thus commute the indulgence to only partial instead of plenary.
Okay, so I go to confession, stay clear of sin and all attachment to sin, go to Mass and receive Communion (obviously as quickly as possible after confession), then go straight to the cemetery and pray: 1) intentions of the Pope 2) for the souls in purgatory, at least 1 HM and OF. Is that right?

We have a cemetery not 2 minutes from the church building so I can high-tail it straight there while still in a state of grace from Communion. 🙂
 
Okay, so I go to confession, stay clear of sin and all attachment to sin, go to Mass and receive Communion (obviously as quickly as possible after confession), then go straight to the cemetery and pray: 1) intentions of the Pope 2) for the souls in purgatory, at least 1 HM and OF. Is that right?

We have a cemetery not 2 minutes from the church building so I can high-tail it straight there while still in a state of grace from Communion. 🙂
That is correct, but you can really pray whatever prayer(s) you want, as long as it is for the intentions of the Pope. And remember, you do not have to specifically know his intentions.
 
Just to make it really clear, the plenary indulgence available for visiting and praying in a graveyard is applicable EACH day from 1st-8th November, so (although you can only get one plenary indulgence per day, except in danger of death) you can get EIGHT plenary indulgences from the same sacramental confession here. That’s EIGHT souls you would have helped to enjoy the beatific vision!
 
Just to make it really clear, the plenary indulgence available for visiting and praying in a graveyard is applicable EACH day from 1st-8th November, so (although you can only get one plenary indulgence per day, except in danger of death) you can get EIGHT plenary indulgences from the same sacramental confession here. That’s EIGHT souls you would have helped to enjoy the beatific vision!
As long as you stay unattached to sin, which is my personal sticking point. I am afraid that I don’t even recognize just how attached to my sins I really am. I think I can manage the 5 minute trip to the cemetery after Mass, but by the next day…

:nope:
 
As long as you stay unattached to sin, which is my personal sticking point. I am afraid that I don’t even recognize just how attached to my sins I really am. I think I can manage the 5 minute trip to the cemetery after Mass, but by the next day…

:nope:
Yeah, I know how you feel. However, none of us is capable of judging whether or not we are attached to sin so, the way I see it, I go for every plenary indulgence I can and if it ends up being only partial, I’ve still helped the Holy Souls a little.

I read years ago (so long that I can’t remember where) one of the saints saying that God WANTS us to be able to help our brothers and sisters, he wants us to increase our charity for them (and ultimately him) and for his creatures to depend on one another, so he doesn’t set impossible targets. The converse is also true that some other saints (such as Vincent Ferrer) have had visions about how few people actually gain plenary indulgences, but many holy people have spoken about how God longs to use us as his instruments to show his mercy to the world, so we don’t need to see freedom from attachment to sin as some huge, unattainable target. If we desire to love God above all things and reject everything which is contrary to his will, then a knowledge that we will probably sin again, and even in what ways we are likely to fall, doesn’t equate to an attachment to sin.

Anyway, we can’t tell, we can only try our best and then keep trying.
 
As long as you stay unattached to sin, which is my personal sticking point. I am afraid that I don’t even recognize just how attached to my sins I really am. I think I can manage the 5 minute trip to the cemetery after Mass, but by the next day…

:nope:
Baltimore Catechism No 3.

Q. 845. Is it easy to gain a Plenary Indulgence?
A. It is not easy to gain a Plenary Indulgence, as we may understand from its great privilege. To gain a Plenary Indulgence, we must hate sin, be heartily sorry for even our venial sins, and have no desire for even the slightest sin. Though we may not gain entirely each Plenary Indulgence we seek, we always gain a part of each; that is, a partial indulgence, greater or less in proportion to our good dispositions.
 
Yes, see item #5. Also an indulgenced work of prayer is to be vocal prayer (audible at least to oneself) for it is more perfect, unless meeting one of the exceptions in the norms.
Cool, thanks for the link. That’s great for people who confess monthly. I’m putting out a flier in my Church for All Saints Day that describes what an indulgence is and the specific requirements for this indulgence. Visiting cemeteries is a very important tradition where I’m from; hopefully people will take advantage of the opportunity. The odd thing is that we normally visit cemeteries on All Saints Day instead of All Souls Day.

God bless.
Fr. Bryan
 
I want to Thank the original thread starter and everyone else for their (name removed by moderator)ut here. I’ve had some questions regarding Indulgences and this has been a huge help.🙂
 
One question. Is the plenary Indulgence on All Souls Day for the deceased who our intentions are for, or ourselves?

I’m asking because I want to do both.

Thanks.
 
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