Can indulgences ever run out?

[DL82]

The Church offers indulgences from the Church’s treasury in heaven, i.e. the merits of the saints, martyrs, of Our Lady and of Christ.

My question is, can indulgences ever ‘run out’? I have heard it said that Our Lady said in the approved apparition at Akita that ‘the cup is almost empty’. How can we fill it up again?

It seems that the Church’s application of indulgences is broader now than in the past. St Francis of Assisi was the first to ask the Pope for a plenary indulgence (remission of ALL temporal punishment for sin) to be attached to an act, the visiting of the Porziuncula on the day of its’ dedication. Subsequently, that was applied to ALL Franciscan churches. Leo XIII gave an indulgence of 300 days for the regular reading of sacred scripture for at least an hour, but now that is a plenary indulgence for reading scripture for at least a half hour. The rosary and stations of the cross are plenary indulgences, as is the reciting of the words ‘Divine Mercy, I trust in you’ on the Sunday after Easter.

Is the church offering its’ treasures today at ‘knock-down prices’? If so, won’t they disappear?

I suppose part of my uncertainty about asking this question is whether, in gaining an indulgence, we do something to ADD TO or to TAKE FROM the Church’s treasury in heaven? i.e. if I offer up a rosary for the Holy Souls, am I taking from the Church’s treasury in heaven and giving what isn’t mine to the Holy Souls, or am I adding something to the Church’s treasury in heaven which aids the Holy Souls? Is it different if the indulgence applies to me?

If the indulgences take something from the Church’s treasury, what can I do to put something back in? I want to be a giver and not just a taker.

 

[bpbasilphx]

**
My question is, can indulgences ever ‘run out’? I have heard it said that Our Lady said in the approved apparition at Akita that ‘the cup is almost empty’. How can we fill it up again?**

**I have trouble with apparitions of Akita and would look with a grain of salt at anything said there.

However, the “treasury of merits” (which is accessed by indulgences) will never run out, because according to this teaching the merits of Christ Himself are INFINITE, which means they cannot run out, and those of the saints are “superabundant.”

What does this suggest to you about the “cup being almost empty”, assuming that what was being discussed was in fact the treasury of merits?**

 

[DL82]

Thanks for your response. What about the giving/taking issue? When we ‘gain’ an indulgence, do we gain it for ourselves from somewhere (i.e. taking from the merits of Christ and the saints) or do we gain it for the church from God’s grace (i.e. adding to the merits of Christ and the saints)?

 

[BennyBoy89]

I certainly don’t doubt the Church’s teachings on indulgences and purgatory, but the whole indulgence thing has always been a bit confusing to me.

 

[Andruschak]

No.

From the Catechism…

1476 We also call these spiritual goods of the communion of saints the Church’s treasury, which is "not the sum total of the material goods which have accumulated during the course of the centuries. On the contrary the ‘treasury of the Church’ is the infinite value, which can never be exhausted, which Christ’s merits have before God. They were offered so that the whole of mankind could be set free from sin and attain communion with the Father. In Christ, the Redeemer himself, the satisfactions and merits of his Redemption exist and find their efficacy."87

1477 "This treasury includes as well the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are truly immense, unfathomable, and even pristine in their value before God. In the treasury, too, are the prayers and good works of all the saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps of Christ the Lord and by his grace have made their lives holy and carried out the mission in the unity of the Mystical Body."88

@@@

Any so-called “private revelation” that runs counter to the catechism is false.

 

[DL82]

Thanks, these are really helpful clarifications. The doctrine of indulgences is truly a wonderful thing, and I do trust it.

I’m still trying to work out the answer to my second question though. When we gain an indulgence, say by praying the rosary or the stations of the cross, do we ‘take’ it from this treasury? If so, how does the treasury get filled up even more (even though it’s already overflowing), what do we do to add to it? Or do we add to that treasury by doing indulgenced works?