Do indulgences require intent?

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Please help me move this if I picked the wrong category.

I have it in my mind that I read or heard somewhere that indulgences require intent, that they cannot be earned unintentionally.

I have the “manual of indulgences” from the USCCB and I looked through it last night and this morning and couldn’t find this in it. But I may have missed it as my reading was frequently interrupted by my son.

Some plenary indulgences are very specific, such as the one that can be earned for the deceased this week. I am asking more for things like saying the rosary at home, or certian prayers that can earn a partial indulgences , or even the “four general grants” which can earn a partial indulgence. Are these partial indulgences earned just by being in a state of grace and by doing the work? Or must a vocal or mental declaration be made as well that one is intending to earn an indulgence from the work?

*I found the passage I was thinking of
Norm 17, 2 “to gain an indulgence one must have at least the general intention of doing so…” can someone smarter than myself please explain how this would apply to the examples I listed above (rosary, specific prayers, 4 general grants)?
 
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ZemD said:
Please help me move this if I picked the wrong category.

I have it in my mind that I read or heard somewhere that indulgences require intent, that they cannot be earned unintentionally.

I have the “manual of indulgences” from the USCCB and I looked through it last night and this morning and couldn’t find this in it. But I may have missed it as my reading was frequently interrupted by my son.

Some plenary indulgences are very specific, such as the one that can be earned for the deceased this week. I am asking more for things like saying the rosary at home, or certian prayers that can earn a partial indulgences , or even the “four general grants” which can earn a partial indulgence. Are these partial indulgences earned just by being in a state of grace and by doing the work? Or must a vocal or mental declaration be made as well that one is intending to earn an indulgence from the work?

*I found the passage I was thinking of
Norm 17, 2 “to gain an indulgence one must have at least the general intention of doing so…” can someone smarter than myself please explain how this would apply to the examples I listed above (rosary, specific prayers, 4 general grants)?
Click to expand...
I make it a practice, when I go to confession, to state explicitly that I have the virtual intention of obtaining all the indulgences for which I am eligible, both plenary and partial. Then I just live my life without having to specify at each moment “I desire to obtain such-and-such indulgence”.

If I am seeking to obtain a plenary indulgence, I do specify it in my mind, so that I can be certain when I have fulfilled the conditions — only Our Lord Himself can say whether I have renounced “all attachment to sin”. I try to do that every moment of my life (and I fail daily).
 
If you’re in the general habit of trying to earn indulgences for your prayers, then the Lord likely accepts that as having the general intent.

A lot of us also make a Morning Offering every day that contains, among other things, some wording along the lines of, “I desire today to earn every indulgence and merit I can…” which covers us on the “intent” point for the whole day, whether we’re thinking about it or not.

I say a Morning Offering containing that line almost every day, although sometimes it’s an Afternoon Offering or even an Evening Offering because I am in the habit of saying it when I get into the car for the first time in a day, along with other “car prayers”. If I miss a day, the Lord likely knows I still have the intent, and when I remember or have a chance I will say it an extra time and ask God to back-date it to the appropriate day.

The point is that a general intention to earn indulgences for prayers you might make or acts you might do is enough. You don’t have to specifically think about the intent or state that you have the intent before you do each prayer or each act.

By the same reasoning, someone who never heard of indulgences or who isn’t interested in getting them is not going to get one automatically for saying a Rosary, because the intent of getting an indulgence is missing.
 
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ZemD said:
…
*I found the passage I was thinking of
Norm 17, 2 “to gain an indulgence one must have at least the general intention of doing so…” can someone smarter than myself please explain how this would apply to the examples I listed above (rosary, specific prayers, 4 general grants)?
Click to expand...
Every morning I say, “I wish to obtain all indulgences known or unknow this day,” and say prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father.
 
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Vico said:
Every morning I say, “I wish to obtain all indulgences known or unknow this day,” and say prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that’s a good way to do it.
Some people also add a prayer for the Holy Father’s Intentions to their rosary, or dedicate the first Our Father after the crucifix as being “For the Holy Father’s Intentions”.
I do that with the Our Father and I also say prayers for the Holy Father’s Intentions after Holy Communion at every Mass, which I try to go daily.
 
Intent is an underlying necessity, in principle, of every aspect of our faith:
  • You cannot accidentally sin.
  • A priest cannot confect the Eucharist without intent to do so.
  • You don’t just pray or engage in pious activity without some intent to engage with God.
Conditions and circumstances may align or occur that mean you’ve accomplished a prescribed set of actions to satisfy the requirements of something, but if at some point you aren’t planning for it to happen or intending for this, did you spiritually participate as the Church intended?

I could go on ad nauseam, but I think you get the point.
 
With the requirement to be free of attachment to sin for a plenary indulgence, it requires the most intent I can imagine!
 
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