Does penance given at Reconciliation complete temporal punishment?

[DL82]

Does the penance we are given by the priest at confession make total satisfaction for the temporal punishment for our sins?

If not, how do we know what penance will complete this?

I’m a recent convert, and am still struggling with the whole concept of partial and plenary indulgences. I bought the handbook, which lists various prayers which carry partial and plenary indulgences, but have found this makes my prayers less and less personal. Why would I pray general prayers whose effect I don’t know but whose words are my own, when I can pray set prayers such as the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross, and receive a plenary indulgence for them? It’s a difficult balance. Why did the penitents of the middle ages go around in sackcloth and ashes, fasting and performing heroic works when complete remission of a lifetime’s temporal punishment can be obtained from an hour’s Bible reading?

I really feel called to a penitential lifestyle, perhaps even the life of a consecrated hermit, but am struggling with the reason for it all. Wouldn’t God rather we rejoiced in His forgiveness and lived lives that made use of the freedom that comes from forgiveness, rather than weeping and mourning and bearing unnecessary burdens? Is it really of more value to God and to the souls of sinners if I pray a Rosary than if I cook a meal for a homeless person?

 

[John_Lilburne]

The Apostolic Constitution Indulgentiarum doctrina may be helpful. It is at: vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-vi_apc_19670101_indulgentiarum-doctrina_en.html . But perhaps you already have it with the handbook you have. The Latin text of the 1999 (4th) edition of the Manual of Indulgences is at vatican.va/roman_curia/tribunals/apost_penit/documents/rc_trib_appen_doc_20020826_enchiridion-indulgentiarum_lt.html . An English translation is at usccbpublishing.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=705 . If you are using a earlier edition, perhaps this more recent one will help.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Does the penance we are given by the priest at confession make total satisfaction for the temporal punishment for our sins?

If not, how do we know what penance will complete this?

I’m a recent convert, and am still struggling with the whole concept of partial and plenary indulgences. I bought the handbook, which lists various prayers which carry partial and plenary indulgences, but have found this makes my prayers less and less personal. Why would I pray general prayers whose effect I don’t know but whose words are my own, when I can pray set prayers such as the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross, and receive a plenary indulgence for them? It’s a difficult balance. Why did the penitents of the middle ages go around in sackcloth and ashes, fasting and performing heroic works when complete remission of a lifetime’s temporal punishment can be obtained from an hour’s Bible reading?

I really feel called to a penitential lifestyle, perhaps even the life of a consecrated hermit, but am struggling with the reason for it all. Wouldn’t God rather we rejoiced in His forgiveness and lived lives that made use of the freedom that comes from forgiveness, rather than weeping and mourning and bearing unnecessary burdens? Is it really of more value to God and to the souls of sinners if I pray a Rosary than if I cook a meal for a homeless person?

We don’t know and won’t know until we are judged. The temporal punishment remitted would depend on the degree of contrition we had at the time we confessed. The Church also provides us the opportunity, from the treasury of the Church, to gain Indulgences to remit additional temporal punishment.

 

[BenFischer]

Does the penance we are given by the priest at confession make total satisfaction for the temporal punishment for our sins?

If not, how do we know what penance will complete this?

I’m a recent convert, and am still struggling with the whole concept of partial and plenary indulgences. I bought the handbook, which lists various prayers which carry partial and plenary indulgences, but have found this makes my prayers less and less personal. Why would I pray general prayers whose effect I don’t know but whose words are my own, when I can pray set prayers such as the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross, and receive a plenary indulgence for them? It’s a difficult balance. Why did the penitents of the middle ages go around in sackcloth and ashes, fasting and performing heroic works when complete remission of a lifetime’s temporal punishment can be obtained from an hour’s Bible reading?

I really feel called to a penitential lifestyle, perhaps even the life of a consecrated hermit, but am struggling with the reason for it all. Wouldn’t God rather we rejoiced in His forgiveness and lived lives that made use of the freedom that comes from forgiveness, rather than weeping and mourning and bearing unnecessary burdens? Is it really of more value to God and to the souls of sinners if I pray a Rosary than if I cook a meal for a homeless person?

Those are all good questions. You may want to look at the Catholic Encyclopedia for it’s treatment of penance throughout the ages.

As far as why you might say an indulgenced prayer instead of your own, I’d say it’s up to you. Myself, I prefer to read prayers, because I think that my own off-the-cuff prayers are rambling and sometimes I lose my train of thought. If I can’t even remember what I was going to say, how’s God supposed to know? So if I’m flipping through a prayerbook and see an indulgence attached to the prayer, I figure at least it’s well written and to the point. I look at it as part of the teaching or guidance functions of the Church. They are telling me that this prayer or practice is good for my spiritual growth.

But you can say your own prayers or perform your own acts of charity and mercy, and God bless you for doing it! My understanding is that attaching indulgences to prayers or acts of charity was originally done to enforce some kind of uniformity on the part of what Priests were giving for confession. Some were much tougher than others.