Friday, August 2 - The Portiuncula indulgence

[la_petit_fleur]

I would like to ask a great favor of those of you who will be fulfilling the requirements for the The Portiuncula indulgence on Saturday. Since it’s a special indulgence which you may gain for yourself and for those in purgatory simply by exiting and re-entering the church, would you mind please, to try gain the indulgence for my father. He died last year, and I don’t know if he made it to purgatory, and I am tortured thinking he might be in hell. But if he is in purgatory, could you try to gain this indulgence for him? It would mean so much to me. Thank you!!!

 

[GiftofMercy]

Thank you for posting this. Saturday is the 3rd of August. This indulgence is for Friday August 2nd. I will pray for your father.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Hi there, let me please correct you a little bit on the conditions in the latest Manual of Indulgences for “the Portiuncula indulgence” as it appears you have referenced a page with out of date info.

First, as GiftofMercy stated, the indulgence is for tomorrow, Friday, August 2 (not Saturday, August 3). If the Catholic churches in your area are not open on Friday, August 2 then the indulgence may be earned on the first Sunday of August instead (Sunday, August 4).

Second, in order to earn the indulgence, one must be a Catholic in a state of grace, and do the following:
Visit your parochial church, quasi-parochial church, cathedral, or co-cathedral with a contrite heart. While there, devoutly recite 1 Our Father and the Creed.

The indulgence will be plenary if you fulfill the usual conditions, which are:

• No attachment to sin, even venial sin
• Confession within 20 days before or after (The page says 8 days, that is out of date, although you could certainly go this weekend for First Saturday confession)
• Holy Communion on the day you earn the indulgence, or within a few days
• Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.

Also, you can only earn the indulgence once on August 2 (or the Sunday if your churches are not open August 2). In olden times people would keep going in and out of the church on Aug 2 in hopes of earning lots of indulgences. The Church has put an end to this practice.

I hope this helps some people earn the indulgence for your father.

I note that I earned a plenary indulgence and asked Mary/ Jesus to assign it to your father on June 20. I prayed for you as well. I use a spreadsheet for this as I try to get a plenary daily, or as many days as I can (I do miss some days due to schedule, illness etc) and have a different person assigned to each day. I am currently scheduled into 2020 with this devotion, usually only do one per person and have someone else already assigned for tomorrow. However, I will have a Mass said for your father’s soul instead.

God bless. I hope and pray that God is able to soon send you some positive message about your father so you do not worry so much.

 

[la_petit_fleur]

Thank you! Got my dates mixed up!

 

[la_petit_fleur]

Thank you so much! You have no idea what this means to me.

 

[njlisa]

Out of the Depths/De Profundis (Psalms 130)

Out of the depths I call to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my cry!
May your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, Lord, keep account of sins,
Lord, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness
and so you are revered.

I wait for the Lord,
my soul waits
and I hope for his word.
My soul looks for the Lord
more than sentinels for daybreak.
More than sentinels for daybreak,
let Israel hope in the Lord,
For with the Lord is mercy,
with him is plenteous redemption,
And he will redeem Israel
from all its sins.

 

[quies]

The plenary indulgence has an indirect (but powerful) significance to those of us living in Los Angeles.

Originally, L.A. was named “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río Porciúncula.” This “Little Portion” River specifically alluded to the name of a chapel in Italy that St. Francis rebuilt to inaugurate this whole indulgence! That Italian chapel that had fallen into disrepair was dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels, and is currently our Cathedral’s titular title (having moved from St. Vibiana’s years ago.) …Hence the tie-in to us Angelinos.

I would also mention that in (many) years past, it was possible to dedicate everything (and I mean spiritually everything!) to the Church Suffering by making a “Heroic Act of Charity.” Formulae wordings abound in books and on the web, but be certain to research it very carefully before professing it - it is in fact bona fide Christian heroism to the max!!! I’m not even sure if it is currently accepted, but I prefer to follow the Greatful Dead’s great lyric: “You ain’t gonna learn what you don’t wanna know…” So I walk in blissful ignorance.

Finally la_petit_fleur, I’m happy to oblige your request in the morning. Regards.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Regarding the Heroic Act, it was an old type of indulgenced work that was in the Raccolta, which was the predecessor to the Manual of Indulgences.

The Heroic Act is not in the new Manuals of Indulgences, so the Act itself is no longer indulgenced nor does it carry special privileges for gaining indulgences.

Those of us nowadays who do a Marian Consecration and agree to give Mary all of our indulgences and merits that we earn are pretty much doing the same thing as the Heroic Act. (Many pages on the Heroic Act mention that those devoted to Mary who did the Heroic Act would give all their indulgences and merits to her for distribution.) She might use them for souls in purgatory or for souls on earth or whatever God wants, however I think we can be sure that the souls in purgatory won’t be forgotten.

St. Therese at the end of the 1800s was a great advocate of giving all your earned indulgences and merits away and relying on the mercy of God to keep you out of purgatory. Presumably all those Holy Souls you helped would also be helping you with their own prayers. St. Therese taught this to her novices as a way of avoiding purgatory oneself, even though she was criticized by some other nuns for teaching that one could avoid purgatory, as they thought it was nearly impossible. As St. Therese is now a doctor of the church, I choose to follow her teaching on this matter, and give all my indulgences away.