Important indulgence for moment of death

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Genesis315

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This came up in another thread, but since the Church said we need to be reminded of it often, here’s a thread on it. We should all be praying to be spared an unprovided death anyway, but the Church still provides even when a priest is unavailable.

AT THE POINT OF DEATH
§1 A priest who administers the sacraments to someone in danger of death should not fail to impart the apostolic blessing to which a plenary indulgence is attached.

§2 If a priest is unavailable, Holy Mother Church benevolently grants to the Christian faithful, who are duly disposed, a plenary indulgence to be acquired at the point of death, provided they have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime; in such a case, the Church supplies for the three conditions ordinarily required for a plenary indulgence.

§3 In this latter case, the use of a crucifix or a cross in obtaining the plenary indulgence is commendable.

§4 The faithful can obtain this plenary indulgence at the hour of death, even if they have already acquired a plenary indulgence on that same day.

§5 The catechetical instruction of the faithful should ensure that they are duly made aware and frequently reminded of this salutary benefaction of the Church.
https://d2wldr9tsuuj1b.cloudfront.net/3189/documents/2018/4/Indulgences_v2.pdf
 
This is also an excellent reason to give all the indulgences you earn during your life away to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
Because if you’re getting this one at the point of death anyway, you don’t need to be collecting them throughout your life as long as you’re in the habit of reciting some prayers.
 
I got a metal card engraved with the text for the Apostolic Pardon. One side has English, the other is in Latin. It’s in my wallet, just in case.
 
Genesis315 said:
§2 If a priest is unavailable, Holy Mother Church benevolently grants to the Christian faithful, who are duly disposed, a plenary indulgence to be acquired at the point of death, provided they have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime; in such a case, the Church supplies for the three conditions ordinarily required for a plenary indulgence.
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Does this mean that the customary three conditions (communion, confession, prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father) are dispensed, and only the work itself — prayers said at the moment of death — is required for the plenary indulgence?

You will often hear people say “dying in your sleep is the way to go, I hope that’s the way I die”. That is so wrong-headed. Quite aside from what that does to the people you leave behind — no last words, no goodbyes — you have no chance to obtain that indulgence, or any other for that matter. For someone who has chosen to live in mortal sin, that’s the last thing they or anyone else should want.

At the end of the day, though (no pun intended), none of us get to choose the manner and time of our death, and statistically, one-third of people can expect to die in their sleep.** Be ever ready.

(** - assuming you are as liable to die at any one moment as at any other, and assuming you sleep 8 hours a night, i.e., one-third of your life.)
 
HomeschoolDad said:
You will often hear people say “dying in your sleep is the way to go, I hope that’s the way I die”. That is so wrong-headed. Quite aside from what that does to the people you leave behind — no last words, no goodbyes — you have no chance to obtain that indulgence, or any other for that matter. For someone who has chosen to live in mortal sin, that’s the last thing they or anyone else should want.
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I hope to have just enough time to receive the sacraments.
 
HomeschoolDad said:
Does this mean that the customary three conditions (communion, confession, prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father) are dispensed, and only the work itself — prayers said at the moment of death — is required for the plenary indulgence?
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It says in the instructions that the Church supplies for the three conditions.

Obviously if the priest is not there you’re not getting confession or Communion. (I suppose you could have an EMHC appear with Communion but it seems even less likely than a priest showing up.) And you may not be in any state to pray for the Holy Father’s intentions.

As for dying in your sleep, don’t commit mortal sin, pray every day and then you don’t have to worry about it. God chooses when you die, it’s not up to me whether I’ll be awake or asleep.

Having had all my loved ones die when I wasn’t there, I don’t think it was any better or worse than me being there. Watching people die isn’t some big poetic thing and as I have discussed with my relatives, parents seem to often depart when their kids aren’t present anyway.
 
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Thanks for this reminder! It goes to show that God does not leave us without help at the hour of death.
 
I just found someone on Etsy who does custom engravings on metal cards and sent them the prayer. Do you want the specific vendor?
 
Fauken said:
I got a metal card engraved with the text for the Apostolic Pardon. One side has English, the other is in Latin. It’s in my wallet, just in case.
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I an confused. Is this a prayer that you say yourself, or does a priest (or perhaps even deacon) have to say it over you, similar to the last rites? The wording of the prayer doesn’t make sense if you are saying it for yourself.


And shouldn’t a priest know to say this anyway? Is it a part of the last rites per se, or something additional? Or put another way, why in the world wouldn’t a priest administer such a pardon?
 
HomeschoolDad said:
I an confused. Is this a prayer that you say yourself, or does a priest (or perhaps even deacon) have to say it over you, similar to the last rites? The wording of the prayer doesn’t make sense if you are saying it for yourself.
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Only a priest can say it. I have the text on my person in case he doesn’t remember it.
HomeschoolDad said:
And shouldn’t a priest know to say this anyway?
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Not necessarily. I admit, I’m not certain, but I don’t think the Pardon is a part of the Last Rites. And either way, whether due to nerves or ignorance, I want to minimize the chance of me not getting it however I can. $20 is nothing for that little extra preparation, and if nothing else, serves as a reminder to me of the inevitability of my death, and the possibility that it may be sudden.
 
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After receiving the Last Rites and surrounded by my wonderful family I will gradually fade after living a long and prosperous life. 😌
 
If you’re ever in the position of being in the hospital, do let the nurse who is admitting you know that you are Catholic when they ask if you have any spiritual, religious, or cultural needs. Well over 90% of the patients I admit tell me that they have no such needs or requests. At the very least, a chaplain will visit and an EMHC will come and bring you communion if you do tell them you’re Catholic.

I have actually asked a family if they wanted me to contact a priest for their dying loved one. It was a little odd to me that it seemed like the thought never occurred to them before I brought it up. However, the patient had mentioned he was Catholic. I got a priest there within twenty minutes.

Life is fragile. I’ve seen people that are ready to be discharged wind up taking a turn for the worse, some of whom don’t make it. Be very certain to make your family (and health care providers) know what you want, even if they are not religious themselves. Otherwise, what you want may not happen. The majority of deaths I’ve seen have had no prayers or priests or religious elements to them whatsoever.
 
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