Indulgence question, from a novice, please help!

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sarahraegraham

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I want to make sure I am getting a correct understanding… So an indulgence is a remission (maybe a better word for that?) of temporal punishment due to forgiven sins by any number of acts…

Is it just basically, doing good works so that purgatory will not be as long/painful? Is there maybe a better way to explain it? Is it just a knowing "I have done x, y and z, and that means I have q amount of remission?:confused:
 
As I understand it (and it’s entirely possible that I’m wrong), each sin is like a nail in a piece of wood. The Sacrament of Confession removes the nail, but the hole remains. Each indulgenced act we take part in bestows a certain amount of grace, “filling in” those holes, as it were.

Or, as I explain it to my kids, if they break a window, and ask forgiveness, they will be forgiven. However, the window still needs to be repaired. They’d have to do extra chores around the house to earn money to pay for the new window. So it is with indulgences, they’re one of the means for us to purify our souls, to “fix the window” after God’s forgiven us for breaking it.

I don’t know if that helps.
 
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