Indulgences

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I know what they are, but…what are they? When you do an indulgence, what does it consist of?
 
dje101 said:
I know what they are, but…what are they? When you do an indulgence, what does it consist of?
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Basically all you need is the intention to gain the indulgence and then perform the indulgenced act.

One example is the Plenary Indulgence given for praying the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for the intentions of the Holy Father. To gain the indulgence you would first have to be aware of the fact that the indulgence can be gained, have the intention to gain the indulgence, meet the requirements for gaining it, and then pray the prayers.

Another example of an indulgenced act is the reading of Sacred Scripture. If you read Sacred Scripture for at least a quarter hour you can gain a partial indulgence. If you read Sacred Scripture for at least a half hour you can gain a plenary indulgence.

Usually a plenary indulgence requires Confession and Communion within a certain timeframe as well.

There are many, many different ways to gain indulgences: giving money to the poor, visiting a church, prayers, etc, etc.

Dr. Hahn has a CD set in which he further explains the Doctrine of Indulgences: Induldge Yourself <–clicky

My favorite indulgenced prayers are some short ejaculations such as:
Blessed be God
Jesus
Mary
Jesus, Mary, Joseph
My Mother, My Trust
Jesus, have mercy

These short ejaculations are indulgenced anywhere from 300 days to 7 years.

The Angelus is indulgenced at 10 years, so I love to pray the Angelus at or near the specified times.

It is a particular joy for me to give all of these indulgences into the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary to dispense as she wishes. A natural mother knows how to divide good gifts between her children. The Blessed Mother knows even more so.

Pray for me,
Andrew
 
Right, Colos, except that we no longer have the concept of partial indulgences being worth a particular time frame. They’re either partial or plenary, no further distinction.

Certain actions have a plenary indulgence attached to them, others have partial. If you complete the action/prayer necessary for a plenary indulgence but not the accompanying conditions, you gain a partial indulgence. The conditions needed for a plenary indulgence (in adddition to the indulgenced action in itself, Colos gave a few examples of them, there are thousands) are complete freedom from attachment to sin, confession, receive the Eucharist (both of these can be within a few days of completing the indulgenced action) and pray for the intentions of the pope. You cannot ‘accidentally’ gain an indulgence, you must know that one is available and intend to acquire it (it is sufficient for this that you in general intend to receive any indulgences for which you have completed the action without knowing the ins and outs of every indulgence).

If you were actually asking what an indulgence does rather than what it constitues, indulgences offer a remission of the temporal punishment (i.e. purgatory) due for sins which have already been forgiven. A plenary indulgence would mean that the person could go straight to heaven with no purification in purgatory needed (assuming they didn’t sin again after receiving the indulgence, they can’t be stored up against future sins), a partial indulgence would mean that the suffering in purgatory can be lessened (it is sometimes talked of as shortening the time in purgatory, which is fine so long as you understand it as a metaphor since purgatory exists outside of chronological time). Indulgences may be kept for oneself or offered for the holy souls already in purgatory.

HTH.
 
So, since you can only obtain an indulgence when you know what it requires and do it to receive the indulgence, then do you have to speak with a priest about it? Can you just DO the act of the indulgence or do you have to receive guidance/permission from a priest? In other words, what is the process of obtaining an indulgence?
 
In response to Vatican II, Pope Paul VI abolished the numbering of days in partial indulgences. From then on, indulgences may either be “plenary” (full) or “partial” (time unspecified.)
 
dje101 said:
So, since you can only obtain an indulgence when you know what it requires and do it to receive the indulgence, then do you have to speak with a priest about it? Can you just DO the act of the indulgence or do you have to receive guidance/permission from a priest? In other words, what is the process of obtaining an indulgence?
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Yup, you just do the act with the intention of gaining the indulgence. You do not require permission to gain one. Just identify what actions are indulgenced, meet the requrements, and then do the action(s). It’s all very simple. Mother Church made it simple for her children. There are no impossible or crazy hurdles.
Pope Paul VI abolished the numbering of days in partial indulgences
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They are most correct in stating that the length of time indulgenced has officially been abolished. Not that it is bad to number the days or years gained, but that the Holy Father, Paul VI, thought it better to focus the mind and heart on becoming truly charitable toward God and man by not counting days but by loving and giving regardless of what you get in return.

Having said that, I tend to use prayerbooks that are somewhat more traditional than some of the more modern prayerbooks. In the older books the days and years are still mentioned. I simply forgot that I was on Catholic Answers Forum. Had I remembered, I would not have mentioned it, lol.
 
Another question.

Since doing the act of an indulgence relieves the temporal punishment(s) that one will receive in Purgatory, does that mean that Purgatory, in essence, is simply a state of doing indulgences? Some versions that I’ve heard is that Purgatory is a place of pain and punishment for temporal sins. Is this true? Or is it simply a place where we continued to do indulgence-like activity?
 
dje101 said:
Another question.

Since doing the act of an indulgence relieves the temporal punishment(s) that one will receive in Purgatory, does that mean that Purgatory, in essence, is simply a state of doing indulgences? Some versions that I’ve heard is that Purgatory is a place of pain and punishment for temporal sins. Is this true? Or is it simply a place where we continued to do indulgence-like activity?
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First, let me say that Purgatory is perhaps one of the most incredibly merciful things that the Lord God has done for us. I’m very, very relieved that purgatory exists. We shouldn’t ever view it as a “second chance” for those who habitually live in mortal sin. No, those who die in mortal sin belong in hell forever. God help us to hate all sin.

The souls in purgatory are unable to merit. They cannot gain any indulgences for themselves, but you can give whatever indulgences you gain to them. Their final salvation is assured, and you can help speed their way to Heaven. If they die with the tendency to commit venial sins, they must expiate that tendency as well as the actual temporal price for the sins which they failed to expiate by Grace while they could.

One argument I’ve heard is that because they know for certain that their souls are saved from hell and that they will forever bask in the radiant glory of God they have lost the ability to merit anything else for themselves. Another argument is that once you die, your soul can no longer grow in charity. Whether or not this or that argument is correct, I don’t know. The fact of the matter is that once you die, your ability to merit for youself has come to an end.

While all of the eternal price for sin and part of the temporal price for sin is remitted by confession, the remainder of the temporal price remains for us to expiate by Grace while we are still able to do so. We can gain indulgences in order to accomplish this. Basically every truly good thing that you do for love of God and neighbor, you merit. As I understand it, when you merit you also reduce the temporal debt for your sins.

Due to the fact that you’ll never know when or if you have expiated all the remaining temporal punishment which you’ve earned for yourself, you might as well make a habit out of reaching for indulgences as often as possible for your own good and for the good of others. Make it the intention of your heart that you are willing to part with any indulgence and give it to any soul in purgatory who needs it.

My own approach is to give them all into the hands of Our Blessed Mother. She knows who needs them the most. Though I may think that I’m the most needy, that is not always the case. It is better for Her to mediate these things rather than for me to feebly try to do so.

Also, make a point to raise your hand and pray a Hail Mary or Glory Be whenever you pass a cemetary. You don’t know who among the dead may actually be suffering in purgatory. Your prayer will help them. Don’t forget those who have passed out of this life. Maybe one day someone like me will do the same for you when they pass by your grave.

One Saint said that he would trade all of his life’s work, all of his writings, for just one Hail Mary said with reverence. Don’t forget the poor souls in purgatory. You have the power to help them.

Pray for me,
Andrew
 
dje101 said:
Another question.

Since doing the act of an indulgence relieves the temporal punishment(s) that one will receive in Purgatory, does that mean that Purgatory, in essence, is simply a state of doing indulgences? Some versions that I’ve heard is that Purgatory is a place of pain and punishment for temporal sins. Is this true? Or is it simply a place where we continued to do indulgence-like activity?
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Hmm, I don’t think that I actually answered your question with my previous post. I can get carried away, lol.

God is perfect justice. Those in purgatory are paying the price for their sins and the sinful tendencies which they refused to mortify.

I’ve heard it said that the fires of purgatory are no less hot than the fires of hell. I don’t know if that is accurate, but I imagine that’s how those in purgatory probably feel about it. It most certainly is a place for purgation. It is punishment with a purpose. The purpose is to completely cleanse and finally perfect you so that you are fit to stand in the presence of Almighty God forever. Make no mistake, the Saints say that it sucks to be in purgatory, but it is also an incredible mercy. No one with sinful tendencies will stand in eternity in the presence of the Living God. No injustice will fail to be corrected first. No penalty will be left unpaid.

Yes, it is a place for purgation. No, it is not comfortable…not by a long shot.

Pray for me,
Andrew
 
dje101 said:
I know what they are, but…what are they? When you do an indulgence, what does it consist of?
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1471 The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of Penance.

What is an indulgence?

"An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints."81

"An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin."82 The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.83

Obtaining indulgence from God through the Church

1478 An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishments due for their sins. Thus the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity.90

1479 Since the faithful departed now being purified are also members of the same communion of saints, one way we can help them is to obtain indulgences for them, so that the temporal punishments due for their sins may be remitted.
 
dje101 said:
I know what they are, but…what are they? When you do an indulgence, what does it consist of?
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Why Go To Purgatory?

Why would anyone go to purgatory? To be cleansed, for “nothing unclean shall enter [heaven]” (Rev. 21:27). Anyone who has not been completely freed of sin and its effects is, to some extent, “unclean.” Through repentance he may have gained the grace needed to be worthy of heaven, which is to say, he has been forgiven and his soul is spiritually alive. But that’s not sufficient for gaining entrance into heaven. He needs to be cleansed completely.

Purgatory makes sense because there is a requirement that a soul not just be declared to be clean, but actually be clean, before a man may enter into eternal life. After all, if a guilty soul is merely “covered,” if its sinful state still exists but is officially ignored, then it is still a guilty soul. It is still unclean.
 
dje101 said:
I know what they are, but…what are they? When you do an indulgence, what does it consist of?
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HOW TO GAIN AN INDULGENCE

By James Akin

This Rock
Volume 5, Number 11
November 1994
Up Front
By Karl Keating
Letters
Dragnet
A PRIMER ON INDULGENCES
By JAMES AKIN
Sidebar
Catechism of the Catholic Church on Indulgences
Sidebar
Myths About Indulgences
Sidebar
Can We Expiate Our Sins – And What Does “Expiate” Mean Anyway?
Sidebar
How To Gain An Indulgence
THE PICKLE OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT
By MARK P. SHEA
Classic Apologetics
My Mind as a Catholic: Part I
By John Henry Newman
New Testament Guide
Mark
By Antonio Fuentes
Fathers Know Best
Who Can Be Saved?
Heresy of the Month
Modernism
By Patrick Madrid
Sidebar
Modernist Errors (As Taken From Lamentabili)
Quick Questions
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To gain any indulgence you must be a Catholic in a state of grace. You must be a Catholic in order to be under the Church’s jurisdiction, and you must be in a state of grace because apart from God’s grace none of your actions are fundamentally pleasing to God (meritorious). You also must have at least the habitual intention of gaining an indulgence by the act performed.

To gain a partial indulgence, you must perform with a contrite heart the act to which the indulgence is attached.

To gain a plenary indulgence you must perform the act with a contrite heart, plus you must go to confession (one confession may suffice for several plenary indulgences), receive Holy Communion, and pray for the pope’s intentions. (An Our Father and a Hail Mary said for the pope’s intentions are sufficient, although you are free to substitute other prayers of your own choosing.) The final condition is that you must be free from all attachment to sin, including venial sin.

Because of the extreme difficulty in meeting the final condition, plenary indulgences are rarely obtained. If you attempt to receive a plenary indulgence, but are unable to meet the last condition, a partial indulgence is received instead.

Below are indulgences listed in the Handbook of Indulgences (New York: Catholic Book Publishing, 1991). Note that there is an indulgence for Bible reading. So, rather than discouraging Bible reading, the Catholic Church promotes it by giving indulgences for it! (This was the case long before Vatican II.)

An act of spiritual communion, expressed in any devout formula whatsoever, is endowed with a partial indulgence.

A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who devoutly spend time in mental prayer.

A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who read sacred Scripture with the veneration due God’s word and as a form of spiritual reading. The indulgence will be a plenary one when such reading is done for at least one-half hour [provided the other conditions are met].

A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who devoutly sign themselves with the cross while saying the customary formula: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Priests who administer the sacraments to the Christian faithful who are in a life-and-death situation should not neglect to impart to them the apostolic blessing, with its attached indulgence.

But if a priest cannot be present, Holy Mother Church lovingly grants such persons who are rightly disposed a plenary indulgence to be obtained in articulo mortis, at the approach of death, provided they regularly prayed in some way during their lifetime. The use of a crucifix or a cross is recommended in obtaining this plenary indulgence. In such a situation the three usual conditions required in order to gain a plenary indulgence are substituted for by the condition “provided they regularly prayed in some way.” The Christian faithful can obtain the plenary indulgence mentioned here as death approaches (in articulo mortis) even if they had already obtained another plenary indulgence that same day.
 
Hello again,

I was reading in the CCC today and had another question about indulgences.

When one performs an indulgence to have the temporal punishment for sins removed, are the temporal punishments removed for one particular sin or for all sins?
 
Also, the CCC said that we can perform indulgences for others in purgatory so that they will have a lesser punishment for their sins. If we do this, do we receive a type of grace or indulgence for performing an indulgence for someone else? Kind of a charity thing…ya know.
 
Where did the Church get the doctrine of Indulgences? Don’t hate me for this, but it doesn’t seem to pop up anywhere in the Bible (SORRY!!).

How long have indulgences been taught in the Church?

Any quotes from early church fathers?
 
Maybe it’s just me, but indulgences sound kinda complicated. 😦

-MontChevalier
 
FROM NEWADVENT.ORG CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA
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The distribution of the merits contained in the treasury of the Church is an exercise of authority (potestas iurisdictionis), not of the power conferred by Holy orders (potestas ordinis). Hence the pope, as supreme head of the Church on earth, can grant all kinds of indulgences to any and all of the faithful; and he alone can grant plenary indulgences.
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Can someone help me to understand this? To me, it almost sounds like the Pope is the only one that is able to grant an indulgence and therefore to gain an indulgence, one must contact the Pope.

NEED CLARIFICATION PLEASE!!!
 
dje101 said:
Can someone help me to understand this? To me, it almost sounds like the Pope is the only one that is able to grant an indulgence and therefore to gain an indulgence, one must contact the Pope.

NEED CLARIFICATION PLEASE!!!
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Only the Pope has the authority to grant an indulgence for the whole Church, but what that means is that a decree is issued from Rome, with his approval, declaring that the faithful can gain a plenary indulgence if they perform the works/prayers listed in the decree of indulgence with the proper dispositions. The decrees are always worded in such a way to make it clear that the faithful automatically gain the indulgence upon fulfilling the conditions; you don’t have to have any personal contact with the Pope about it.

As a side note, I think that in a few cases bishops can also declare indulgences for the faithful in their dioceses.
 
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