New Catholic question on indulgences

[AKDee]

I’m a new Catholic as of Easter 2015. One that that wasn’t covered in RCIA was indulgences.

I have three main questions about them.

One- what are the most common indulgences? I have read that there is an indulgence attached to private study of scriptures, of saying the Rosary if you say it in Church or if you say it at home and remember to add the extra prayers for the Pope, etc. Is this true? What other ones are there?

Two- do you earn an indulgence automatically when you do these things- even if you don’t know there is an indulgence attached to it- or do you have to ask God for the indulgence?

Three- are indulgences automatically applied or do you have to ask God to apply them?

 

[Mintaka]

Yes, you can earn indulgences without knowing you’re doing it. So if you read your Bible a lot, you are in business.

If you want to ask God to apply indulgences to a dead person of your choice or to the Poor Souls, you can do that at any time, including retroactively. Otherwise, they usually apply automatically to you.

It’s a pious act to try to earn indulgences for the Poor Souls who don’t have anyone to pray for them, or for your beloved dead.

You can also ask the dead to pray for you! Instead of a vicious cycle, it creates a blessed cycle!

 

[kentcara2003]

Yes, you can earn indulgences without knowing you’re doing it. So if you read your Bible a lot, you are in business.

If you want to ask God to apply indulgences to a dead person of your choice or to the Poor Souls, you can do that at any time, including retroactively. Otherwise, they usually apply automatically to you.

It’s a pious act to try to earn indulgences for the Poor Souls who don’t have anyone to pray for them, or for your beloved dead.

You can also ask the dead to pray for you! Instead of a vicious cycle, it creates a blessed cycle!

Just to gently clarify this.
Yes, we can gain indulgences without knowing we are gaining them them, …ONLY with the rule that WE MAKE THE INTENTION TO GAIN INDULGENCES IN THE BEGINNING OF THE DAY."

This is crucial. If we do not intent to gain all the indulgences we can…we do not receive them!!
Personally, i generally make the intention after I make my morning offering…"O my Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary , I offer you all my prayers, works, joys and sufferings …
the intention I make covers not only for the day but for my whole life!(For days I forget!!)

“I wish to gain all the merits and indulgences I can to-day and the rest of my life.”
As an act of charity, I also include all those who do not know this, by saying,(come to think of it, I have not been saying this last part!! Thanks for the post, will start cracking at it again!)…

“on behalf of all who can gain indulgences, but are ignorant of the requirement to make the intention of gaining them, I make this desire on their behalf.”…entrusting all to the generous and infinite Mercy of God.

Some small works that are indulgences, as follows,
refer to the Enchridion the brother Deacon has posted prior to this post.Very good. Will clarify on what I have just mentioned.

1. using your rosary
2. doing charitable works should incluse sharing of the faith, in this website and wherever you are!
3. involved in cathechesis at parish
   4)Making acts of love,“Jesus, Mary I love you, save souls” in the midst of manual work…

Last but not least, look up about the heroic act of donation to the Holy souls by St Gertrude. St Gertude made the act of giving all the indulgences she can gain to the holy souls. At the hour of death, she was tempted to fear by the devil who told her because of the donation, she was going to stay in purgatory for a long time.
In time, Our Lord intervened and told her that because of her generosity He would greatly increase her merits…
(All our good works are ultimately dependent on the mysterious and generous infusion of the grace of God in our souls…the greater our holiness, the greater the value in his eyes…we must just humbly acknowledge how miserable and somewhat weak we are and throw ourselves with great trust and hope and confidence into the abyss of His Most Sacred Heart and that of our Blessed Mother, and strive with whatever we have at hand,…)

God bless.
Kentcara2003(3rd order SSCC)

 

[dmftx]

Welcome, AKDee! I have come, over time, to find tremendous comfort and closeness to God in the Church and It’s traditions.

Don’t be discouraged about indulgences and the requirements. As stated by the previous poster, I also pray for my intention to earn available indulgences each day as part of my morning conversation. I stop worrying or thinking too much about it after that. Regardless of whether I earn any indulgences that day, I am still doing my best to walk in his Spirit and, indulgence or not, I know that He sees my efforts.

One thing that might help is God’s desire that we remain in prayer with Him throughout the day. I love the short but loving pious invocations that we can think or say during the day. While they can earn indulgences, I love how they keep me centered and focused and continually showing gratefulness or praising Him.

 

[Merrick]

You must intend to gain the indulgence. There are indulgences attached to even things like making the sign of the cross or kissing a blessed crucifix. Some prayers such as the Hail Holy Queen are indulgenced. Some sets of prayers I do, including a traditional Divine Office, include many places to make the sign of the cross. I’m not always thinking about the indulgence when I cross myself so I pray beforehand to offer up every indulgenced act for a soul in purgatory. Sometimes it’s for the most lonely soul, the soul closest to God, the most forgotten, or a specific soul I know, whoever God lays on my heart. Sometimes I merely think of the soul when I perform the prayer or act – I don’t think you have to verbalize the intention, you just need to have the intention.

Indulgences can be gained for oneself or for the dead. Penances after confession are also indulgenced I think. I’m not sure if they can be offered up for another soul since they are penance for one’s own sins, but maybe they can…I offer up those penances for myself, but every other indulgence I gain I offer up for a soul in purgatory. If it doesn’t go to the soul I am praying for it will go to another soul. When we pray for the souls in purgatory they will remember us and pray for us! So even if you offer up every indulgence for a soul in purgatory you may still be released from purgatory very quickly, maybe even faster than if you only prayed for yourself. It is better to give than to receive!

This aspect of my prayer life since becoming Catholic is really wonderful. (I had a mostly Catholic prayer life before but only Catholics can gain indulgences.) It opens to me up to the exchange that prayer is, the communion between the living and the dead and the more I do it the more I can feel that constant interchange between the dead and me, in the mass, in private prayers, in daily life.

Generally speaking one must be in the state of grace to gain an indulgence – or at least be in a state of grace by the end of the indulgenced act. But even if you’re not in the state of grace it is up to God how to apply the prayers, so they can still be offered up – God isn’t bound by canon laws or sacraments, only His own Will.

Even outside of indulgenced acts you can still offer up various things for souls in purgatory (or living people or any intention), such as holy communions. The pious use of an image is also indulgenced. If I want to offer up a non-indulgenced prayer for a soul in purgatory but still certainly gain an indulgence, I hold a crucifix and venerate it while offering up the prayer. This has to be one of the most wonderful things for me about Catholic prayer. I am certain that if I don’t neglect the souls in purgatory and offer up all my indulgences for them then I will not be forgotten when/if I am in purgatory.

 

[InNomineDomini]

One- what are the most common indulgences? I have read that there is an indulgence attached to private study of scriptures, of saying the Rosary if you say it in Church or if you say it at home and remember to add the extra prayers for the Pope, etc. Is this true? What other ones are there?

The Church’s current indulgences, as applied to the United States, are contained in this book: amazon.com/Manual-Indulgences-none/dp/1574554743

To the best of my knowledge, there are no online forms of this book available on the internet for free. In double-checking, I’ve noticed a lot of the current indulgences were also listed previously, perhaps even all of them. However, the new Manual does contain even more indulgences.

There are all sorts of plenary and partial indulgences that are currently available to the faithful. You have mentioned a couple of them. It would be tedious to list the dozens of other indulgences, but some include:

• Devoutly assisting at the adoration of the Cross in the solemn liturgical action of Good Friday.
• Devoutly reciting the canticle of the Magnificat
• Reciting, on the memorial of any saint listed in the calendar, the prayer taken from the Missal in honor of that saint.
• Devoutly reciting approved litanies

Two- do you earn an indulgence automatically when you do these things- even if you don’t know there is an indulgence attached to it- or do you have to ask God for the indulgence?

The second section of the seventeenth norm from the Manual of Indulgences states:

To gain an indulgence, one must have at least the general intention of doing so and must carry out the enjoined works at the stated time and in due fashion, according to the sense of the grant.

There are other requirements, based on whether the indulgence is plenary or partial.

Three- are indulgences automatically applied or do you have to ask God to apply them?

They are automatically applied if all conditions have been met, so long as God wills it.

Here’s a good link for background information: catholic.com/tracts/primer-on-indulgences