Pardon Crucifix

[jdc209]

Are the indulgences assigned to the Pardon Crucifix by Pope St. Pius X still valid and are the indulgences assigned to religious medals still valid also?

If the indulgences for the Pardon Crucifix are still valid, I also have another question. I got a pamphlet talking about the indulgences gained from having a pardon crucifix, but the crucifix had to be blessed by the priest with a sign of the cross to make all the indulgences available. I’m not sure if my priest blessed the crucifix with a sign of the cross, but he did say a blessing over it. Is this ok?

 

[Filioque]

The indulgences remain, however the Church now grants them as partial and Plenary, as many people misunderstood the previous designations of days, quarentines, etc. If you have any doubt you can have the crucifix blessed again, and ask the priest to make the sign of the cross over it.

 

[jdc209]

So I just have to follow the original guidelines devoutly and I’ll gain an indulgence? And is it all right if I don’t have it re-blessed, because since my priest asked a blessing over it from God, and since God makes up the Trinity, which makes up the Sign of the Cross, isn’t it already blessed with the Sign of the Cross indirectly?

 

[Filioque]

You can’t go wrong by fulfilling the old regulations. The Church does have the authority to change requirements, however I don’t know of any changes to the conditions for the Pardon Crucifix.

I personally don’t see the need to have the blessing done again.

 

[Shin]

You can download and read the Enchiridion of Indulgences here, and read the norms.

The great revision of Pope Paul VI, erased away everything before it that every single previous Pope had granted by way of indulgences (that’s not all Pope Paul liked to erase), though some new ones have been instituted specifically after his revisions, much of what was from the past at least falls under the new general norms.

Gaining an indulgence through the Pardon crucifix or any crucifix still stands in a new way. . . I like to think that some of the previous popes who issued indulgences and devout who favored these devotions might now in Heaven look kindly on what they once favored on earth.

The most pertinent norms in this case are:

The faithful, who devoutly use an article of devotion (crucifix or cross, rosary, scapular or medal) properly blessed by any priest, obtain a partial indulgence.

But if the article of devotion has been blessed by the Sovereign Pontiff or by any Bishop, the faithful, using it devoutly, can also gain a plenary indulgence on the feast of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, provided they also make a profession of faith according to any legitimate formula.

To be capable of gaining an indulgence for oneself, it is required that one be baptized, not excommunicated, in the state of grace at least at the completion of the prescribed works, and a subject of the one granting the indulgence.

In order that one who is capable may actually gain indulgences, one must have at least a general intention to gain them and must in accordance with the tenor of the grant perform the enjoined works at the time and in the manner prescribed.

The faithful, who at least with contrite heart perform an action to which a partial indulgence is attached, obtain, in addition to the remission of temporal punishment acquired by the action itself, an equal remission of punishment through the intervention of the Church.

 

[jdc209]

Ok thanks guys! I actually love the Pardon Crucifix. I wear it around my neck, accompanied with a St. Benedict Medal.

 

[cameron_lansing]

The grant, according to an article in Revue ecclésiastique de Metz, was given to the members of the Pious Union of the Pardon Crucifix (pour tous les membres de la Pieuse Union du Crucifix du Pardon) on June 1, 1905. You can find the Revue of that year in Google books (p 581).

Today we would call this an association of the faithful. It was housed at the Church of the Annunciation in Lyons, France.

I do not know if this association exists today at all. I believe that the church does not, or at least, it appears that a new church building under that name was built in the 1950s. It is not listed as a parish church at least on the website of the Archdiocese of Lyons.

Apparently one can easily find internet sites “selling” or at least extolling the benefits of the “pardon crucifix.” It is quite legitimate, and I have no reason to believe that the grant has ceased or was changed by the Enchridion Indulgentiarum (now in 4th edition, I believe.)

However, from the rescript though, the indulgences were given to its members. Thus one would have to be a member to receive them. The sites that I saw failed to mention that key point. Perhaps they were extended to non believers, but someone more familiar with that would have to provide the documentation. I cannot. But again, perhaps someone can.

How one goes about tracking down the existence of the pious union today, let alone how to make contact and join it, is beyond my abilities.