Plenary Indulgence...completely free of attachment to sin question

[anon90438963]

I would like to start making more plenary indulgences, both for myself and the souls in Purgatory. I see and understand that it is a great act of charity. For those who don’t know, you can make one every day, with a confession about every two weeks, Mass/Holy Communion, prayers for the Pope, and the act itself (ie 1/2 hour Bible reading, 1/2 hour adoration, Way of the Cross, Rosary said orally in a church, etc). Really, all this is easy for a great benefit!
However…you are also supposed to be “completely free from attachment to sin.” That one gets me. I try to make a strong intention out of love of God and I think I accomplish it for about one second. How can we ever be “completely free from the attachment to sin?” It seems impossible, except again maybe for a brief moment of sincere intention. For those who make plenary indulgences, how do you do this or interpret this?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

This is a popular question this month. I reckon a lot of people are being moved to pray for the Poor Souls and get indulgences because it’s November when we pray especially for the deceased. You are to be commended for wanting to do this. It’s helped me in my spirituality a lot.

We’ve had several threads asking this lately, so please just see the discussion on the original thread.

A Question Regarding Indulgences Spirituality

Since my grandfather has recently died I was wanting to obtain a plenary or at least partial indulgence for him. My access to churches (so to say) is limited so I usually only attend on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligations (eg today). I have a question regarding the “attachment to sins” requirement. Suppose I go to Confession. I then receive the Eucharist (and commit venial sins in between that time). After receiving the Eucharist I once again commit a venial sin. If I say an Act of Contrition (…

 

[Genesis315]

It basically means you don’t have a sin that you refuse to give up. We all fall into venial sins (the just man falls seven times a day). It’s another thing to say “I like falling into these sins and refuse to even try and avoid them, even though I know God wants me too.” That shouldn’t be that hard.

Cardinal Lepicier, Indulgences, their origin, nature, and development
But, we should observe that it is one thing to fall into venial sin, and another to have an affection for it. The first means an act, the other a state of the soul. The first is often the result of weakness, of inadvertence, of a habit not yet eradicated, but for the rooting out of which we have already manfully striven. The other implies something more — that is, a certain amount of wickedness on the part of the will, excessive attachment to creatures, with the offence of the Creator.

From the first no man, however holy, excepting Christ, and His Blessed Mother, can call himself
free ; but many should be, and in reality are, free from the second. How can we imagine faithful
souls, that are anxious to please God, and daily seal this desire with the Bread of Life — and their generation, thank God, is not extinct — how can we imagine such as these to be wilfully attached to that which, though not causing eternal death, yet is infinitely injurious to the Divine Majesty?

Full text of "Indulgences, their origin, nature, and development"

 

[Vico]

I would like to start making more plenary indulgences, both for myself and the souls in Purgatory. I see and understand that it is a great act of charity. For those who don’t know, you can make one every day, with a confession about every two weeks, Mass/Holy Communion, prayers for the Pope, and the act itself (ie 1/2 hour Bible reading, 1/2 hour adoration, Way of the Cross, Rosary said orally in a church, etc). Really, all this is easy for a great benefit!
However…you are also supposed to be “completely free from attachment to sin.” That one gets me. I try to make a strong intention out of love of God and I think I accomplish it for about one second. How can we ever be “completely free from the attachment to sin?” It seems impossible, except again maybe for a brief moment of sincere intention. For those who make plenary indulgences, how do you do this or interpret this?

The confession may be made about 20 days before or after performing the indulgenced act.
The requirement for someone to be totally detached from sin means there remains no sin (even venial) which the soul is unwilling to renounce.