Pope's Intentions?

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Hi everyone! šŸ™‚

Iā€™ve been reading a bit about indulgences, particularly those granted for doing things like saying the rosary or the divine mercy and I ran into a question - things Iā€™ve read have mentioned that you must pray for the Popeā€™s Intentions for it to be a plenary indulgence. What does it mean to pray for the Popeā€™s Intentions?

Also - right now Iā€™m not a Catholic (thinking about it though ;)). If I were to do something that would normally result in an indulgence (I guess it would be partial since I canā€™t go to confession or partake in the Eucharist), what would happen to that indulgence?

Thanks for your answers!
 
DrPiano said:
Hi everyone! šŸ™‚

Iā€™ve been reading a bit about indulgences, particularly those granted for doing things like saying the rosary or the divine mercy and I ran into a question - things Iā€™ve read have mentioned that you must pray for the Popeā€™s Intentions for it to be a plenary indulgence. What does it mean to pray for the Popeā€™s Intentions?

Also - right now Iā€™m not a Catholic (thinking about it though ;)). If I were to do something that would normally result in an indulgence (I guess it would be partial since I canā€™t go to confession or partake in the Eucharist), what would happen to that indulgence?

Thanks for your answers!
Click to expand...
To pray for the Popeā€™s intentions, one Our Father and One Hail Mary should be said, holding the mental thought that these two prayers are for the Popeā€™s intention. Other prayers are OK., but the OF/HM is traditional.

I am not sure what happens when a non-Catholic does something like The Stations Of the Cross (for example). I wondered about this as an RCIA Candidate. I eventually decided to do the work anyhow and leave the results, including indulgences (if any) up to God.
 
DrPiano said:
Hi everyone! šŸ™‚

Iā€™ve been reading a bit about indulgences, particularly those granted for doing things like saying the rosary or the divine mercy and I ran into a question - things Iā€™ve read have mentioned that you must pray for the Popeā€™s Intentions for it to be a plenary indulgence. What does it mean to pray for the Popeā€™s Intentions?

Also - right now Iā€™m not a Catholic (thinking about it though ;)). If I were to do something that would normally result in an indulgence (I guess it would be partial since I canā€™t go to confession or partake in the Eucharist), what would happen to that indulgence?

Thanks for your answers!
Click to expand...
The point with indulgences is that those prayers and works are listed that we KNOW will have the effect of gaining a plenary or partial remission of purgatory (which is what an indulgence is).

Now all prayer has some sort of effect in this regard, just hasnā€™t been quantified in all circumstances. Iā€™d say, for example, the Divine Mercy Chaplet will become indulgenced soon, just as the Feast of the Divine Mercy has.

So the moral is - pray, pray, pray - itā€™s all good! :gopray2: :byzsoc: :highprayer: :crossrc:
 
The Pope prays a lot and he prays for many intentions - I am sure some of them are for the Unity of the Church, peace of the world, and for the hunger and unborn children, etc ā€¦So, when we pray for his intentions, we participate in what he is praying. That is what I believe.

If you are not a Catholic and pray what a Catholic prays, I am sure that God is generous and knows your heart, He would definitely grant you graces and other spiritual growth to help you become holy and to know the Truth.
 
He usually publicizes monthly intentions. Here they are for June and July:

**JUNE 2007

General: **That the Lord may protect sailors and all those involved in maritime activities.

Mission:That the Church in North Africa may bear witness, with its presence and its action, to Godā€™s love for every individual and all people.

**JULY 2007
**
**General: ** That all citizens, individually and in groups, may be enabled to participate actively in the life and management of the common good.

Mission: That, aware of their own missionary duty, all Christians may actively help all those engaged in the evangelization of peoples.
 
Genesis315, thank you very much. I didnā€™t know about this at all.
Where could I find the intentions easily? somewhere on the Vaticanā€™s website?
 
DrPiano said:
Hi everyone! šŸ™‚

Iā€™ve been reading a bit about indulgences, particularly those granted for doing things like saying the rosary or the divine mercy and I ran into a question - things Iā€™ve read have mentioned that you must pray for the Popeā€™s Intentions for it to be a plenary indulgence. What does it mean to pray for the Popeā€™s Intentions?

Also - right now Iā€™m not a Catholic (thinking about it though ;)). If I were to do something that would normally result in an indulgence (I guess it would be partial since I canā€™t go to confession or partake in the Eucharist), what would happen to that indulgence?

Thanks for your answers!
Click to expand...
Do what you can do and donā€™t worry about the rest. Iā€™ve been in a similar spot myself. I go to First Fridays very regularly and I only do what I can do. We must be obedient to the Church. If at this time, being obedient to the Church means that you must wait for the sacraments and not receive them, then that is what you do.

I tell myself this to encourage myself ā€“ the reward for obedience is always greater than the reward for disobedience.

And note that if and when you ever appear as a defendant in a criminal court proceeding ā€“ it is regarding something that you allegedly did wrong. You are never brought up on charges for something you did correctly.

So donā€™t worry. And by all means pray. Do what your heart leads you to do. If you want to meditate on the Stations of the Cross ā€“ do it.

I decided some time ago that I should apply all indulgences I earn to Holy Souls in Purgatory. Because they cannot sin and every bit of good is used with 100% efficiency. Give them to Mary the Mother of Jesus so she can so use them as she desires.

If instead, you decided to keep an indulgence. Think about this. If you earned a plenary indulgence today and sinned tomorrow, you would need to once again earn another indulgence. You could earn and lose 100 indulgences and still need to spend some time in purgatory. So it is less efficient to keep them. In giving to Mary, nothing is lost.

A small ā€œpartialā€ indulgence may be all that is needed to free a Holy Soul that is near its release. So even a partial indulgence so given can mean so much to you in terms of that Soul praying for you.

I think Andruschak is right. Do the work anyhow. Give any indulgences to Mary and leave all the results up to God.

And consider carefully what the Lordā€™s prayer says. We pray for Godā€™s will to be done on earth. We should not be bystanders or spectators in this. Rather, we must ask God what He wants us to do (even if it is something small). In John 4:34 "Jesus said to them, ā€˜My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.ā€™ " In the very next part of the Lordā€™s prayer, we ask for our daily bread. I donā€™t think the Lordā€™s prayer is arranged in an accidental order.

Regarding the forgiveness of sins, the Lordā€™s prayer is quite Catholic. We must forgive others. And we must have contrition. ā€œLead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.ā€ Again, if we take onto ourselves what we ourselves can do ā€“ and leave all else to God. I think this is the correct attitude to have when praying the Lordā€™s prayer.

Similarly, give careful thought to each of the phrases in the Hail Mary. Fr. John Corapi once said on TV if all you do is meditate on the Our Father and Hail Mary, it will make a Saint out of you. The prayers are brief, but they are powerful and they say so much. And if we ourselves will try to imitate Mary and Jesus, then we will do what these prayers teach us that Mary and Jesus did.

jmm08
 
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