Prayers at a cemetary this week

[anytimequilter]

I have heard that prayers at a cemetery the first week of November can get people out of purgatory. This Sunday our priest told us not to forget this… but he never went into detail. What is the Catholic teaching on this? Are there certain prayers to say or are any prayers acceptable?

 

[SighGuy]

I think Fr. Z’s got something on it.

wdtprs.com/blog/2014/10/action-item-all-souls-day-indulgences/

In summary, according to him (I just obtained the Manual of Indulgences and have not read anything about cemeteries…) visiting a cemetery between Nov 1 and 8 can result in a plenary indulgence (or partial if conditions are not met for plenary).

The norms for acquiring a plenary indulgence are usually:
reception of Holy Communion (one Communion to one plenary indulgence)
reconciliation within 20 days before or after the indulgenced act
being in a state of grace (no unconfessed mortal sin)
praying for the intentions of the Pope (suffices: 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, 1 Glory Be)
freedom from attachment to all sin, venial or mortal

If these conditions are not met, the plenary indulgence is instead partial. One plenary indulgence per day. Since satisfaction can be applied to others, and indulgences are a special type of satisfaction, they can be applied to the souls of Purgatory or to the one performing the act (other acts of satisfaction that are not indulgences can even be applied to the living, I believe, according to St. Thomas Aquinas).

This special type of indulgence, that of the cemetery visit, is only applicable to the souls of the dead. You’re better off that way, anyways:
newadvent.org/cathen/07292b.htm

Oops. I didn’t include anything else. Really, it should be a pious visit to the cemetery with the intent of obtaining the indulgence (at least an implied intent, not necessarily that you utter it every time you do an indulgenced act).

You would benefit by including a few prayers. Eternal Rest is great. “Eternal rest grant unto them (him/her), and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.” I often go to the cemetery to pray for the souls therein, and I think according to Father Z it is partially indulgenced when you do this outside of Nov 1 to 8.

 

[anytimequilter]

Thank you for your reply. It seems as though only a saint could accomplish this though. But I suppose a partial indulgence is something good too.

 

[SighGuy]

It’s hard to know if we are free from attachment to sin, and maybe even impossible by human strength to know this.

Take a little solace in the fact that this attachment must be at the time of the indulgence, not throughout your whole life. It is difficult, and maybe I’ve never been free from attachment to all sin, I do not know. But I think it is achievable, or else Mother Church would not offer it as a taunt to us. There would not be so much on plenary indulgences if it were virtually impossible to attain them. Keep working. I’ll keep working, too.

Edit:
Also, definitely don’t underestimate a partial indulgence. You really don’t know what it could mean. Even 9/10 is partial, isn’t it? The souls in Purgatory are said by some to be both “happier than the happiest day, more sorrowful than the saddest day” because they see Heaven so close, and yet are in agony to arrive there. They need our prayers. Pray for them every day. I am sure that when you pray for them, then if you ask them, they can pray for you, too. Offer as many indulgences as you can for them, even the littlest one. What you do for them out of charity, you have done for Him!

 

[fred_conty]

For a six-packer on the weekends it might be hard to gain, but if one tries to avoid all venial sin, that is pretty close. It doesn’t mean we have to be absolutely perfect, we can still fall into sin thru weakness/fraily and gain the indulgence.

To be attached to sin means we are not stuck on it so much that we don’t want to give it up and even enjoy looking back on it. We don’t want to give it up. Like the six-packer.

Now I’m going to get some flack on this six-packer buisness and it could be argued that I’m wrong, but I don’t think so.

Or when a person speeds without giving it a second thought. Civil laws are to be respected and the church teaches this. All laws. And just because everyone else does it, dosen’t make it right.

So we need to look at everything we do and see if we are not thinking right and reexamine what we do.

This is one of the big reasons the church allows us to gain a plenary indulgence, for our good, that is, that we will try and become detached from sin and make the effort for our loved ones. Now we have an incentive to become detached. And there is some thinking that we will eventually have to do this either now or in purgatory, before entering heaven.

Praise be Jesus Christ.

 

[thistle]

I have heard that prayers at a cemetery the first week of November can get people out of purgatory. This Sunday our priest told us not to forget this… but he never went into detail. What is the Catholic teaching on this? Are there certain prayers to say or are any prayers acceptable?

Many prayers can be said for those in Purgatory and indeed we should pray daily for these souls.
However, the Church does not teach that certain prayers said at certain times get anyone out of Purgatory.
Only God decides who gets out of Purgatory and when.