Pre-conciliar indulgences

[rivera01]

Are indulgences not mentioned in the Enchiridion still valid or if not mentioned in it, have been they been abrogated? For example, I have the Blessed Be God prayer book and there are a number of prayers that have indulgences tied to them that are not mentioned in the Enchiridion. Since BBG is a pre-conciliar prayer book, it is still in the old manner of obtaining an indulgence of meriting days, which would now be considered a partial indulgence.

 

[Anesti33]

The principle is that everything was abrogated in one fell swoop, and new grants were decreed in the Enchiridion. Now, there are large exceptions to this rule, in that Confraternities and Religious Institutes were permitted to retain many of their traditional indulgences. So without knowing whether BBG is associated with a particular institute, or inquiring of the members about its status, I’d say probably not valid anymore.

 

[rivera01]

What a shame. And here I thought I was obtaining indulgences for the Poor Souls of Purgatory and for myself

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Maybe you were. Look in the new Manual and see if there’s some grant that your prayers fit under, including the four general concessions at the beginning.

Also, remember that no prayer is wasted. If by praying, you hoped to help the Holy Souls, then God who is not bound by the Church’s indulgence rules (Indulgences are granted by the Church through its binding and loosing power) probably used those prayers to help Holy Souls.

If you would like to be sure of getting indulgences going forward, use the new manual, and see if the prayers you want to say from the old might fit under one of the new manual’s grants.

 

[rivera01]

Oh yes, I do realize this. Based in what I have seen on the manual, there are some prayers that are retained. There are daily prayers I’m BBG for thanksgiving for the days of the week, for the Poor Souls that have indulgencias attached to them that I have done faithfully since purchasing the book and thinking I was obtaining indulgences. It is true that God isn’t bound by the Church’s provisions to dispense grace.