- I know several devotions were granted indulgences in the past (e.g., the Franciscan Crown, which was one of the highly indulgenced devotion in the Church), but if the 1968 version makes no mention of indulgences attached to certain devotions, does it mean they automatically lose all the indulgences granted to them in the past, or do those indulgences stay?
If the indulgences are not in the revised version of the Manual, then they are probably no longer in force. You might still be able to get an indulgence under one of the general provisions (for instance if you say the prayer mentally then you can get an indulgence under the section for “mental prayer”).
The exception would be if there’s an indulgence for a specific group, such as a confraternity, that the group maintains via a separate current document not in the Manual. For example, the Central Association of the Miraculous Medal gives indulgences to those who are invested in, and devoutly wear, the Miraculous Medal. You might look into whether the Franciscans have some sort of confraternity for those saying the Franciscan Crown, that might offer an indulgence to enrolled members.
- I notice that public recitation occurs quite often as a condition for gaining indulgences, sometimes plenary and sometimes partial (e.g., for praying novenas, for reciting the Te Deum on the last day of the year). What exactly constitutes a “public recitation?” Is number of people a factor? Say a friend and I pray a novena together, does it count as public? Does it have to be a physical gathering, or can it be online? Say if I join an online group, and because the members live in different time zones, we have to pray at different times on our own, can it be counted as public by virtue of we being in the same group and pray the same prayers on the same days?
“Public” generally means in a public place, such as a church open to the public, or on the public street. Obviously if you’re in your own home or yard, that’s not open to the public, so it’s not “in public”.
“Recite” means “say it out loud”. You don’t have to say it loudly.
As far as I know there is no requirement that there be a group unless the indulgence says “in a group” (for example, the Rosary has provisions for indulgences if you say it in a family group or other devotional group).
You praying with your friend would only be public if you were praying in a public place, such as your parish church, or the bench in a public park.
Praying online may be public if the website you’re using is open to the public (A lot of prayer groups are closed groups, on Facebook for example, so they’re not public) but not sure how you would handle the “recitation in public” requirement unless you were live streaming yourself publicly.
When I need to “recite a prayer in public” for an indulgence, I simply say it out loud in a church or shrine open to the public, usually after Mass, or if that’s not possible, I stand on the public sidewalk and say the prayer out loud.
