Raccolta Question

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Athanasius_Mary

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Is it permissible to use the Raccolta as a means of acquiring indulgences even though it’s been replaced by the post-Vatican II Enchiridion Indulgentiarum?
 
It’s permissible to say the prayers in the Raccolta. God will certainly see this as a fine and meritorious activity.

However, all the indulgences in it (which are granted by the Church, not by God) have expired and been superseded by the indulgences in the latest Manual of Indulgences and current Vatican decrees.
Therefore, if you want to get indulgences, you need to refer to the latest Manual and decrees.
 
Which is the best modern edition? I heard that there was one that included rare Eastern prayers (Armenian, Ethiopian, etc) along with Latin ones. Does that version actually exist?
 
This is the latest edition. The indulgences for prayers of the Eastern churches are in Grants, section 23.


The Vatican also decreed some additional indulgences in March relating to COVID-19. This decree is still in force and likely will be for as long as the pandemic continues.

https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2020/03/20/200320c.html

Also, please note that in recent years, the Vatican has decreed that confession (assuming it is available in your area in view of COVID-19 restrictions) may be made within 20 days, either before or after, the indulgenced work. Some older websites and even some priests still say one week, or 7-8 days. This is no longer the case.
 
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Prayer, fasting, and works of charity. Does applying special intentions of a prayer towards a charitable cause, serve as a work of charity?
 
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Could one pray the prayers in the Raccolta as a pious practice and to draw closer to God for His own sake?
 
Question - promises attached to approved Novenas and devotions are not the same category as indulgences, correct?
 
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They are not. Indulgences come from the Church via its binding and loosing power.
Promises either come from approved private revelations, or unapproved private revelations, or are totally made up by some author.
 
So an approved promise from an approved private revelation isn’t fully endorsed by the Church unless she issues her own indulgence to underscore, or at least fully authenticate the promise.

I’m thinking of the plenary indulgence of Divine Mercy, as an example. Else an approved promise may be perfectly valid, but simply not guaranteed by the Church. Does that sum it up?
 
The Divine Mercy Indulgence and the Divine Mercy Promise are two completely separate things.

The Divine Mercy Plenary Indulgence granted by the Church (not by Jesus, but by the Church) has the usual conditions attached to it: do the indulgenced work (certain devotions on Divine Mercy Sunday), be in state of grace when you do the indulgenced work, no attachment to sin, confession within 20 days before or after, be in a state of grace, Holy Communion within a few days, and prayer for Holy Father’s intentions.
Like all indulgences, you can keep it for yourself or give it to a poor soul in Purgatory.

The Divine Mercy Promise is
  • part of Approved Private Revelation, so while the Church says it’s worthy of belief, Catholics don’t have to believe it
  • granted directly by Jesus, NOT by the Church
  • only requires reception of Holy Communion on that day, in a state of grace, with trust in The Divine Mercy
  • And also, you cannot give these graces to any other soul; you get them from Jesus, for you and you alone.
Note that the Divine Mercy Promise does NOT require you to do a devotion, pray for the Holy Father’s Intentions, or most importantly, have no attachment to sin. It just requires you to trust in the Divine Mercy.

The Church indulgence is NOT repeat NOT some attempt to endorse the Divine Mercy Promise by writing it into indulgence form. (Like Jesus really needs the Church to okay him giving somebody grace…not.) Indulgences are given to encourage the faithful to do certain activities; in this case it was clearly given to promote the Divine Mercy Devotion among the faithful.

Here is a more detailed article explaining the difference between the Indulgence and the Promise.
I usually try to get both on Divine Mercy Sunday.
I keep the graces of the Promise for myself. I give the indulgence away to a poor soul in Purgatory.

 
I would note as another example that the Nine First Fridays devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Five First Saturdays devotion to the Immaculate Heart are not currently indulgenced.
I don’t know if they were in the past, though I doubt it.

These devotions are each part of an approved private revelation and bring graces upon those who practice them. The Church approves of the devotions as shown by many churches having special First Friday Masses (like an extra evening Mass) and often promoting First Saturday in some way (such as a prayer group meets, or a group marches to PP clinic that day, etc).
But there’s no indulgence.
And really no need for an indulgence because tons of Catholics do these devotions for decades now. They aren’t some new thing that the Church needs to encourage.
 
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Thank you for your kindness in taking the time to elaborate on the matter.

Thank you also for the link.
Conditions for the plenary indulgence seem about as tough as those required for a “perfect” Act of Contrition.
The Lord is trully merciful and generous in offering this grace!
 
The “no attachment to sin, even venial sin” condition is not meant to be tough.
It simply means you truly don’t have any desire to commit sins. It doesn’t mean you won’t still commit them (the just man sins seven times a day) but rather that you truly don’t want to sin, that you are making a concerted effort not to sin, and there is no sin that deep down you really don’t want to give up.

However, the Promise from Merciful Jesus is still easier.
I agree it is a great gift from Jesus.

A lot of people actually seem to reject the whole private revelation despite the devotion persisting against huge odds until Pope JPII finally approved it. They reject it because it seems to make it too easy for a sinner to get to Heaven. People have difficulty accepting that Jesus and God the Father are truly merciful.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
The “no attachment to sin, even venial sin” condition is not meant to be tough.
Click to expand...
I was referring to…

“If the intentions of one’s indulgenced work are not pure (say, the work is done in part out of fear of hell or purgatory… then the indulgence obtained will be only partial, not plenary.”

I am a weak and flawed sinner. I look forward to the day when I cling to a state of grace not because a part of me fears damnation.
 
Oh, I see. I’ll pray for you to overcome your fear.

You might try reading the teachings of St. Therese of Lisieux on skipping Purgatory. I found her very helpful. She was my mother’s patron saint and has been a good friend to me. Once I read her teaching, I didn’t worry about it any more and have given all my indulgences to the poor souls for years now. I only keep the Divine Mercy Promise grace for myself because I’m not allowed to give it away.

Besides if you pray throughout your life, the Church gives you a big ol’ plenary when you die anyway. By then you certainly won’t have an attachment to sin (who thinks about sin when they’re about to leave the earth?) and you don’t even have to do any indulgenced work as you’ll be busy dying. So pray every day and don’t worry about it.
 
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