Special Plenary Indulgence for Departed Souls

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Dear friends,

So many of us have loved ones that may be still in purgatory, and would like to do something special for them. I wonder if you know about the Church’s special grant to obtain a plenary indulgence for them, which absolves all temporal punishments remaining to them. Here’s the wording of the grant:

A plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, is granted to the faithful who,
  • on any and each day from November 1 to 8, devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, if only mentally for the departed;
  • On All Souls’ Day (or, according to the judgment of the ordinary, on the Sunday preceding or following it, or on the solemnity of All Saints), devoutly visit a church or an oratory and recite an Our Father and the Creed.
Could anything be easier?

I have been doing this for a couple years now, and I think I covered all of my family, so far. Amen! Now I offer this for any soul who may be most in need. What an incredible gift, and yet so few of us know about it – at least, I did not until I bought my book “Manual of Indulgences” published by the USCCB. Saturday begins the 8 day period, so I hope many of you will join me in praying for these souls.
 
Sirach2 said:
Dear friends,

So many of us have loved ones that may be still in purgatory, and would like to do something special for them. I wonder if you know about the Church’s special grant to obtain a plenary indulgence for them, which absolves all temporal punishments remaining to them. Here’s the wording of the grant:

A plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, is granted to the faithful who,
  • on any and each day from November 1 to 8, devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, if only mentally for the departed;
  • On All Souls’ Day (or, according to the judgment of the ordinary, on the Sunday preceding or following it, or on the solemnity of All Saints), devoutly visit a church or an oratory and recite an Our Father and the Creed.
Could anything be easier?

I have been doing this for a couple years now, and I think I covered all of my family, so far. Amen! Now I offer this for any soul who may be most in need. What an incredible gift, and yet so few of us know about it – at least, I did not until I bought my book “Manual of Indulgences” published by the USCCB. Saturday begins the 8 day period, so I hope many of you will join me in praying for these souls.
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Thanks for sharing. But is it really this easy? Do you have to be in a state of grace, go to confession, communion, pray for the intentions of the pope and be free from all attachment to sin (even venial)? Do these conditions have to be met for this to work? Or is this is a special one where you only have to so the above act you mentioned?
 
Pilsen said:
Thanks for sharing. But is it really this easy? Do you have to be in a state of grace, go to confession, communion, pray for the intentions of the pope and be free from all attachment to sin (even venial)? Do these conditions have to be met for this to work? Or is this is a special one where you only have to so the above act you mentioned?
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The manual doesn’t say, but I believe the usual conditions apply, confession, communion, and prayers for the Holy Father. What I will do this week, is go to confession Saturday morning, then to the cemetery, attend the vigil mass Saturday evening and go to communion. Then again, mass and communion on each of the next 7 days, and pray for the Holy Father on each day that I perform the indulgenced act.

What I meant by being easy, is that some indulgences require, for instance, praying a rosary in church, reading scripture for a half hour uninterrupted, visit to the Blessed Sacrament for a half hour, etc. This just requires a visit to a cemetery and a few prayers for our departed. I doubt that we must go to the cemetery where our beloved are buried, but I am only about a mile from our Catholic cemetery, so I can pray in general for the poor souls.
 
an indulgence is "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ.
 
Bump, in case some folks missed the notice of this special indulgence.
It may begin Saturday, Nov. 1st.
 
This gift from the church starts tomorrow. Visit any cemetery and follow directions in the previous posts.

And on Sunday, while in church just say one Our Father and the Creed for someone deceased, and this could result in freeing them from purgatory (under the usual conditions).

Don’t miss this for your loved ones.
 
I want to do an indulgence for a deceased loved one, that is why I did a search about it. i was afraid it was going to be too complicated… there is this big mass at the cemetary this afternoon, with the bishop… I kind of wonder if that is “cheating” when I am ALREADY at the cemeary anyway, if it is then not devout, but then again, why would that not be devout, I might get there early or otherwise stay longer.

But now I realized this indulgence of today is not linked to the cemetary, but has other conditions; there are two seperate kind of indulgences, am I right?

it makes me a bit nervous because I wonder, when should I go to confession, and I already was at communion this morning at mass (I went to the morning mass to make sure that i do go to a mass. All saints IS a Holy Day of Obligation where I live)
I could go to confession this evening, but I also want to visit a sick friend at the hospital after coming back from the cemetary, and don’t want to rush there… so I am not sure if I will make it.
And the graveyaerd is far enough away that I rarely EVER get there; today I will walk there I am not sure if it will take an hour or so… so I better go early…
My budget is kind of tight so I’d rather not pay for the bus if possible. But since I DO rest from my work (I am self-employed, so to say) today, I have the time to walk there.

Why do such things make me nervous,t hat should not be the case. Afraid to do something wrong?
Or maybe the fear of going to confession is the worst, ha ha ;:==)) even though I don’t have any mortal sins that I am aware of, otherwise I could not have gone to communion this morning.

But I could go to confession tonight and to the rest (communion, prayers) tomorrow, right? OR go to confession tomorrow morning, then I just might have to go to a different church for it,
 
There are other ways of obtaining a plenary indulgence, too. You can read your Bible for a half an hour and that will get you covered. As for confession. You just have to go within two weeks either side.
 
Kathrin said:
I want to do an indulgence for a deceased loved one, that is why I did a search about it. i was afraid it was going to be too complicated… there is this big mass at the cemetary this afternoon, with the bishop… I kind of wonder if that is “cheating” when I am ALREADY at the cemetery anyway, if it is then not devout, but then again, why would that not be devout, I might get there early or otherwise stay longer.

But now I realized this indulgence of today is not linked to the cemetery, but has other conditions; there are two separate kind of indulgences, am I right?
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The grant requires us to actually go to a cemetery and pray for the departed. That can be in general for the souls in purgatory, or for a specific loved one who has died. If the loved one is not in purgatory, God will apply it according to His will for someone else. So if you are at the cemetery for Mass, and offer private prayer for a decedent, that’s sufficient.

Now, for the conditions. You may go to confession 20 days prior to the act or 20 days after. So you have plenty of time to go, rather than tonight. And each time during these 8 days of November, your confession would still apply if you wish to go to mass and communion to obtain another plenary indulgence. Here’s the regulation.

Some folks get very upset about the “attachment to sin” requirement, and this may help you understand it more clearly.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=6739600&postcount=8
 
mommyof4 said:
There are other ways of obtaining a plenary indulgence, too. You can read your Bible for a half an hour and that will get you covered. As for confession. You just have to go within two weeks either side.
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But it is my understanding that this plenary indulgence can only be applied to the living person fulfilling the requirements of the indulgence, and not to someone in purgatory.

But the plenary indulgences that are gained from Nov 1 thru Nov 8 may be gained for someone in purgatory. That is why this is such a special indulgence.
 
fred_conty said:
But it is my understanding that this plenary indulgence can only be applied to the living person fulfilling the requirements of the indulgence, and not to someone in purgatory.
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In the Gifts of the Indulgence document, it states:

7. Indulgences can always be applied either to oneself or to the souls of the deceased, but they cannot be applied to other persons living on earth.

So the plenary indulgences from Nov 1 to Nov 8 are actually unique in that they can only be applied for the Holy Souls. Ordinarily, indulgences (partial and plenary) can be obtained either for oneself or a Holy Soul.
 
Sirach2 said:
The grant requires us to actually go to a cemetery and pray for the departed. That can be in general for the souls in purgatory, or for a specific loved one who has died. If the loved one is not in purgatory, God will apply it according to His will for someone else. So if you are at the cemetery for Mass, and offer private prayer for a decedent, that’s sufficient.
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I was/am confused because it seems to me that there are two seperate indugencies for this period of time, as it mentions for example here:

rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/10/plenary-indulgence-reminders-for-first.html

One including the cemetary visit as a prerequisite; the other visiting a church and praying those prayers (plus for the intentions of the Pope and the other usual conditions).

Ok, so I have three more questions, if I may (without nervousness now; just because I want to do this right):
  1. in case my impression is right and these are two different indulgencies; and let’s say I won’t make it to a cemetary anymore but will use the other one, can I do one tomorrow AND another one the next weekend?
  2. Since I did go to the cemetary today, and also had holy communion but that was in the morning, and I didn’t think of the intention then), could I still use in retrospect this holy communion for the intention for one person whose grave I visited today; and say the other prayers (for the intentions of the Pope) at home now (It is past 9.30 pm here, so I have a little time left)?
    Well, I could just go ahead and pray for those intentions, and leave it up to God whteher or not it counts. 🙂
Kathrin
 
Kathrin said:
  1. in case my impression is right and these are two different indulgencies; and let’s say I won’t make it to a cemetary anymore but will use the other one, can I do one tomorrow AND another one the next weekend?
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Please read the link more carefully, Kathrin. It seems that there are two indulgences because the one where we may pray in a church or oratory for the departed is only for Nov. 1 - All Saints, and Nov. 2 - All Souls Day.

2° on the day of Commemoration of All Faithful Departed November 2] (or, according to the Ordinary, on the preceding or subsequent Sunday, or on the day of the solemnity of All Saints) piously visit a church or oratory and there recite the *Pater *and the Credo.

If you prefer, you can choose to perform the other act of going to the cemetery, and this can be done not only on 11/1 and 11/2, but all 8 days. However, note this difference: you cannot go to a church on day 3 thru 8 and recite the Pater and the *Credo. *This only applies on the first two days.
  1. Since I did go to the cemetery today, and also had holy communion but that was in the morning, and I didn’t think of the intention then), could I still use in retrospect this holy communion for the intention for one person whose grave I visited today; and say the other prayers (for the intentions of the Pope) at home now (It is past 9.30 pm here, so I have a little time left)?
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I’m not sure, since one of the conditions is to have the intention of obtaining the indulgence. Although it may not have been your intention this morning, as it is now, I’m not sure how God would apply it. You can certainly pray for the pope’s intentions, and entrust your whole day to God as he wills to apply it. I don’t think in my heart that He would deny this to you, for with God, He is not limited by our earthly time. The whole day and its intention, even though separated by hours inbetween, may be all you need to do. If nothing else, this will obtain a partial indulgence, so you’re not at a loss.
 
Sirach2 said:
Please read the link more carefully, Kathrin. It seems that there are two indulgences because the one where we may pray in a church or oratory for the departed is only for Nov. 1 - All Saints, and Nov. 2 - All Souls Day.
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I did get that, that the one where we may pray in a church is only, actually I think from noon of Oct 31 to midnight of Nov2. Or on the following weekend, midday Saturday to midnight Sunday.
So it is an OR thing, huh? I could not do one this weekend and one the next?
Sirach2 said:
I’m not sure, since one of the conditions is to have the intention of obtaining the indulgence. Although it may not have been your intention this morning, as it is now, I’m not sure how God would apply it. You can certainly pray for the pope’s intentions, and entrust your whole day to God as he wills to apply it. I don’t think in my heart that He would deny this to you, for with God, He is not limited by our earthly time. The whole day and its intention, even though separated by hours inbetween, may be all you need to do. If nothing else, this will obtain a partial indulgence, so you’re not at a loss.
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Ok, I understand that about the intention. Well, in any case, nothing I did was in vain, and praying at th ecemetary is not in vain with or without indulgence, and praying PER SE, when done from the heart, is NEVER in vain.
So, nothing lost, really. :)))

The one person I MOST IMPORTANTLY want to do an indulgence for, is not buried where I live now; so for him tomorrow I will try to do the praying in church variant.
Or is it also possible to do the cemetary variant for somebody who is not bured there, but somewhere else? Because tomorrow would be the one day where I WOULD still have a lot of time to do the long walk to the cemetary again. And then I could do the other one next weekend, my confession of today would still hold for it as I have understood it.
 
Kathrin said:
The one person I MOST IMPORTANTLY want to do an indulgence for, is not buried where I live now; so for him tomorrow I will try to do the praying in church variant.
Or is it also possible to do the cemetery variant for somebody who is not bured there, but somewhere else? Because tomorrow would be the one day where I WOULD still have a lot of time to do the long walk to the cemetery again. And then I could do the other one next weekend, my confession of today would still hold for it as I have understood it.
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Yes, the decedent need not be buried in the cemetery where you will offer the prayer for him. My parents are buried in another state, but I offered a separate day’s plenary for each of them in the cemetery where I live now. Also my grandparents. I think I got them all covered, when you consider that I have 8 separate days to make the offering, one for each person, and I’ve done this for a couple years now = 16 persons.

Yes, your confession is still good. 😉
 
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