What are valid indulgences?

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BCven86

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I understand and believe in the concept and Truth of indulgences however I am not exactly sure what kinds of things I can do that will work as indulgences for myself and other people. Is any personal sacrifice an indulgence? Has the Church declared certain acts valid or invalid? Also related, do indulgences only work if both parties are in a state of grace? Can I do indulgences for friends that are outside the Church or have sinned mortally?

Recently I decided that I wanted to make small personal sacrifices throughout my day for my friends and family and offer it up through Christ. To do so I decided that I would only take cold showers everyday (I love hot showers) and as I freeze I designate that time of discomfort for one or several of the people I talked about. Does something this simple work as an indulgence? If or if not, what are some other things that I can do for these people?
 
Indulgences can be gained for oneself or for the souls in purgatory. The church has granted indulgences for certain prayers or pious acts.

The cold showers are a kind of intercessory prayer. The persons you pray or offer small sacrifices for don’t have to be in the state of grace. Often our prayers are for God to change their hearts to bring them back to him.
 
Ok, I can understand that. So what do I have to do to claim an indulgence? What is involvedd in that process?
 
As a general rule though, plenary (full) indulgences are attached to certain prayers/actions with the following conditions:
  1. Receive Holy Communion on the day you seek the indulgence
  2. Go to confession a few days before of after the indulgence
  3. Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father on the day you seek the indulgence
  4. Be completely free from the attachment to all sin, mortal and venial**
** This is the tough one, and we can’t be sure that we are ever completely free from all attachment. In the case that this criteria isn’t met, the indulgence is partial. I also managed to find a list of some indulgences from the Handbook here. Hope that helps!
 
BCven86 said:
Ok, I can understand that. So what do I have to do to claim an indulgence? What is involvedd in that process?
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Just make the intention to obtain the indulgence (as well as fulfilling the other conditions for a plenary indulgence). I can’t keep track of them so I just told God I’d like get any indulgences I qualify for. Did you know you can get an indulgence for reading the bible for 15 minutes? And there are some plenary indulgences attached to this year of St. Paul that were listed in my diocesan paper.
 
Claire_from_DE said:
Just make the intention to obtain the indulgence (as well as fulfilling the other conditions for a plenary indulgence). I can’t keep track of them so I just told God I’d like get any indulgences I qualify for. Did you know you can get an indulgence for reading the bible for 15 minutes? And there are some plenary indulgences attached to this year of St. Paul that were listed in my diocesan paper.
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Do you have to make the intention to obtain an indulgence in order to actually obtain one? What if I were to do some of those things without making an intention?
 
BCven86 said:
Do you have to make the intention to obtain an indulgence in order to actually obtain one? What if I were to do some of those things without making an intention?
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One has to intend to obtain an indulgence to receive it, but a general intention in the morning to obtain all the indulgences available suffices. [Sorry, I don’t have a source for that, but have seen it in enough places to believe it is true.]
 
mattkubes said:
As a general rule though, plenary (full) indulgences are attached to certain prayers/actions with the following conditions:
  1. Receive Holy Communion on the day you seek the indulgence
  2. Go to confession a few days before of after the indulgence
  3. Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father on the day you seek the indulgence
  4. Be completely free from the attachment to all sin, mortal and venial**
** This is the tough one, and we can’t be sure that we are ever completely free from all attachment. In the case that this criteria isn’t met, the indulgence is partial. I also managed to find a list of some indulgences from the Handbook here. Hope that helps!
Click to expand...
Another question on the subject of “only one plenary indulgence per day can be obtained” from the link in this quote. Does this mean that only one plenary indulgence can be received per person in one day or one plenary indulgence can be obtained per person in one day? Could I obtain several indulgences in one day and just only receive one of them personally, while ‘giving out’ the others to friends and family?
 
What is the difference between a plenary and a partial indulgence?
 
A plenary indulgence remits all the temporal punishment due for your sins while a partial indulgence only remits some of the temporal punishment.

One of my favourite means of obtaining indulgences is reading the Bible. With the usual conditions, reading the Bible for 1/2 hour is graced with a plenary indulgence. Less than half an hour carries a partial indulgence.

Quoted from the back of the title page of my NAB

“A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who use Sacred Scripture for spiritual reading with the veneration due the word of God. A plenary indulgence is granted if the reading continues for at least one half hour. (Enchiridion Indulgentiarum 1968 edition, no. 50)”

Indulgences may be obtained for yourself or applied to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. You cannot apply your indulgences to other living people.

Cold showers do not carry an indulgence. I recommend praying for these people for whom you are offering your discomfort. Although you can’t give them an indulgence, God can still bless and grace them through your prayers.
 
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