What exactly is an indulgence?

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When you commit a sin after baptism, there is a temporal punishment you must pay.

An example: A lapsed Catholic murders a man. His temporal punishment is life in prison. He confesses the sin (with true repentance) and is absolved. He still must pay the temporal punishment either in prison for life or in purgatory.

An indulgence pays for our temporal punishments that we earn from sin that we commit. When we die, if we have not paid for all of our temporal punishments, we will pay for them in purgatory.

A partial indulgence remits part of our temporal punishment. A plenary indulgence remits all of our temporal punishment we have earned up to that point.

Note: Baptism remits all sins and temporal punishment. Confession remits only sins.
 
Zekariya said:
When you commit a sin after baptism, there is a temporal punishment you must pay.

An example: A lapsed Catholic murders a man. His temporal punishment is life in prison. He confesses the sin (with true repentance) and is absolved. He still must pay the temporal punishment either in prison for life or in purgatory.

An indulgence pays for our temporal punishments that we earn from sin that we commit. When we die, if we have not paid for all of our temporal punishments, we will pay for them in purgatory.

A partial indulgence remits part of our temporal punishment. A plenary indulgence remits all of our temporal punishment we have earned up to that point.

Note: Baptism remits all sins and temporal punishment. Confession remits only sins.
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I thought once a sin is confessed it is gone. God chooses not to remember it. “And yet, I am the God who forgives your sins, and I do this because of who I am. I will not hold your sins against you. Isiah 43:25, GNT.”
 
DavidSears said:
I thought once a sin is confessed it is gone. God chooses not to remember it. “And yet, I am the God who forgives your sins, and I do this because of who I am. I will not hold your sins against you. Isiah 43:25, GNT.”
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He does forget our sins. We still have the temporal punishment of the sin. If I murder a man, even if God forgives me, I still have to pay the temporal punishment. The eternal punishment for mortal sin is hell. That has nothing to to with the temporal punishment of the sin.
 
“Purgatory (Lat., “purgare”, to make clean, to purify) in accordance with Catholic teaching is a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God’s grace, are, not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.”
See: newadvent.org/cathen/12575a.htm
[emphasis mine]
 
Zekariya said:
He does forget our sins. We still have the temporal punishment of the sin. If I murder a man, even if God forgives me, I still have to pay the temporal punishment. The eternal punishment for mortal sin is hell. That has nothing to to with the temporal punishment of the sin.
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Understood. Could you pay this punishment on Earth?
 
Does anyone have a website where it give you information on how to obtain indulgences in our ordinary prayers? What the indulgences are from the various prayers and devotions.
 
If Purgatory exists outside time and space like Heaven and Hell, how is it possible for it to be a place with temporal punishment?
 
cornbread_r2 said:
If Purgatory exists outside time and space …]
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I don’t believe that it has been dogmatically defined either way. We don’t have a lot of knowledge about what happens while in purgatory.

Note that the Catholic Encyclopedia says, “Purgatory …] in accordance with Catholic teaching is a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God’s grace, are, not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.”
See: newadvent.org/cathen/12575a.htm
[emphasis mine]
 
Zekariya said:
Yes, through indulgences and penance. 🙂
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Haha dumb question on my part seeing that you already said that. My mistake! Penance… When you say that, do you mean penance that the priest issues? Or something else? Because my priest usually tells me to say one Our Father in confession.
 
DavidSears said:
Haha dumb question on my part seeing that you already said that. My mistake! Penance… When you say that, do you mean penance that the priest issues? Or something else? Because my priest usually tells me to say one Our Father in confession.
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That penance, yes, but also other penances are possible. Fasting, prayer, and so on are penances.
 
DavidSears said:
Haha dumb question on my part seeing that you already said that. My mistake! Penance… When you say that, do you mean penance that the priest issues? Or something else? Because my priest usually tells me to say one Our Father in confession.
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Both. The penance that the priest issues remits some temporal punishment (in the early days of the Church, a mortal sinner had years of penance, depending on the severity of the sin, before being welcomed back to the Eucharist). One can fast certain things as a personal penance in reparation for sins committed. One can offer their sufferings in reparation for sins committed.
 
Zekariya said:
Both. The penance that the priest issues remits some temporal punishment (in the early days of the Church, a mortal sinner had years of penance, depending on the severity of the sin, before being welcomed back to the Eucharist). One can fast certain things as a personal penance in reparation for sins committed. One can offer their sufferings in reparation for sins committed.
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Thank you!
 
cornbread_r2 said:
If Purgatory exists outside time and space like Heaven and Hell, how is it possible for it to be a place with temporal punishment?
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It is being saved as though escaping through fire, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. To avoid it is the making of peace with your adversary (penance) before you get to court, otherwise you wil be thrown in prison and not get out until you have paid every penny, as our Lord Jesus taught in His parable (Matthew 5:25-26, Luke 12:58-59). Is there a spirit prison? Yes, according to Peter (1 Peter 3:19-20, 1 Peter 4:6). Exactly how the purification happens, we will have to die to find out. Yet we know that nothing impure will enter the Kingdom of heaven (Revelation 21:27), and that each of us dies with some samount of sin, or attachment to sin on our souls. Something must happen to purify us and make us acceptable in the Kingdom.

I think of purgatory as God’s mud room. We are invited to the heavenly banquet in His house, but we have the filth of sin clinging to us. Since nothing unclean may enter the Lord’s house, we must be cleaned up first. Purgatory is the mud room where we get cleaned up prior to the banquet.
 
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