The Tender Favor of Indulgences

In the summer of 2017, during the centennial anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima, our family made a local pilgrimage for the purpose of obtaining a plenary indulgence for my mother-in-law who had passed away the year prior. Being intentional about a spiritual work of mercy (praying for the dead) was relatively new to us, so when we heard that we could obtain the remission of temporal punishment for a person in Purgatory by way of indulgence (Latin: indulgentia, to be kind or tender), we did so for the benefit of my mother-in-law.

The Church’s Spiritual Treasure Chest

Then, when my father-in-law passed away last month, I started digging around in the treasure chest of gifts the Church provides for the faithful to assist us as we “work out our salvation in fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). What I discovered was that the gaining of a plenary indulgence wasn’t just reserved for special jubilee years, but that they were available to the faithful year-round through a variety of means.

Think about it for a moment. Christ through His Holy Church gives us so many gifts already. He washes away the pernicious stain of Original Sin with the waters of Baptism, something we could never do by our own power, and strengthens our witness in Confirmation. He gives us the gift of His Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist so that we might never go spiritually hungry.

Furthermore, He gives us the grace and solace of undeniable forgiveness through His ministers in the Sacrament of Confession, and when it is not available to us in emergencies, He grants absolution by way of Perfect Contrition. He gives the sick and those in danger of death the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and Viaticum (Last Rites). He sanctifies our vocations, whether they be in Holy Orders or Holy Matrimony.

Scripture, Authority, and Devotion

Beyond the seven sacraments, our loving Father gives us divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures that is accessible to anyone so that we might know His divine character. We also have the lives of the saints to show us the way of those who have gone before us in holiness. He provides us with additional grace by way of sacramentals such as the scapular, holy water, and blessed salt, the Miraculous Medal, and various other “weapons in our arsenal” for spiritual battle.

As if that weren’t enough, belief in indulgences and her authority to grant them is an infallible teaching of the Church. We can have full confidence that God wants to save us and gives us every possible grace so that we might be with Him in Paradise, including the remission of temporal punishment due to sin for those who ask it, whether it be for ourselves or for a deceased member of the Church Suffering. This is a supreme gift, which Christ grants us through the authority of His Church and chooses to do so for our benefit and the benefit of those we love.

Indulgence Is an Every Day Thing

Through research, I discovered that gaining indulgences, whether plenary or partial, can be an everyday act of charity, not just a once-a-year thing.

How so? First, we can obtain a plenary indulgence – that is, the complete remission of temporal punishment due to sin, for ourselves or one who has died and is in Purgatory –by the following practices:

• reading or listening to Holy Scripture for half an hour;
• praying before the Blessed Sacrament for half an hour;
• making the Stations of the Cross in an approved manner;
• reciting the Rosary alone in a church, or communally with others outside of a church.

These are not onerous tasks! Besides being edifying for our own spiritual lives, they give us the opportunity to cooperate with grace to offer this tender favor for the dead who are being purified, especially those with no one to pray for them. Take advantage of them!

Conditions for Obtaining Indulgences

Of course, it goes without saying that the usual conditions for an indulgence apply: being in a state of grace, receiving Holy Communion (one per indulgence), sacramental Confession (which can satisfy several indulgences), prayers for the Holy Father (an Our Father and Hail Mary suffice), and the detachment from all sin, including venial sin.

How many opportunities to pray for the dead and obtain favor for them do we let pass through our fingers!  But we can remedy that by being intentional in our spiritual charity, especially as we move into a penitential season like Lent.

Practicalities

Why not obtain an Old and New Testament on disk, or mp3, and listen on the way to work? I have a thirty minute commute to and from work every day, so this is what I do. Then after work, I go to Mass, pray for the pope, receive communion, and make an act of the will to be detached from sin.

On other days you can lead your family in the Rosary at home. Go to Adoration for half an hour a few times a week. Go to Confession regularly as needed (for me it is once a month or so on average). In doing so, you can literally help free souls in Purgatory completely from their torment and see them welcomed into happy repose every day.

You may run out of deceased relatives or loved ones to pray for and obtain indulgences for if you do this every day. No matter. Continue to fulfill the conditions and offer them to Mary to dispense the graces to whomever she chooses; she certainly knows who needs them better than we do. And it is okay to obtain them for yourself as well (remember, an indulgence can only be applied to a deceased person or to oneself, not another living person.)

You may get hung up on the condition to be completely detached from sin, even venial sin. Remember, such an intention rests in the will, not the emotions. We can express this desire of the will in a heartfelt recitation of an Act of Contrition. Of course, one must be in a state of grace, but God does not command the impossible. Remember how much grace He pours out on us because He wants us to take advantage of those graces. He wants all to be saved.

The Ultimate Law of Charity

One final word. Strangely, it can sometimes be difficult to trust that God (and by extension, Holy Church) would offer such mercy to sinners; surely we must do more. It is not easy to become a saint – if it were, we would have many more!

Yet, even though it is not easy, it is also not complicated. The way of the Little Flower is an example of “taking the elevator” to Heaven by way of complete trust in God as Father. And so, when we fulfill the conditions and trust in charity that God will apply it to a soul in need, we should not second guess Him: “That was too easy, it should be harder, maybe it didn’t work,” etc., nor should we second-guess this infallible teaching of Holy Church. Though past abuses of the teaching on indulgences was right to be criticized, Martin Luther truly threw the baby out with the bathwater when he rejected the teaching and broke from Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

Remember: God truly desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). He does not command the impossible but gives us the grace necessary to carry out our duties (James 4:6). Praying for the dead is a spiritual work of mercy (2 Maccabees 12:39-46). We here on earth have the luxury of time. It is not forever, but what we do have should be spent preparing ourselves for the life to come and aiding those being purified who have gone before us.

This supreme act of charity God will not fail to repay.