We have heard a lot about Indulgences or Indulgence. Sometimes we read about it in the Catholic magazines, Holy pictures or even the Priests speak about it in their homilies. I was curious to know about this Indulgence and read about it, hence I thought of sharing some view points about the same and how it benefits us. As this month of November is dedicated to souls, we can earn many indulgences and save many souls too.
What is indulgence?
In the Catholic Church, an indulgence is the remission of punishment caused by sin, which can be earthly suffering or a time spent in purgatory. A partial indulgence removes part of one’s suffering while a plenary indulgence removes all of one’s suffering. It is also defined as the remission of temporal punishment for sins that have already been forgiven..punishment in the form of suffering on earth or the time spent in purgatory. A person can receive partial or plenary indulgence through acts of prayers or pilgrimage and thus could have some of his time eliminated from the purgatory after his death.
Purgatory is a place where souls go after death to atone for their sins on earth, committed during their life time. Only then they are able to go to heaven.
Partial indulgence reduces a person’s time in purgatory but does not eliminate it completely. How can one receive the indulgence? The person must be in a state of grace, meaning he should confess his sins and receive forgiveness for the sins. He must recite a particular prayer, perform a particular action, do charitable work, one must desire indulgence and seek it earnestly. Recite the rosary, perform the sign of the cross, visit and pray at the cemetery during this month. We can visit different cemeteries and pray for the unknown souls.
Indulgence is not forgiveness of sins and it is also not a sacrament of reconciliation. A partial indulgence is granted to those who adore the most holy blessed Sacrament, piously read the Bible for half an hour daily, attend adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist and use proper crucifix, rosary, scapular and medals.
Plenary indulgence: according to the teachings, even after sins are forgiven, there remains a need for purification either in this life or in purgatory. To gain the plenary indulgence the faithful need to meet the commitments and perform the indulgenced work such as prayer, pilgrimage, acts of charity and other pious works which normally one feels are burdens.
Sacrament of Confession: the person has to regularly go for confession and remain in a state of grace.
Receive Holy Communion regularly
Pray for Pope’s intentions by praying one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be
Detachment from sin: person must be free from all attachments to sin, including venial sins.
If all these conditions are met, the plenary indulgence is guaranteed which will remove all temporal punishment due to sin. If any condition is not fully met, the indulgence maybe partial instead, meaning it may be reduced but does not eliminate the punishment.
The concept is deeply rooted in the Church belief in the communion of Saints and the spiritual treasury of merits from Christ and the Saints that the Church can dispense.
-Rosarito Coelho