‘Member back in 2000 when JP2 issued a plenary indulgence for the Jubilee Year? Man, a bunch of people were acting like this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity–as if you couldn’t obtain a plenary indulgence on any day you choose.
That being said, the issuing of plenary indulgences of particular occasions doesn’t happen that often, and so it’s notable when it does.
Folks may want to know, therefore, that B16 has issued a plenary indulgence for this Thursday, October 8, which is the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the 40th anniversary of the closing of Vatican II. Thus, according to the OFFICIAL DECREE, the faithful may obtain a pleanary ingulence
if they participate in a sacred rite in its [the Immaculate Conception’s] honour or at least offer an open witness of Marian devotion before an image of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, displayed for public veneration, adding the recitation of the Our Father and the Creed and exclamatory invocations to Mary Immaculate, such as "You are All Fair, Mary, and in you there is no stain of original sin!", or "O Queen, conceived without original sin, pray for us!".
Lastly, all the faithful who are prevented from participation by ill health or by another just cause, may obtain on that same day the same gift of the Plenary Indulgence at home or wherever they may be, as long as, with their minds detached from any sin and with the resolution to fulfil the above-mentioned conditions as soon as possible, they are united with spiritual resolve and desire with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff in prayer to Mary Immaculate and recite the Our Father and the Creed.
All this, of course, is assuming "the usual conditions" for a plenary indulgence are fulfilled, which raises the question: "What are the usual conditions?"
n. 7—To acquire a plenary indulgence it is necessary to perform the work to which the indulgence is attached and to fulfill three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. It is further required that all attachment to sin, even to venial sin, be absent.
If this disposition is in any way less than complete, or if the prescribed three conditions are not fulfilled, the indulgence will be only partial, except for the provisions contained in n.11 for those who are "impeded."
n. 8—The three conditions may be fulfilled several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work; nevertheless it is fitting that Communion be received and the prayers for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff be said the same day the work is performed.
n. 9—A single sacramental confession suffices for gaining several plenary indulgences, but Communion must be received and prayers for the Supreme Pontiff’s intentions recited for the gaining of each plenary indulgence.
n. 10—The condition of praying for the Supreme Pontiff’s intentions is fully satisfied by reciting one "Our Father" and one "Hail Mary"; nevertheless the individual faithful are free to recite any other prayer according to their own piety and devotion toward the Supreme Pontiff [SOURCE].
Jimmy:
I take it that merely assisting on Mass at this day would not suffice for the Indulgence, since we’re obliged to do so anyway?
But what if one were to attend a second Mass, above and beyong the requirement, such as attending Byzantine Catholic First Vespers on December 7?
Would this satisfy the condition?
“Folks may want to know, therefore, that B16 has issued a plenary indulgence for this Thursday, October 8, which is the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the 40th anniversary of the closing of Vatican II.”
Mental typo? December 8th, rather than October.
See that’s what the lovely California weather does — you forgot it was December 🙂 I wish I could so easily forget it was December – but here in Michigan that’s impossible.
Thanks for the information on the indulgence and how to obtain it. Isn’t it true that we can also fulfill the obligations and offer the indulgence for others — for instance for the holy souls or for any of our loved ones who have passed on and may be undergoing purgation?
The last requirement for the plenary indulgence is the most difficult. To be free from attachments to venial sin is tough, since most of the faithful are attached to venial sins. Watching TV, going to bars, gambling any amount of money, drinking more than one drink per day, over eating, failure to say night prayers, failure to say prayers before eating, expressing any insulting words towards another person,
failure to act in kind and charitable manner to all, these are venial sins. One must be free from these small sins. It is hard, but not impossible with God’s grace.
CD,
Our Blessed Lord was accused of being a drunk, a glutton, of being in places of and with people of ill repute and he called the Pharisees many insulting terms.
I think you are very scrupulous about your understanding of temperance, especially for others beside yourself.
I hope you are having a blessed Advent!
It is one thing to condemn behaviour or erroneous belief, that is OK.
But to insult a person, that is wrong.
example: If a person is a drunk: you could rebuke them and tell them they are on the wrong path to salvation.
However, if a person is a drunk, and you call them a dirtbag and a loser, that would be stepping over the line into a venial sin.
As to a horrendous sins like Abortion or Homosexuality, it wold be Ok to say , I must remove myself from the presense of this person,
who promotes or advances grave sin.
It is enough to simple tell such people they are in grave sin and need to repent.
That is the extent of our duty to such people. If they refuse to hear you, shake the dust from your feet and leave.
Watching TV, in and of itself, is a venial sin?!?? I don’t believe that is correct.
Watching programs that constitute a near occasion of sin would be sinful, certainly, as would watching TV instead of fulfilling one’s duties and responsibilities. But there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with watching TV in moderation as part of one’s recreation.
Eric,
Fr. Hamilton at Catholic Ragemonkey thinks the Immaculate Conception Mass will suffice.
How is simply watching TV a venial sin? Realizing that the content of many shows keep them totally out of the running in what a Christian should be watching, but am I incurring a venial sin if I watch Fr Mitch on EWTN? I’m sorry, that makes no sense.
But this does bring up a question, Jimmy (if you happen to check this thread again) . . .
It does seem as if it’s pretty darn difficult to discern if we’ve ridded ourselves of attachment to all sin, especially the venial. How do we know we’ve achieved that? Is it enough to be aware of as many venial sins as possible & hate them as much as we would any (God forbid) mortal ones? What exactly is “attachment” to sin? Does that connote an affection for the act or is it more specific? The Catechism always seems to connect venial sins with an attachment to objects/goods (paragraph 1849) or creatures (paragraph 1472). Paragraph 2548 states: “Desire for true happiness frees man from his immoderate attachment to the goods of this world so that he can find his fulfillment in the vision and beatitude of God.” To me, these reinforce the first commandment that we should put nothing above the Lord, our God & not make idols of the things in our lives. Is that what’s meant by attachment?
I know we’re to trust in God to apply His grace in the manner He sees fit. After all, He knows our hearts even better than we do! And, I’m sure there were folks who are now saints in Heaven, rejoicing in the presence of the Lord, who were not sure or were struggling with particular sins. Heck, even JPII confessed every day, according to some sources! So, maybe there’s not a way we can be sure & God, through the use of indulgences, is trying to teach us to humble ourselves, be more aware of our everyday sins & work on ridding them from our lives. That way, we’re more actively working to be more like Jesus.
So, I guess, maybe I’ve answered my own question?
Dear Defender,
Gambling is a venial sin? Bingo is gambling and supports a significant number of Catholic parishes. There is something wrong therefore with your commentary.
I buy lottery tickets to win some money of course but also to support the senior citizens of Pennsylvania. This is a venial sin? Ditto when I watch TV ads for said lotteries?
Hmm…I can meet all this but they don’t offer confession this Thursday so how does satisfy that requirement? Yes I do go to confession but it’s probably been a month or so. I wish when the Church issued these things we heard about them earlier and they would then put together a bullet list of requirements rather what comes across as legalize. I sometimes think the Church is run by lawyers!
SteveL, you have to get to confession at your soonest possible convenience. I hear folks say that a week or so, either before or after, is good. All requirements do not have to be met on the 8th. If you can go to confession on the 12th, you’ll be OK.
The question of knowing whether we received a plenary indulgence is separate from actually receiving one.
Indulgneces usually have requirements attached to them as to the time frame for confession.
For example, for those who practice the First 5 Saturdays devotion, the confession can be either 8 days before or after.
As to watching TV being a venial sin, I would say watching a fishing show or travel show is Ok, but 95% of the rest of TV is unhealthy for the soul.
Much of TV is to condone bad behavior, such as contraception or pre marital sex.
One priest I know said that even if TV was EWTN 24/7 it would still be a good idea to avoid it, since it takes a person away from prayer.
To get some idea as to how immoral TV is today, recall that Pope Pius XII proclaimed the movie Gone With the wind a mortal sin for those who watch it.
This warning was NOT abbrogated, so anyone who watches that movie sins gravely, even today.
So, if watching Gone with the Wind was a mortal sin, it is safe to say, at least 50% of all shows constitute mortal sins.
Wow… I’m glad we’ve got that all settled!
CatholicDefender,
I am calling your bluff re: Pius XII and Gone with the Wind.
A quick Google of “Pius XII” “Gone with the Wind” “mortal” shows that he endorsed the Legion of Decency, which AT ONE TIME condemned GWTW…but I found no reference to Pius XII *personally* warning people away from it. The Legion’s successor, the film office at the USCCB, gives the film a mild “A-II” rating.
Granted, not everything is on the web, so here’s your chance:
In what decree did Pius XII personally condemn Gone With The Wind, by name?
CD, I’m well-formed in my faith. I do not watch much TV & I’m very discerning about the films I’ll pay to see. I do not view things that could possibly be a near occasion of sin for me. I tend to watch cooking/gardening/building/decorating shows, sports & a couple of series. That’s it. About 10 hours a week, tops. I’m in no danger of being addicted to TV.
So you’re telling me that the mere viewing of GWTW places my soul in the state of mortal sin? Hun? I find that film very moral. Scarlet is not a strong woman; she is manipulative, conniving, & selfish; she ruins the lives of at least 2 men. And, in the end, she gets her just deserts – but not in a way that would cause the audience to rejoice in it. The film points out, at least to me, that desperate people can do deperate things &, if they do not have faith & trust in God & try to run things themselves, they can’t help but fail.
C’mon, CD. Just because a film, book, TV show, etc has characters who do morally questionable things does not constitute “grave matter” for a Christian who is well-formed in faith & striving to walk in the path of Christ every day. It also does not mean that film, book, or TV show can’t have a very Christian morality to it. We must be in the world but not of it & look at our culture from a Christian worldview, being very highly discerning. If that, for you, means not watching 95% of TV, great. But, please don’t intimate that the rest of us have cut ourselves off from the grace of God by choosing to do so.
Jimmy, Tim, Michelle,
I second the question raised above- what constitutes “attachment to sin”? I’d appreciate a post about this, if you haven’t already covered it.
The document on the indulgence speaks of obtaining the indulgence “in a spirit that is completely detached from affection for any sin”, which sounds significantly different from “free from any attachment to sin”.
Any light you could shed would be appreciated…
Oh. After commenting the above, I found there’s another Patrick who comments here (and I would rather not be confused with him). So from now on, I’m adding “orthonormal” to my moniker if I comment here.
Sorry for the confusion…
Just an FYI – a priest we talked to near the Vatican on our recent vacation said that the “several days” was eight days, for this particular indulgence. According to him, this opportunity will expire after the 16th. I wish I could have posted this earlier.
There were other chances to get plenary indulgences at the Vatican, which are obtained while visiting designated cathedrals/basilica and praying certain prayers. For these, you have up to 20 days to complete them. So it’s not always “several days”; in this case it was 20. It’s a good idea to make sure of the time frame you have for each indulgence, and not take “several days” as the blanket rule.
For future pilgrims who might be interested –
The three usual conditions applied, as well as prayers to be said in any designated cathedral/basilica. Visitors to the Vatican will see information taped onto the kneelers next to the the confessionals, so check this out if you ever visit. Confession during your trip is so good for you anyway, and helps you deal with some of the hardships which can get to you after a while. The lines to confession, fortunately and unfortunately, are not long 🙁
While one confession within the 20 days was sufficient (as well as being free from attachment to ALL sin–so maintain a penitent disposition and use your holy water), communion was needed for EACH indulgence.
We obtained two so far (for us and others) and are hoping to complete two more plenary indulgences when we get communion this week, and just in case, repeat our prayers for the pope’s intentions.
🙂
Dear
Would you clarify and explain the difference between an INDULGENCE; and an PLEANARY INDULGENCE. The days prescribed by the Mother Church.