Indulgences

Private Revelation on Purgatory:

Purgatory has multiple levels in it. The Private Revelation consensus is 3 levels. A Purgatorial soul, who is a deceased nun said, "I can tell you about the different degrees of Purgatory because I have passed through them. In the great Purgatory there are several stages. In the lowest and most painful, like a temporary hell, are the sinners who have committed terrible crimes during life and whose death surprised them in that state. It was almost a miracle that they were saved, and often by the prayers of holy parents or other pious persons. Sometimes they did not even have time to confess their sins and the world thought them lost, but God, whose mercy is infinite, gave them at the moment of death the contrition necessary for their salvation on account of one or more good actions which they performed during life.

Next to these come the souls, who though they did not commit great crimes like the others, were indifferent to God. They did not fulfill their Easter duties and were also converted at the point of death. Perhaps they were unable to receive Holy Communion. They are in Purgatory for the long years of indifference. They suffer unheard of pains and are abandoned either without prayers or if they are said for them, they are not allowed to profit by them. There are in this stage of Purgatory religious of both sexes, who were tepid, neglectful of their duties, indifferent towards Jesus, also priests who did not exercise their sacred ministry with the reverence due to the Sovereign Majesty and who did not instill the love of God sufficiently into the souls confided to their care.

In the second Purgatory are the souls of those who died with venial sins not fully expiated before death, or with mortal sins that have been forgiven but for which they have not made entire satisfaction to the Divine Justice. In this part of Purgatory, there are also different degrees according to the merits of each soul. Thus the Purgatory of the consecrated souls or of those who have received more abundant graces, is longer and far more painful than that of ordinary people of the world.

Lastly, there is the Purgatory of desire which is called the Threshold. This is the highest level, the level you are in before getting to Heaven. Very few escape this. To avoid it altogether, one must ardently desire Heaven and the vision of God. That is rare, rarer than people think, because even pious people are afraid of God and have not, therefore, a sufficiently strong desire of going to Heaven. This Purgatory has its very painful martyrdom like the others. The deprivation of the sight of our loving Jesus adds to the intense suffering.

- From the book, Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory by Sister Maria de la Croix

Indulgences help us, who are still alive, reduce our future purgatorial punishments. Indulgences are just as sorely needed and just as effective for the Holy Souls to reduce their temporal punishments. NOTE: According to the Catholic Church, only one plenary indulgence can be performed per day. However, there is no limit on the quantity of partial indulgences performed and offered per day. So for example, going to Adoration for a soul is a partial indulgence. If you went to Adoration twice in the same day, both of those visits can be offered twice as 2 partial indulgences for that soul in the same day.

Click each + section to log prayers and acts of sacrifice for this soul.

Helping this Soul:

Marie Korte

Change

#1 A plenary indulgence is the remission of all of the temporal punishment that a person deserves for his sins.

What are some things that a person can do to obtain a plenary indulgence? Here are a few examples:

-Visit the Blessed Sacrament for Adoration for thirty continuous minutes
-Devoutly participate in a Eucharist procession, especially on Corpus Christi
-Spend three entire days in retreat
-Devoutly participate in the adoration of the Cross at the Good Friday Liturgy
-Devoutly recite five decades of the Rosary in a church or with your family members or any other group of people
-Participate in the renewal of baptismal promises during the Easter Vigil
-Reverently and prayerfully read the Bible for thirty minutes as a means of spiritual reading
-It is important to note, however, that to obtain a plenary indulgence for one of the above specified prayers, there are four other conditions:
Go to confession several days before or after Receive holy communion Pray for the intentions of the Pope (e.g., an Our Father and a Hail Mary for his intentions) Be completely detached from all sin, even venial sin. That last condition is the most challenging. Most of us have not striven enough to be detached from all our or sins, including venial sins. If, however, you do not fulfill that last condition, then the Church still grants to you a partial indulgence.

#2 The following "General remarks on Indulgences" from Gift of the Indulgence summarizes the usual conditions given in the Church's law (cf. Apostolic Penitentiary, Prot. N. 39/05/I):

This is how an indulgence is defined in the Code of Canon Law (can. 992) and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 1471): "An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints".

#3 In general, the gaining of indulgences requires certain prescribed conditions (below, nn. 3, 4), and the performance of certain prescribed works ..... [in this case, those granted for the Feast of Mercy]

#4 To gain indulgences, whether plenary or partial, it is necessary that the faithful be in the state of grace at least at the time the indulgenced work is completed. [i.e. one must be a Catholic, not excommunicated or in schism.]

#5 A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day. In order to obtain it, the faithful must, in addition to being in the state of grace:

  • have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin;
  • have sacramentally confessed their sins;
  • receive the Holy Eucharist (it is certainly better to receive it while participating in Holy Mass, but for the indulgence only Holy Communion is required);
  • pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.

#6 It is appropriate, but not necessary, that the sacramental Confession and especially Holy Communion and the prayer for the Pope's intentions take place on the same day that the indulgenced work is performed; but it is sufficient that these sacred rites and prayers be carried out within several days (about 20) before or after the indulgenced act. Prayer for the Pope's intentions is left to the choice of the faithful, but an "Our Father" and a "Hail Mary" are suggested. One sacramental Confession suffices for several plenary indulgences, but a separate Holy Communion and a separate prayer for the Holy Father's intentions are required for each plenary indulgence.

#7 For the sake of those legitimately impeded, confessors can commute both the work prescribed and the conditions required (except, obviously, detachment from even venial sin).

#8 Indulgences can always be applied either to oneself or to the souls of the deceased, but they cannot be applied to other persons living on earth.

Helping this Soul:

Marie Korte

Change

#1 A partial indulgence is the remission of part of the temporal punishment that a person deserves on account of his sins.

Some examples of Partial Indulgence Acts:
- Devoutly make a brief prayer to God in the midst of your daily work
- Led by the Holy Spirit, give of yourself or from your possessions for the good of others
- Voluntarily abstain from something that you enjoy (e.g. a favorite food or activity, etc.)
- Voluntarily give witness to your faith before others
- Study Catholic doctrine
- Visit the Blessed Sacrament for Adoration
- Devoutly recite Psalm 51 or Psalm 130 as an act of contrition for sins
- Devoutly use a devotional item that has been blessed by a priest or deacon (e.g. a blessed rosary)
- Spend time in mental prayers (i.e., Catholic meditation)
- Devoutly recite five decades of the Holy Rosary
- Devoutly recite the Hail, Holy Queen or the Memorare
- Devoutly recite the Angelus at dawn, noon, or evening time
- Devoutly pray the prayer to one’s guardian angel (i.e., Angel of God, my guardian dear, etc.)
- Renew one’s baptismal promises
- Devoutly recite an Act of Faith, Hope, and Charity
- Devoutly recite the Nicene Creed or the Apostles’ Creed
- Devoutly pray the blessing before meals (i.e., Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, etc.)

#2 REGULATIONS ON INDULGENCES
Issued by the Holy See June 29, 1968

Partial Indulgences

GENERAL GRANTS OF PARTIAL INDULGENCES

In general there are three types of grants of this kind:

A partial indulgence is granted to one of the faithful who, in the performance of his duties and the bearing of the burdens of life, raises his mind to God in humble trust, adding at least mentally, some pious invocation. The invocation, which is no longer considered a work complete and distinct in itself but an addition to the performance of duty and the bearing of the burdens of life, may be very short, for instance:

"My God, I love Thee."
"All for Thee."
"Thy Kingdom come."
"Jesus, Mary, Joseph, save souls."
"Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee."
"Thy will be done."
"Mary, save me."

These are but a few. Under specific grants you will find a LIST.

#3 A partial indulgence is granted to one of the faithful who, animated by a spirit of faith and with a merciful heart, gives himself or his goods to the service of the those who are in need. Such works include, feeding the poor, clothing those without necessary garments, visiting the sick, those in prison, admonishing the sinner, counseling the doubtful, consoling the sorrowful, instructing the ignorant, etc. In other words, the The Fourteen Works of Mercy consist of 7 Spiritual Works and 7 Corporal:

The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy are

To counsel the doubtful,
To instruct the ignorant,
To admonish sinners,
To comfort the afflicted,
To forgive offenses,
To bear wrongs patiently and
To pray for the living and the dead.

The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy are

To feed the hungry,
To give drink to the thirsty,
To clothe the naked,
To harbor the harborless [shelter the homeless],
To visit the sick,
To visit the captives [those in prison] and
To bury the dead.

#4 A partial indulgence is granted to one of the faithful who in a penitential spirit of his own accord abstains from something permitted and pleasing to him.

In all cases by a partial indulgence is meant the remission of the same amount of temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven as one has already obtained through the satisfactory value of the good work itself-----the remission is doubled. Although Holy Mother Church has abrogated the specific amount of time for remitted in Purgatory, it now doubles whatever God would have applied formerly. God binds what the Church binds, as He Himself told the Apostles.