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Show Catholic Doctrine on Indulgence ! . ! Two Kinds of Indulgences Conditions Required to Gain . I Either Perfect. Contrition Essential. j THE CONDITIONS. ART V. Indulgences are divided into two kinds plenary and partial. A plenary indulgence is the remission of "all"' the temporal punishment due to sin after, the sin itself and the eternal eter-nal junishment, if a mortal sin, have been forgiven. A partial indulgence is a remission of "part" of that temporal punishment. punish-ment. There are certain conditions required on the part of the penitent in order to gain both the one and the other. The conditions necessary to gain indulgences in-dulgences are: 1. The "intention" of gaining them. 2. The state of grace. 3. The fulfilling of certain good works enjoined. These "good works" are: 1. Confession. Confes-sion. 2. Holy communion. 3. Visit to a church. 4. Prayers for "special intentions" inten-tions" of the sovereign pontiff. The special intentions of the sovereign sover-eign pontiff are: 1. The conversion of sinners. 2. The extirpation of heresy, infidelity and religious bigotry. 3. The nrnna?Hnn nf the nna trua fctitYi A Vnr- peace amongst Christian kings, emperors, em-perors, presidents, rulers and Christian nations. 5. For the exaltation of the one, holy Catholic, apostolic church. The three conditions mentioned are necessary to gain a plenary indulgence: 1. The intention. 2. The state of grace. 3. The good works confession, communion, com-munion, visit to a church and prayers for the pope's intentions. Only the first two conditions are required re-quired to gain a partial indulgence the intention of gaining it and the state of grace. . As regards the obligation of praying for the pope's intentions, as one of the conditions to gain a plenary indulgence, it is not essntial to know and remember these five Intentions at the time. It is sufficient to have the intention of offering of-fering the prayers' for the pope's intentions, inten-tions, even though a person may not remember' minutely at the time what all these various intentions are. It is worthy of cafeful notice that a man can never gain an indulgence for the punishment due to a venial sin for which he has no sorrow. i-iet us taice tne case of a man who makes a good confession and has sorrow sor-row for his venial sins, as well as mortal, mor-tal, -with the exception of two. He can gain indulgences to atone for the punishment due to the mortal and venial sine for which he had sorrow, sor-row, but he cannot gain any indulgence indul-gence to atone for the punishment due to the two venial sins for Vhich he had n.o sorrow. The reason is because an indulgence cannot be gained for any unforgiven sin, whether mortal or venial. ven-ial. The essential condition for pardon of a venial sin is true sorrow for it. Although one mortal sin. by reason of its nature, cannot be forgiven without with-out another, yet it is the contrary with venial sin. It is of daily occurrence that many people may have sorrow for some of their venial sins, but not for all of them. This leads us to another very important import-ant point, equally worthy of special notice. no-tice. x It is that when a man has committed some venial sin or sins, and has no sorrow for them, he can never, whilst in that state, gain the full effects of a plenary indulgence. The reason Is simple and clear. A plenary indulgence js a remission of all the temporal punishment due to his sins. But nobody could gain an indulgence indul-gence for unforgiven sin. Therefore, when some venial sins remain re-main unforgiven. through want of sorrow sor-row for them, the temporal punishment due to those venial sins cannot be atoned for until the sins themselves are forgiven first, and, consequently, neither can any indulgence be gained by which that temporal punishment, due to any such unforgiven venial sins, may bo remitted. mis is wny very few Catholics, on an average, gain the full effects of a plenary indulgence. Although - they may fulfill all the other conditions, yet they still have some attachment to venial sins and habitual faults. It may be only to one or two, yet not having sorrow for even one or two venial sins places an obstacle to their gaining anv plenary indulgence in the full sense of the word. All the temporal punishment due to their other venial sins, for which they had sorrow as well as that due to any mortal sins, they may have confessed and repented .of, may be remitted by the indulgence; but the temporal punishment pun-ishment due to the venial sin or sins for which there was no sorrow, still remains re-mains due and cannot be removed by an indulgence as long as the sins remain re-main on the soul. For these reasons, in addition to the three conditions necessary to gain a plenary indulgence, and to the first two of them for a partial indulgence, we must add that to gain a plenary indulgence indul-gence "in full" we must have true sorrow sor-row for "all" our venial sins, as well as mortal, and we must have true sorrow sor-row for each and every venial sin before be-fore the punishment due to it can be remitted re-mitted by an indulgence. The very first condition to gain any indulgence is the i ntention. It is a very easy condition to fulfill. Nothing could be easier than to form that intention in-tention in the mind. It must be either actual or virtual. The actual intention is that which is formed by a special act of the will immediately before the fulfilling of the conditions and prayers required. The virtual intention is one which had been formed some time previously and not retracted. This latter is sufficient, but it is highly recommended, in practice, to renew this intention every morning, or, at least, once a week. When we form the intention, daily or weekly, or" gaining all the indulgences in our power, it is not necessary to knowand remember each and. all of them, or what indulgences are attached to every prayer we say. Although this first condition is so easy, yet thousands of Catholics fail to gain numberless indulgences, more especially partial ones, through failing to form the "intention" of gaining them. It is true such Catholics, when in th state of grace, do not lose the "merit" of the indulgenced prayers and good works, but they always lose the "indulgence" "in-dulgence" attached, when they have neither the actual nor virtual intention of gaining them. This shows how careful care-ful we should be to form this intention often. The second condition to gain both a plenary and a partial indulgence ist "the state of grace." A Catholic must be in the state of grace before he can possibly gain any indulgence for himself. him-self. This is not difficult to prove. This state means that a Catholic must I be free from mortal sin. But as an in- dulgence cannot be gained for unfor- eign sin, it is clear that the sin must I first be removed. I ere it should be noticed that it is a disputed point whether a person in l mortal sin may not be able to gain an indulgence for another v. g. for a soul I in Purgatory. To say the least, it is 1 1 doubtful and unlikely. The third condition is the good works enjoined confession, communion, visit to a church, and prayers for the pope's intentions. This third condition is required re-quired for a plenary indulgence only. The first two suffice for partial indulgences. indulg-ences. The good works for partial indulgences indulg-ences are only the prayers or acts of . I charity themselves to which the in- 1 dulgences are attached. J A person having perfect contrition . j for a mortal sin, with the Intention, of course, of confessing it, can gain a I "partial" indulgence. - f A person can also gain the indulg- ence, if In the state of grace, when the I last act of the conditions required is : f completed. Acts which we are already bound to I perform under pain of mortal sin do 1 not satisfy for gaining an indulgence. i 11, ior example, an inuuigence ds ; offered for hearing mass, it could not be gained on a Sunday for one mass which is already of strict obligation.. J The obligation of Easter communion i.y an exception to this rule. f The prayers and acts of piety in re- ligious communities suffice, as they do not strictly bind under pain of sin. It is sufficient to go to confessions once a week to gain ail the plenary in- dulgences offered during the week. In some places where bishops obtain the privilege of fortnightly confession suf- fices. The confession is obligatory even j where there are no mortal sins to con- fess. The confession can always be made the day or even before the day f for gaining a plenary indulgence. When more than one plenary indulg- j ence can be gained on the same day or two consecutive days, the one eonfes- S sion and communion of the first day suffices for all the indulgences. The visit to a church is necessary, and if a special church be mentioned. I the visit must be to it. I When holy communion is received in a church, that visit suffices if the J prayers are" duly said. This can be j of the sick. i-. The prayers for the pope's intentions f V must be vocal. It is not essential to ; kneel saying them, unless such be pre- scribed. f It is certain that five "Our Fathers" and five "Hail Marys," or other prayers ! about the same length, suffice. They must be repealed for each, plenary in- j dulgence. I On a Feast with an octave on which f plenary indulgences can be gained. f they can be gained either on the daj itself or on any one day during the octave. i All these particulars regarding the conditions required for gaining Indulg- I ences are of the utmost importance and y should be carefully studied and reraem- bered by all good Catholics. J T7- "O J |