On Indulgences

"17. The treasures of the Church, from which the Pope grants indulgences, are not the merits of Christ and of the Saints. - 18. Indulgences are pious frauds upon the faithful and remissions of good works; and they are among those things which are lawful, and not among those which are expedient. - 19. For those who truly obtain them, indulgences do not avail for the remission of the punishment due before divine justice for actual sins. - 20. Those who believe that indulgences are salutary and useful for the fruits of the spirit are deceived. - 21. Indulgences are necessary only for public crimes and are properly granted only to the hard and impatient. - 22. Indulgences are neither necessary nor useful to six classes of men: namely, to the dead or dying, the sick, those legitimately impeded, those who have not committed crimes, those who have committed crimes but not public ones, and those who perform better works. - 40. Souls freed from Purgatory by the suffrages of the living are less blessed than if they had made satisfaction for themselves." Propositions of Martin Luther condemned by Leo X.

"60. Through the sufferings of the Saints communicated in indulgences, our offenses are not properly redeemed; but through the communion of charity their sufferings are imparted to us, so that we may be worthy to be freed by the price of the Blood of Christ from the punishments due for sins." Proposition of Michael Baius condemned by Saint Pius V.

"16. It is not fitting to seek indulgences for the punishment due to one's own sins, because it is better to satisfy divine justice than to seek divine mercy; since the former proceeds from pure love of God, while the latter proceeds from interested love of ourselves, and is neither pleasing to God nor meritorious, because it is to wish to flee the cross." Proposition of Michael de Molinos condemned by Innocent XI.

"40. The proposition asserting that an indulgence, according to its precise notion, is nothing other than the remission of a part of that penance which was established by the canons for the sinner; as though an indulgence, besides the bare remission of canonical punishment, does not also avail for the remission of the temporal punishment due before divine justice for actual sins: False, rash, injurious to the merits of Christ, long ago condemned in article 19 of Luther. - 41. Likewise, insofar as it adds that the Scholastics, puffed up by their subtleties, introduced an ill-understood treasury of the merits of Christ and the Saints and substituted for the clear notion of absolution from canonical punishment the confused and false notion of the application of merits; as though the treasures of the Church from which the Pope grants indulgences are not the merits of Christ and the Saints: False, rash, injurious to the merits of Christ and of the Saints, long ago condemned in article 17 of Luther. - 42. Likewise, insofar as it adds further that it is still more lamentable that this chimerical application was wished to be transferred to the departed: False, rash, offensive to pious ears, injurious to the Roman Pontiffs and to the practice and sense of the universal Church, leading into the error branded with a heretical note in Peter de Osma and again condemned in article 22 of Luther. - 43. Finally, insofar as it most shamelessly inveighs against certificates of indulgences, privileged altars, etc.: Rash, offensive to pious ears, scandalous, insulting to the Supreme Pontiffs and to the practice frequented by the whole Church." Propositions of the Synod of Pistoia condemned by Pius VI.

"I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church and that their use is most salutary for the Christian people." Tridentine Profession of Faith.

"42. It is foolish to believe in the indulgences of the Pope and bishops." Article of John Wycliffe condemned by the Council of Constance.

"6. The Pope cannot remit to any man the punishment of Purgatory." Proposition of Master Peter de Osma condemned by Sixtus IV in 1479.

"Whether one who has the faculty of blessing crosses, rosaries, etc., and applying indulgences to them can also bless crosses and rosaries for himself and, by using these, also gain the indulgences for himself? - Response. Affirmative." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 16 July 1887.

"1. Whether indulgences which a bishop grants avail only within the limits of his diocese or also outside it? 2. Whether they can be acquired within the limits of the diocese also by faithful who are not subjects of the bishop granting the indulgences? 3. Whether subjects of the bishop granting indulgences can gain them also while they are staying outside the diocese? - Response. To 1. Affirmative to the first part; negative to the second, unless there is question of subjects of the bishop granting them and of personal indulgences. To 2. Affirmative, provided that the indulgences have not been granted to some particular class of persons. To 3. Provision was made in 1." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 26 May 1898.

"When it was reported to Our Most Holy Lord that an ancient custom was generally in force in the regions of Latin America, although no written document concerning it exists, namely, that Archbishops grant eighty days of Indulgence instead of forty days as by law; and when the same Most Holy Lord was petitioned by the Archbishops attending the American Plenary Council in the City that He might deign to ratify and confirm that custom; His Holiness, wishing to establish a certain and uniform discipline in Latin America and to pursue the Churches of that region with particular love, graciously decreed by His Apostolic authority that henceforth all the Archbishops of Latin America may freely enjoy and use the privilege of granting eighty days of true Indulgence in the customary form of the Church. Concerning these matters, the same His Holiness ordered the undersigned Secretary of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs to issue this Decree without the dispatch of any Brief and commanded that it be entered into the acts of that Sacred Congregation." 4 July 1899.

"The Pontifical jubilee of Leo XIII, of happy memory, celebrated everywhere with solemn rejoicing by the Catholic world, certainly furnished a fitting occasion on which several sacred Prelates, especially from the Neapolitan and Sicilian region, in order to consecrate the auspicious event with a certain new pledge of piety and religious fruit, earnestly offered petitions in jointly signed letters that their faculty in bestowing indulgences might be somewhat increased by the Apostolic See. - These petitions, interrupted by the death of that excellent Pontiff, but again and humbly presented, after consultation with the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics, by the undersigned Cardinal, Prefect of the same Congregation, in an audience held at the Vatican on 28 August of this current year, as soon as Our Most Holy Lord Pope Pius X learned of them, He testified that He had nothing more greatly among His desires than to honor the glorious memory of His Predecessor with a worthy token of honor in this matter also, and moreover fully to extend His own paternal charity toward all ecclesiastical orders. Therefore, His Holiness, having received a report of everything, deigned not only to assent to the aforesaid desires, but also graciously to decree that henceforth the Most Eminent Fathers, Cardinals, may grant an indulgence of two hundred days in their titular churches as well as in their Dioceses, Archbishops one hundred days, and finally Bishops fifty days, provided nevertheless that all things observed by them up to the present in grants of indulgences of this kind are observed. He willed this grant to remain perpetually in force also for future times. Anything whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding.

"Given at Rome, from the Secretariat of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics, on 28 August 1903."

"1. It is fitting that one who desires to obtain the faculty of blessing chaplets, crosses, rosaries, medals, etc., with the application of the Apostolic indulgences and those of Saint Bridget should present a petition furnished with commendatory letters from his own Ordinary if he belongs to the secular clergy, but, if he is a religious, from the Superior of his Order or Institute approved by the Holy See.

"2. In order that the aforesaid faculty be exercised validly, it will be necessary that the priest be approved for hearing sacramental Confessions, at least of men.

"3. For the lawful exercise of that faculty, the consent of the Ordinary of the place in which one wishes to use it is required, the Decree of this Sacred Congregation of 8 June 1888 remaining in force with respect to exempt religious. It is desirable that this consent be express; nevertheless, tacit or implicit consent also suffices, and, in some case when it cannot practically be done otherwise, even consent prudently presumed suffices." Instruction of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 14 June 1901; A. S. S., vol. 34, p. 124 ff.

"1. Whether, for applying indulgences to crosses, rosaries, etc., any rite is necessary besides the sign of the cross made by a priest who has received this faculty. 2. Whether the indulgence granted attaches only to the figure of Christ made of metal, wood, or any other material, so that it can be transferred from one cross to another without danger of losing the indulgence conferred upon it? - Response. To 1. Negative. To 2. Affirmative." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 2 April 1840.

"1. Can one who has obtained the faculty of blessing crosses, sacred medals, and prayer chaplets with the application of indulgences lawfully use that faculty publicly, for example, in a church or oratory before the faithful gathered there and holding in their hands the objects to be blessed, if the clause privately is in the indult of the faculty?

"2. When the clause in the customary form of the Church exists in the indult, does it suffice to form the sign of the cross by hand over the objects to be blessed, without pronouncing the words of the formula of blessing and without sprinkling holy water?

"3. If a formula is necessary, does any formula suffice, provided that it is approved by the Ordinary, or must the formula of the Roman Ritual necessarily be employed?

"4. When the clause in the customary form of the Church does not exist in the indult of the faculty, does it suffice to form the sign of the cross by hand over the objects to be blessed?

"Response. To 1. Negative. - To 2. Affirmative. - To 3 and 4. Answered in the second." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 7 January 1843.

"Whether the aforesaid declarations also comprehend both the blessing of chaplets or rosaries of Saint Dominic which are blessed by the Fathers of the Order of Preachers, and the chaplets of the Seven Dolors which are blessed by the Fathers of the Order of the Servants of Mary; so that priests who obtain, either from the superiors of the aforesaid Orders or immediately from the Apostolic See, the faculty of blessing the aforesaid chaplets can accomplish this by the sign of the cross alone; or whether, for the validity of the act, the formula of blessing together with sprinkling with holy water must altogether be employed. - Response. For the Rosary and Seven Dolors chaplets the formula must be observed, since the responses of the Sacred Congregation of 11 April 1840 and 7 January 1843 do not comprehend the cases treated in the proposed doubt." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 29 February 1864.

"Among the other duties entrusted to this Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics, this one is preeminent: namely, to distinguish true Indulgences from apocryphal ones and to proscribe the latter. It has discharged this duty by very many Decrees concerning apocryphal Indulgences, issued up to the present time and contained in the authentic collection of Decrees. But although this Sacred Congregation has always been vigilant from the very beginning of its institution concerning the publication of Indulgences, lest false ones creep in among the Christian people, nevertheless, since even in our age there are not lacking those who, moved either by ill will or even by irrational zeal, do not fear to spread among the faithful false, or at the least very suspect, Indulgences annexed either to prayers or to pious exercises, it has therefore come about that several Prelates have approached this Sacred Congregation so that it might issue its judgment concerning certain Indulgences. They did this principally, moved by the cause that not only might true Indulgences be distinguished from false ones, but especially that the way might be closed to the enemies of the Church for calumniating her and despising the heavenly treasury of Indulgences.

"Therefore, in order that this Sacred Congregation might apply a present remedy to this evil, insofar as it could be done, it resolved to establish certain rules or norms by which, when they were kept before the eyes, an easy way might be opened not only to Ordinaries of places but also to the Christian faithful themselves for discerning what judgment should be made concerning certain Indulgences which are commonly published among the people and display a doubtful mark of authenticity.

"When this proposal of the Sacred Congregation was reported to Our Most Holy Lord Leo XIII, His Holiness approved it and ordered it to be put into execution as soon as possible.

"Therefore, the Sacred Congregation, employing the study of the Most Reverend Consultors, took care that an Index of the aforesaid rules be worked out; it then submitted this Index for examination by the Most Eminent Fathers, Cardinals, in a general Congregation assembled at the Vatican on 5 May 1898. But they, after maturely weighing the aforesaid Index, reserved it, with some changes, to be weighed again by themselves in another Congregation.

"This was done in the General Assembly held at the Vatican on 3 August 1899, in which the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Fathers judged that the Index should be proposed as below:

"Rule 1. All indulgences contained in the most recent Collection published by the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences are authentic.

"Rule 2. General indulgences which are not presented in the aforesaid Collection, or which are said to have been granted after the Collection was published, are to be regarded as authentic only when the autograph document of their grant has been authenticated by the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, to which it must be presented, under penalty of nullity, before they are published.

"Rule 3. Let those Indulgences be regarded as authentic which were granted to religious Orders and Congregations, Archconfraternities, Confraternities, Archsodalities, Sodalities, pious Unions, pious Societies, certain more celebrated Churches, Pious Places, and Objects of devotion, and which are contained in Summaries authenticated and approved by the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and printed by its authority or permission.

"Rule 4. Let neither general nor particular Indulgences be regarded as authentic which are contained in books, booklets, summaries, sheets, cards, or even images printed without the approval of the competent authority; this approval is to be granted after diligent authentication and distinctly expressed.

"Rule 5. All Indulgences of a thousand or several thousand years, at whatever time they are said to have been granted, are apocryphal or now entirely revoked.

"Rule 6. Let plenary Indulgences which are asserted to have been granted to those reciting only a few words be regarded as suspect; excepting Indulgences at the point of death.

"Rule 7. Indulgences circulated in printed or handwritten booklets, sheets, or cards in which, for frivolous or even superstitious causes and uncertain revelations, or under illusory conditions, Indulgences and graces exceeding use and measure are promised, are to be rejected as apocryphal.

"Rule 8. Sheets and booklets in which the liberation of one or more souls from Purgatory is promised to the faithful who recite one or another prayer are to be rejected as fictitious; and the Indulgences customarily added to the aforesaid promise are to be regarded as apocryphal.

"Rule 9. Indulgences asserted to be of more recent grant are to be regarded as apocryphal or at least gravely suspect if they are extended to an unusual number of years or days.

"His Holiness approved these rules on 10 August 1899 and commanded them to be published by a general Decree.

"Given at Rome, from the Secretariat of the same Sacred Congregation, 10 August 1899."

"On Rule 1. This rule regards the collection commonly called Collection of Prayers and Pious Works for Which the Holy Indulgences Have Been Granted by the Supreme Pontiffs. - Rome, Printing Office of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 1898.

"The foundation of the rule is manifestly evident from the very end which the Sacred Congregation set before itself in publishing that book. For already in the year 1877, when the first edition of the Collection of which we speak was being prepared for official publication by this Sacred Congregation itself, this declaration was read in the preliminary Decree: 'The Supreme Pontiff graciously consented that an authentic compilation or Collection of each and every prayer and pious work which up to the present day had been enriched or augmented with indulgences should be most diligently prepared by the Secretariat of the same Sacred Congregation.' Therefore, that first edition, and afterwards likewise the second edition in the year 1886, was declared authentic by the same Sacred Congregation; but now in the Decree prefixed to the third edition of the year 1898 it is read thus: 'Our same Most Holy Lord Pope Leo XIII approved by His Apostolic authority a Collection of this kind printed by the Printing Office of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith; and it is therefore to be held by all as the genuine and authentic Compilation of Indulgences hitherto granted for all the Christian faithful and for certain groups of them designated therein.'

"On Rule 2. With the approval of Popes Benedict XIV and Pius IX, a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences was promulgated on 28 January 1756 and 14 April 1856 with this tenor (Authentic Decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, nos. 205 and 371): 'Since it is discovered by daily experience that very many general grants of indulgences are issued without the knowledge of the Sacred Congregation, from which many abuses and confusions emanate, the matter having been maturely weighed, it declared by the present Decree that those who hereafter obtain general grants of this kind are bound, under penalty of the nullity of the favor obtained, to bring a copy of those grants to the Secretariat of the same Sacred Congregation.' This, however, applies only with respect to indulgences altogether and in every respect general: namely, those which were granted to all the faithful for certain prayers or pious works, and indeed in perpetuity. It does not apply to those which additionally require enrollment in a pious Union, etc., or the visitation of a determined church, or which impose an obligation to wear a certain scapular or medal, etc., or which are granted for a certain determined time; all these indulgences are rather to be regarded as particular ones, to which the Decree of Benedict XIV and Pius IX does not extend.

"It can, moreover, be established that the authentication of new general indulgences was performed by the Sacred Congregation if those indulgences are presented by books or authors worthy of every trust, who receive grants of this kind from the Sacred Congregation itself or, at least with its permission, communicate them to their readers.

"On Rule 3. There is question here not of altogether general indulgences, concerning which the preceding rule treats, but of those which are particular in some manner, as is evident from the very tenor of this rule. Now, some of the Summaries named here, as will be said immediately in the following rule, can be authenticated and approved by Bishops alone; but others must necessarily be proposed to the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences for authentication and approval. It is clear, moreover, that all Summaries of this kind, if they were certainly authenticated and approved by the Sacred Congregation itself, are to be regarded by all as certainly authentic and do not need another authentication and approval by Bishops, even if perhaps episcopal authentication and approval by itself alone would have been sufficient.

"On Rule 4. In the new Constitution On the Prohibition and Censure of Books, Decree XVII reads thus: 'All books, summaries, booklets, sheets, etc., of indulgences in which their grants are contained are not to be published without the permission of the competent authority.' And in Decree XV it is read: 'Images printed in any manner of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, etc., whether they have prayers annexed or are published without them, are not to be published without the permission of ecclesiastical authority.' Hence it is clear that the authenticity of indulgences, whether general or particular, printed in any manner is not established unless the approval of the competent authority is present; for the necessary element prescribed for recognizing and establishing authenticity is lacking.

"It is said, however, that the approval is to be distinctly expressed, that is, with the name of the one approving and with the place and time at which the approval was given.

"The competent authority in general is the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences itself, excepting, however, the following cases, in which the approval of the Ordinary of the place also suffices (Authentic Decrees, no. 383):

"1. If there is question of publishing the grant of some particular indulgence, or of publishing a Summary of indulgences which is to be taken from only one Apostolic Brief or Rescript;

"2. If there is question of a Summary already published by authority of the Sacred Congregation; excepting, however, the list of indulgences called Apostolic (for chaplets, medals, etc.), which requires the approval of the Sacred Congregation wherever and in whatever language it is published; excepting also every translation of the entire Collection of Indulgences called the Raccolta. Nevertheless, the individual indulgences contained in it can, as is evident, be published by authority of the Bishop;

"3. If there is question of Summaries of those Confraternities which, by grant of the Holy See, are erected by Religious Institutes or aggregated by Archconfraternities; for then the authentication and approval of the Bishop of that place where Institutes or Archconfraternities of this kind have their principal seat suffices (Authentic Decrees, no. 388).

"In all other cases the authentication and approval of the Sacred Congregation itself is required, especially if there is question of a Summary of indulgences previously collected but never approved, or now to be collected for the first time from diverse grants.

"Finally, it is clear that all Summaries of this kind, if they certainly were already authenticated and approved by the Sacred Congregation itself, are to be regarded by all as certainly authentic and do not need another authentication and approval by Bishops, even if perhaps from what was said episcopal authentication and approval by itself alone would have been sufficient.

"On Rule 5. Indulgences of this kind were always judged by the gravest authors to be foreign to the practice of the Apostolic See. In fact, if they are said to have been granted before the fourteenth century, they cannot stand with the more ancient discipline of the Church (thus Theodore of the Holy Spirit, On Indulgences, II, 247); for it is manifestly evident that in the thirteenth and even the fourteenth century indulgences were still very small (for example, 10, 20, or 40 days; one year; rarely 5 or 7 years; most rarely 20 years). But if they are attributed to later centuries, many authentic Decrees indeed exist by which indulgences of this kind are condemned as apocryphal, but not even one document of such a grant which is certainly authentic has yet been able to be produced. But if some doubt could exist concerning a certain indulgence of this kind, recently, by a Decree of this Sacred Congregation dated 26 May 1898, all indulgences of a thousand or several thousand years were revoked, so that today not even one can be admitted.

"On Rule 6. The Supreme Pontiffs have been accustomed with great liberality to grant a plenary indulgence to the Christian faithful placed at the point of death, under this condition: that, at least contrite of heart, if they were unable to receive the Most Holy Sacraments of Penance and Communion, they devoutly invoke the name of Jesus with the mouth, or at least with the heart, and accept death with an even mind from the hand of the Lord as the wages of sin. But apart from the point of death it was never the custom of the Holy See to grant a plenary indulgence to the faithful reciting only a few words. In fact, in the entire authentic Collection of prayers and pious works which is called the Raccolta, not even one example of this kind is found, unless perhaps you except that very well-known prayer 'Behold, O good and most sweet Jesus,' to be recited before an image of the Crucified. But first, that prayer does not consist of so few words, and in it some meditation upon the sorrows and wounds of Jesus Christ Crucified is presupposed; and besides, in order to gain the plenary indulgence, confession and Communion, and also prayers according to the intention of the Supreme Pontiff, are required. Therefore, that which was said in explaining the preceding rule can be repeated here: namely, that no certainly authentic document exists by which a plenary indulgence was ever granted by the Supreme Pontiffs to the Christian faithful reciting only a few words; but many certain Decrees reject such indulgences as either apocryphal or suspect.

"On Rule 7. This rule scarcely needs explanation. For since indulgences ought to be granted only for pious and reasonable causes, the Holy See has never promised trifles or things ridiculous or impossible of this kind in bestowing indulgences. Indeed, lest the minds of the faithful be deceived by fallacious hope and harmful presumption, several Councils opportunely admonished them not rashly to give credence to booklets or writings of this kind (cf. Theodore of the Holy Spirit, II, p. 327). Certainly the catalogues of indulgences proscribed by the Supreme Pontiffs manifestly prove this. It is sufficient from among many to cite a certain prayer which was said to have been found in the sepulcher of Our Lord Jesus Christ and formerly revealed to Saints Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, Mechtilde, and Bridget; this prayer, together with all its extravagant promises, was already condemned as apocryphal in the year 1678, and now again by a Decree of 26 May 1898 by this Sacred Congregation.

"On Rule 8. Although in past centuries the Supreme Pontiffs also used this formula in granting indulgences, that they promised to the Christian faithful reciting certain prayers (not only a few words, as above in the sixth rule), or performing certain pious works, the liberation of one soul from Purgatory, this must nevertheless commonly be understood in no other sense than that any plenary indulgence offered by the Supreme Pontiffs to the faithful living was declared applicable also to any soul detained in Purgatory, as the style of the Curia now in use has it. It cannot, however, be proved from authentic documents that any one of them ever promised the liberation of several souls at once from Purgatory, much less for the recitation of only one or another prayer.

"Therefore, just as assertions of this kind must be regarded as ill-founded, so also the indulgences annexed to such promises are to be rejected as apocryphal and of no value; all the more because indulgences of this kind are for the most part to be numbered among those unusual and excessive ones of which mention was made in the preceding rule.

"On Rule 9. For a long time now, as is known, the Church has been accustomed to grant partial indulgences in certain stable formulas, such as, for example, 50, 100, 200, or 300 days; or one year; or 3, 5, or 7 years and as many quarantines. But indulgences, for example, of 1,080 days, such as were read as indicated on certain medals of the Blessed Virgin Mary which were sold at Loreto about forty years ago, are altogether foreign to the practice of the Apostolic See; they were therefore declared apocryphal by this Sacred Congregation on 23 February 1856 (Authentic Decrees, no. 370). In these present days, indulgences of a very great number of days are often indicated on sheets because authors or editors converted, by their own judgment, numbers of years and quarantines into corresponding numbers of days; so that when a calculation of this kind was made, immediately a thousand or several thousand days of indulgence resulted. There is no doubt that this proceeds from a certain blameworthy rivalry; for they wish thus to demonstrate before the eyes that the indulgences, for example, of one confraternity or pious work are greater than those which were granted to other similar ones. It is greatly to be desired that Ordinaries of places by no means approve cards or booklets of this kind, even if the calculation should appear to correspond to the truth in every respect."

"It was reported to this Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics that certain chaplets are being distributed in Rome and also outside it, to which a great abundance of plenary and partial Indulgences is attributed, it being affirmed that for each bead or grain of them, for each Our Father and Hail Mary, the Indulgences of the Holy Land are annexed.

"A report concerning this having been made to the Holiness of Our Lord Pope Leo XIII by the undersigned Cardinal Prefect in the audience of 6 September 1898, His Holiness ordered it to be declared, for the instruction of the faithful, that the Indulgences of the Holy Land cannot and must not be understood to have been granted for each bead or grain of the aforesaid chaplets for each Our Father and Hail Mary. But if some number of chaplets was truly blessed with the Indulgences of the Holy Land, it must be understood, as in fact it is, that by this blessing the aforesaid chaplets were simply made equivalent to those which touched the Holy Places, and nothing more. Therefore, the faithful who piously retain them can acquire only the Indulgences described in the Collection of Prayers and Pious Works for Which the Holy Indulgences Have Been Granted by the Supreme Pontiffs, published with Pontifical approval, as they are read there under the title Chaplets and Rosaries of the Holy Land; it is to be observed, however, that in order to gain any one of the Plenary or partial Indulgences enumerated under the aforesaid title, it is absolutely necessary to fulfill the pious works and conditions respectively prescribed, just as they are expressed in that same Collection.

"We publish these declarations as a norm for the faithful in execution of the express mandate received from Our Most Holy Father and Lord.

"Given at Rome, from the Secretariat of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics, 6 September 1898."

"Decree. Urbi et Orbi. - 26 May 1898. - Since this Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics has been entrusted from its very institution with the duty of watching lest false and apocryphal, or already revoked, Indulgences be rashly published, it has repeatedly been asked whether Indulgences of a thousand or even several thousand years, which are read in certain Summaries and even in Pontifical Constitutions, are to be retained as true, or rather are to be banished among the apocryphal, especially for the reason that they seem immoderate.

"Now, since this Sacred Congregation has generally observed that the grant of the aforesaid Indulgences rests, for the most part, upon no foundation or upon a supposititious one, and has moreover considered that which the Most Holy Council of Trent taught in session 25, chapter XXI, Decree on Indulgences, namely, that moderation is to be employed in granting Indulgences, lest ecclesiastical discipline be weakened by excessive facility, it judged it opportune, as it has been accustomed to do on other occasions, that all Indulgences which reach the number of a thousand or several thousand years, leaving aside whether they are to be numbered among the true or the apocryphal, should be revoked and abrogated; for both the changed circumstances of the times and the discipline now in force in the Church seemed to demand this.

"Therefore, the Most Eminent Fathers placed over this Sacred Congregation, in a general Congregation held at the Vatican on 5 May 1898, after mature consideration of all things, answered by unanimous vote: All Indulgences of a thousand or several thousand years are to be entirely revoked, if it should please His Holiness.

"A report concerning all these matters having then been made to Our Most Holy Lord Pope Leo XIII in the audience held on 26 May 1898 by the undersigned Cardinal Prefect, His Holiness ratified and confirmed the judgment of the Most Eminent Fathers, and commanded it to be declared by a general Decree that all Indulgences of a thousand or several thousand years which hitherto are said to have been, or have in fact been, granted are revoked and are to be regarded by all as revoked. Anything whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding.

"Given at Rome, from the Secretariat of the same Sacred Congregation, on 26 May 1898."

"Whether, if indulgences under various titles are annexed to the same pious work which cannot be repeated by the faithful, all can be gained? - Response. Affirmative, provided that the works enjoined truly cannot, or are not customarily, repeated, as confession, unless it is otherwise necessary," namely, in a case of relapse. Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 14 December 1877; A. S. S., vol. 10, p. 563.

A person can gain several plenary indulgences on the same day, the conditions, of course, having been fulfilled, whether the indulgences coincide on one day because of a feast or a person has, through his devotion, assigned them to such a day of the week or month. But a person is bound to visit a church or public oratory, when such a visit is required, as many times as there are indulgences to be gained. Nor indeed does it suffice that in one and the same church as many prayers or visits be repeated as there are indulgences to be gained, unless the person leaves the church after each visit and enters it again. Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 29 February 1864; A. S. S., vol. 1, p. 116.

"Whether crosses, chaplets, rosaries, statues, etc., which before any use have passed from one person, then to another, and even to a third and fourth, lose their indulgences? - Response. Negative." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 16 July 1887.

"Decree Urbi et Orbi. - Among the other conditions which must be observed in fulfilling the works enjoined for the acquisition of indulgences is this: that those works be done within the time defined in the grants. But in order that the Christian faithful might more easily be encouraged to gain them, this Sacred Congregation placed over Indulgences and Sacred Relics, with the approval of the Supreme Pontiffs, has repeatedly judged it proper to make provision in this matter, with respect to the prescribed confession and Communion, either through a favorable interpretation or through indults.

"Hence, by a Decree of 19 May 1759, it determined: Confession suffices if it is fulfilled also on the eve of the feast for which the indulgence was granted; and likewise, by a Decree of 12 June 1822, it declared: Communion can be received on the vigil of the feast.

"Although these indults left no room for doubt concerning those indulgences which are granted for feasts properly so called, beginning, namely, from first Vespers until sunset of the feast day itself, so that a member of the faithful is free either to confess on the feast day itself and be refreshed by Holy Communion, nevertheless several doubts arose thereafter whether the same should be said of other indulgences to be gained within the space of one day and beginning from the commencement of the natural day, which, namely, were granted not by reason of an occurring feast but for any other cause; as is accustomed to happen for the Fridays of the month of March, the Sundays preceding the feast of Saint Aloysius, the Forty Hours' Prayer, and any other similar cases.

"Therefore, Our Most Holy Lord Pope Pius IX, in an audience held by the undersigned Cardinal Prefect of the same Sacred Congregation on 6 October 1870, in order to remove every reason for doubt and to render the fulfillment of confession and Communion more convenient, graciously commanded that it be declared and decreed, as by this Decree it is declared and decreed: that either confession alone, or confession and Communion, can be performed on the day immediately preceding that for which any indulgence has been granted, not only by reason of an occurring feast according to the Decrees cited, but also for any other cause whatsoever, whether of devotion, of a pious exercise, or of a solemnity, as would be the case for the aforementioned and other days of this kind, for which an indulgence with the condition of confession and Communion has already been granted or shall hereafter be granted, although the time for acquiring it is to be reckoned from the beginning of the natural day and not from first Vespers; nevertheless, in fulfilling the other works enjoined, the general rule concerning the manner and time prescribed in the grants is to be observed.

"And His Holiness willed that nothing be considered changed with respect to the Decree of 9 December 1763 in favor of the Christian faithful who have the praiseworthy custom of confessing at least once a week, with the privileges, conditions, and restrictions there enumerated. Anything whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 6 October 1870.

"Since the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences on 31 March 1759 had been of the opinion that sacramental confession, when it is imposed in Briefs for obtaining an indulgence, must altogether be made even by those who are not conscious of mortal sin, and likewise that the aforesaid confession can also suffice if it is fulfilled on the eve of the feast, ... very many petitions from communities of regulars, and especially of nuns, and also from parish priests and certain bishops for their dioceses, were presented, in which the very great difficulty that sometimes, indeed very often, occurs in making sacramental confession either on the feast or at least on its vigil was set forth. Therefore, in order that so profitable a treasury of indulgences might be rendered conveniently attainable by the faithful, they earnestly petitioned that it might be deemed worthy to provide some opportune remedy from Apostolic benignity. These petitions having been referred to the aforesaid Sacred Congregation, the following doubt was proposed in it: Whether and how counsel should be given to His Holiness concerning the execution or declaration of the aforesaid Decree in the case? And the response was: Counsel should be given to Our Most Holy Lord that He deign to grant an indult to all the Christian faithful who, striving to cleanse their souls by frequent confession of sins, are accustomed to approach the Sacrament of Penance at least once a week, unless they are legitimately impeded, and are conscious of no mortal fault committed by them since the aforesaid last confession, so that they may obtain all and every indulgence even without an actual confession, which otherwise, according to the determination of the aforesaid Decree, would be necessary for gaining them. Nevertheless, nothing is to be changed concerning indulgences of a Jubilee, whether ordinary or extraordinary, and others granted after the manner of a Jubilee, for the attainment of which, just as the other works enjoined, so also sacramental confession is performed within the time prescribed in their grant. - His Holiness, greatly desiring to satisfy the pious desires and wishes of the good, and to bestow the graces of indulgences especially upon those who, by living piously and holily, render themselves more worthy of the gifts of divine mercy, graciously assented and commanded the aforesaid indult to be issued in the form subscribed." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 9 December 1763.

"Whether the aforesaid privilege also avails those who are not accustomed to confess at least once a week, but more rarely, yet have confessed within the week before the feast to which an indulgence is annexed? - Response. Negative." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 12 March 1855.

"The Decree of 9 December 1763 remaining in force for those faithful who approach confession at least once a week, as regards the other faithful, however, in places in which, because of a scarcity of confessors, the faithful cannot frequently be cleansed by sacramental confession, let the said Decree be communicated to the petitioners, and, after the matter has been discussed with His Holiness, let it be extended to all the Christian faithful of either sex, so that a confession made within the week before the feast can suffice for gaining the indulgence, the other conditions enjoined having been fulfilled, and provided that they are conscious of no mortal fault committed after the confession was made; nothing being changed concerning indulgences granted in the form of a Jubilee, as in the cited Decree of 9 December 1763. - His Holiness graciously approved the judgment of the Sacred Congregation and commanded it to be published." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 12 June 1822.

"1. By a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, given on 12 June 1822, it is granted that sacramental confession made within the week before a feast can suffice for gaining an indulgence. It is asked: 1. Whether the words within the week signify only the eight days which immediately precede the feast, or rather that whole and complete week which runs before the feast, so that, for example, a confession made on Sunday suffices for gaining an indulgence on the Saturday of the following week, upon which day the feast would fall, although thirteen days would then have intervened between the confession and the feast? 2. Whether a confession made on the eighth day before the feast, by virtue of this indult, suffices only for gaining one indulgence, or whether through this confession other indulgences also can be gained which occur within the aforesaid time and for the gaining of which sacramental confession would otherwise be required?

"2. Whether, when confession is prescribed as a condition sine qua non in the Bull or Brief by which an indulgence is granted, it is necessary that sacramental absolution be given to the penitents in order to gain the indulgence?

"Response. To 1. As regards the first part of the first question: Affirmative; as regards the second part: Negative. As regards the first part of the second question: Negative; affirmative as regards the second part. - To 2. Negative." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 15 December 1841.

"Decree. - Lotharius Kubel, Bishop of Leuce and Vicar Capitular of the Archdiocese of Freiburg, on 14 January 1877, had petitioned this Sacred Congregation placed over Indulgences and Sacred Relics that there, because of a scarcity of priests, a confession made twice a month, with the requisite conditions observed, might suffice for gaining the indulgences occurring within the aforesaid time, just as other dioceses also rejoice in such a grant by Apostolic indult. The favor was granted, but in the manner and form customary, namely, by answering: 'His Holiness, complying with the prayers, graciously assented to the requested indult, so that priests and the other faithful of the Archdiocese of Freiburg who are accustomed to make sacramental confession within one or two weeks of each month can gain, without sacramental confession, each and every plenary indulgence granted during that interval of time, provided that, etc.' But the aforesaid Bishop, doubting whether seven days or eight were to be understood under the word week, and whether the words within two weeks should be understood so that two confessions within the month suffice, or rather so that confession must be made in every course of fourteen days, approached the Sacred Congregation as a petitioner, asking that it deign to resolve these doubts.

"1. Whether the prescribed confession must be made in each week within seven days, or rather within eight days?

"2. Whether the words within two weeks are to be interpreted strictly, so that confession must be made within fourteen days, or rather whether two confessions in a month suffice?

"Response. To 1. Affirmative to the first part, that is, the prescribed confession must be made in every running period of seven days. Negative to the second part.

"To 2. Affirmative to the first part, that is, the prescribed confession must be made in every running period of fourteen days. Negative to the second part.

"And a report concerning all these matters having been made to Our Most Holy Lord Pope Leo XIII, His Holiness graciously approved the resolution of the Sacred Congregation." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 15 November 1878.

"For a fuller declaration of this matter, it is now asked:

"1. Whether a member of the Christian faithful who is accustomed to make confession each week and on a fixed day, for example, Saturday, satisfies the obligation of the prescribed confession?

"2. Whether a member of the Christian faithful who, in those places for which the indult is in force, is accustomed to make confession every other week and on a fixed day, for example, Saturday, satisfies the obligation of the prescribed confession?

"Response. To 1. Affirmative. - To 2. Affirmative." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 25 February 1886.

"1. Whether the Christian faithful who, according to the canon Omnes utriusque sexus, receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist during Paschal time can, through this Holy Communion, gain a plenary indulgence for the gaining of which Holy Communion is prescribed among the other conditions.

"2. Whether a priest celebrating Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary for an alms received can, through the Holy Communion received in the Sacrifice of the Mass, gain an indulgence to be applied either to himself or to the departed, if Holy Communion is prescribed for gaining it.

"Response. To 1. Affirmative, provided that the indulgence to be gained is not in the form of a Jubilee, for which alone a special confession and Communion are required; for this was sufficiently declared by Our Most Holy Lord Pope Gregory XVI through a Decree of this Sacred Congregation in a case from Munster, on 19 March 1841. To 2. Affirmative." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 10 May 1844.

"It has been established by custom that the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist is solemnly carried by pastors of souls to the habitually infirm and chronically ill faithful, who because of some permanent physical impediment are unable to leave their homes, only on certain principal feasts during the year; and therefore faithful of this kind are deprived of as many plenary indulgences as they would obtain if, after fulfilling the conditions enjoined, they could approach the Holy Eucharistic table more frequently. Therefore, very many pastors of souls and a great many other ecclesiastical men presented most humble petitions to Our Most Holy Lord Pope Pius IX that He might deign, from Apostolic benignity, to make provision concerning this. A faithful report concerning all these matters having been made to the same His Holiness by me, the undersigned Substitute of the Secretariat of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, in the audience held on 18 September 1862, His Holiness, providing for the spiritual welfare of the flock entrusted to Him, mercifully granted that the aforesaid Christian faithful, excepting, however, those who live in community, may acquire each and every plenary indulgence already granted or to be granted hereafter which they could otherwise acquire in the places where they live if they were not in that physical condition, and for the acquisition of which Holy Communion and the visitation of some church or public oratory in those places is prescribed, provided that, being truly penitent and having confessed, and having fulfilled all the other conditions, if any were enjoined, they faithfully perform, in place of Holy Communion and the visitation, other pious works to be enjoined by the respective confessor." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 18 September 1862.

"His Holiness assented that the sick or those worn out by old age who live in community and under a rule, and who cannot visit churches or oratories or perform other things prescribed for indulgences, can nevertheless gain the indulgences by fulfilling other pious works to be prescribed according to the judgment of the confessor." Leo XIII, 16 January 1886; A. S. S., vol. 18, p. 462.

"1. Whether several plenary indulgences can be gained on the same day when the reception of the divine Eucharist is prescribed for each one?

"2. Whether prayers already obligatory, for example, the canonical Hours, can satisfy for prayers prescribed by the Supreme Pontiff for gaining a plenary indulgence?

"3. Whether five Our Fathers and Hail Marys, which are customarily recited, suffice to fulfill the intention of the Supreme Pontiff when it is prescribed that a church or altar be visited and prayers be poured forth there, as, for example, is prescribed for gaining the plenary indulgence granted to associates in the Work of the Propagation of the Faith?

"4. Within which hours of that day or of the preceding day must the prayers prescribed by the Supreme Pontiff for gaining a plenary indulgence be recited?

"Response. To 1. Affirmative, provided, however, that the other conditions respectively imposed are observed. - To 2. Negative. - To 3. The prayers required in grants of indulgences for fulfilling the intention of the Supreme Pontiff are left to the choice of each member of the faithful, unless they are particularly designated. - To 4. Within the same time designated for the acquisition of the indulgences." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 29 May 1841, case from Saint-Brieuc.

"When prayer for a determined end, for example, for the extirpation of heresies, etc., is prescribed for gaining indulgences, is an explicit intention, expressed on each occasion, required?

"Response. Negative." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 22 February 1847.

"Our Most Holy Lord Pope Pius IX graciously declared that indulgences annexed to prayers are valid in whatever language they are recited, provided that the translations are faithful. But although fidelity of the translation is required for gaining the indulgence, nevertheless, in order that the fidelity of the translation may be established, the declaration of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences through the Most Eminent Prefect, or of one of the Ordinaries of the place where the language into which the prayer is translated is vernacular, suffices; an indulgence having been originally granted to the recitation of that prayer." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 29 December 1864.

"1. When, for gaining indulgences, whether plenary or partial, it is prescribed to pray according to the mind or intention of the Supreme Pontiff, does it suffice, as some teach, to pray mentally? And, insofar as the response is negative: 2. Is the opinion teaching that the most devout recitation even of one Our Father and Hail Mary with the Glory Be to the Father suffices to fulfill the condition of praying for the intention of the Supreme Pontiff to be rejected; or rather is the opinion of those who require the recitation of five Our Fathers and Hail Marys, or equivalent prayers, to be admitted?

"Response. To 1. It is indeed praiseworthy to pray mentally; nevertheless, some vocal prayer must always be joined to mental prayer. - To 2. Let the Decree in a case from Saint-Brieuc, under date of 29 May 1841, at doubt 3, be given." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 13 September 1881. Compare the beginning of this number above.

"Whether and how deaf-mutes can make up for the inability by which they are hindered from reciting prayers enjoined for acquiring indulgences?

"Response. His Holiness is to be petitioned for a general Decree to be published by this Sacred Congregation and confirmed by Apostolic authority, by force of which it is to be established: 1. That if among the works prescribed for gaining an indulgence is the visitation of some church, deaf-mutes are bound devoutly to visit that church, although they only raise their mind to God and have pious affections. - 2. That if public prayers are among the works, deaf-mutes can gain the indulgences annexed to them by being bodily joined to the other faithful praying in the same place, but likewise with the mind alone raised to God and with pious affections of heart. - 3. That if, finally, there is question of private prayers, the respective confessors of the mute and deaf can commute those prayers into other pious works manifested in some manner, as they shall have judged expedient in the Lord. - His Holiness not only approved the aforesaid judgment, but also commanded that a favor and grant of this kind, most lovingly bestowed, be published by a general Decree." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 15 March 1852.

"Although this Sacred Congregation placed over Indulgences and Sacred Relics, in order to supply for the inability by which deaf-mutes are hindered from reciting prayers enjoined for gaining indulgences, has already made provision through the General Decree of 16 February 1852, in which it decreed: 'That if there is question of private prayers, the respective confessors of the mute and deaf can commute those prayers into other pious works manifested in some manner, as they shall have judged expedient in the Lord'; nevertheless, the Bishop of Chambery, considering in his mind that deaf-mutes are now instructed by a more perfect method so that they may attain Indulgences more easily and with more abundant spiritual fruit, presented the following doubt to this Sacred Congregation for resolution:

"Whether it is expedient that deaf-mutes, without having recourse to their respective confessor in individual cases, be granted by a general Decree the favor of acquiring Indulgences by pouring forth the enjoined prayers in signs or mentally, or only by reading them without any pronunciation?

"Response. Affirmative; and His Holiness is to be petitioned for the favor, the general Decree of 16 February 1852 remaining in force.

"His Holiness approved the judgment of the Most Eminent Fathers and mercifully granted the requested favor." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 15 July 1902.

"1. Petitions: 1. That the condition of visiting a church, often prescribed generically for gaining indulgences, may be fulfilled by persons of either sex living in community and under a rule by visiting the domestic oratory.

"2. That the sick or those worn out by old age who live in community and under a rule, and who cannot visit churches or oratories or perform other things prescribed for indulgences, may nevertheless gain the indulgences by fulfilling other pious works to be designated according to the judgment of the confessor.

"3. That in a case in which some moral impediment, to be judged according to the decision of a prudent confessor, exists against visiting some church (for example, a church of regulars or a parish church) which by law would have to be visited in order to gain some indulgence, this visitation of the designated church may, according to the judgment of the confessor, be commuted into another pious work, for example, the visitation of another church.

"Response. To 1. Not expedient. - To 2. Affirmative. - To 3. Negative." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 16 January 1886. Cf. no. 1361, On Communion.

"Among the pious works which are customarily prescribed for gaining indulgences, the visitation of some church or even public chapel is especially to be numbered. Now, Pope Clement XIII, of happy memory, greatly desiring to provide for the spiritual good of the brothers and sisters of confraternities, sodalities, or congregations existing everywhere and erected by authority of the Ordinaries, had graciously granted, on 2 August 1760, that the brothers and sisters of those same associations who suffered from some bodily infirmity or were detained in prisons could enjoy each and every one of the same indulgences which the other brothers and sisters could enjoy, yet in such a way that, the visitation of the church being omitted, they faithfully and devoutly performed the other pious works enjoined which they could perform according to their strength; which favor the same Supreme Pontiff had commanded to be granted at the prayers of each confraternity, sodality, or congregation. But when, on 8 May 1874, the Most Eminent Fathers placed over the safeguarding of Indulgences and Sacred Relics, in a general Congregation held at the Vatican, after the doubt had been proposed: Whether recourse to the Apostolic See would still be required by each confraternity, sodality, or congregation so that their brothers and sisters might enjoy the Clementine Indult, adopted the affirmative judgment and at the same time judged that His Holiness should be petitioned that by a general Decree the aforesaid indult might be granted to the brothers and sisters of all confraternities, sodalities, or congregations without their special recourse, Pope Pius IX, on 25 February 1877, graciously granted the requested favor, but without any special mention being made of publishing a general Decree concerning it, as had been requested by this Sacred Congregation. From this, some judged that it would by no means be necessary for the individual confraternities, sodalities, or congregations to petition for this indult for themselves; but others, by no means acquiescing in this judgment, again proposed the doubt: Whether that grant (of the Clementine Indult) now actually avails for all confraternities, sodalities, or congregations without the special recourse to the Holy See which was formerly required. To this doubt the Most Eminent Fathers, in a general Congregation held at the Vatican Palace on 25 June of the current year, answered, in order to remove every reason for doubt: Affirmative, and His Holiness is to be petitioned for the promulgation of the Decree according to the resolution of the Sacred Congregation of 25 February 1877. Therefore, a report concerning all these matters having been made to Our Most Holy Lord Leo XIII on 16 July 1887, the same His Holiness graciously commanded it to be declared and decreed, as by the present Decree it is declared and decreed, that the aforementioned Clementine Indult is extended to all confraternities, sodalities, and congregations, without any confraternity, sodality, or congregation hereafter having need of special recourse to the Holy See in order to enjoy the aforesaid Indult. Anything whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding." Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 20 August 1887.

"Whether, unless something else is expressly contained in the Indults, the indulgences to be gained begin at midnight or rather at first Vespers? - Response. 'From midnight to midnight.'" Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 14 December 1877.

"On 12 January 1878 it was resolved by the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences that, unless something else is expressly contained in the Indults, the indulgences to be gained begin not at first Vespers but from midnight to midnight. Now, it is asked whether this is to be understood so strictly that even those indulgences to be gained on feasts do not begin except from midnight to midnight, if the clause from first Vespers is not added in their grants? - Response. The terms of the grant are to be observed." Sacred Congregation of Rites, 16 July 1887.