Chapter II. Conditions Required for Gaining Indulgences

THERE must always be a just cause for granting an indulgence, otherwise the grantor would not be a faithful dispenser of the mysteries of God, and he would fail in the trust committed to him by God. In practice, however, this does not concern the faithful to whom indulgences are granted; they may rest assured that there is always a just cause for the indulgences which the Church offers for their acceptance.

No one can gain an indulgence unless he is a member of the Catholic Church, and, moreover, he must have the requisite intention, he must be in the state of grace, and he must fulfil all the conditions prescribed for gaining the indulgence.

It is not necessary that the intention be actual; it is sufficient if it be virtual, so that there was the wish to gain the indulgence, and it continues to influence the actions whose performance is required for the purpose of gaining the indulgence. It will be sufficient to form an intention in the morning of gaining all the indulgences which may be annexed to any of the good works done during the following day. Some authorities hold that such a virtual intention is not necessary, but that an habitual, or even an interpretative intention, will suffice. An habitual intention is one which was formed and which has not been retracted, but which does not influence the performance of one’s actions any longer. An interpretative intention does not exist in reality, but it would be elicited if the agent thought of the matter. Inasmuch as an indulgence is a grant made by the Church to all who fulfil certain conditions, these authors maintain that all pious Catholics who value indulgences gain such as are annexed to their prayers and other good deeds without any special intention, ‘This opinion, however, though probable, is not certain, and so it is safer in practice to follow the other, which requires at least a virtual intention, especially as it is doubtful whether probabilism can be used in this matter. Canon 925, sec, 2, says that a general intention is requisite, which many interpret as signifying an habitual intention.

The person who gains an indulgence must also be in the state of grace, for one who is in mortal sin, at enmity with God, and liable to eternal punishment, is not a fit subject for the remission of temporal punishment due to his sins. The Church, too, requires that those who wish to gain the indulgences which she offers to her children should be contrite in heart, or, in other words, in the state of grace, recovered, if they had fallen, by means of sacramental confession, or at least by an act of perfect contrition. When several actions, such as visiting a church, prayer for the Pope, confession, etc., are prescribed for gaining an indulgence, it is not absolutely necessary that all such actions be performed while the agent is in the state of grace; it will be sufficient if the soul be in the state of grace when the last condition is fulfilled and when the indulgence is applied.

Finally, all the conditions laid down by him who granted the indulgence must be faithfully fulfilled by anyone who wishes to gain it. If the indulgence be annexed to the saying of a prayer, the prayer must be said with the lips; it is not sufficient to repeat it mentally. Deaf-mutes satisfy the condition by raising their minds to God in the place where public prayers are said by others (Can. 936), and if one of the conditions for gaining an indulgence is visiting a church and praying therein for the intentions of the Holy Father, they may fulfil this condition by visiting the church and praying mentally or reading the prayers from a book.

The ordinary conditions prescribed for gaining a plenary indulgence are: prayer for the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff, visit to a church, and confession and Holy Communion.

To satisfy the condition of prayer for the intentions of the Pope, any form of prayer which is not already of obligation will suffice. A priest, therefore, could not satisfy this condition by saying his breviary, to which he is already bound by the law of the Church, but it has been decided that when indulgenced prayers are prescribed by a confessor for sacramental penance, the penitent may say his penance and gain the indulgence at the same time. The length of prayer for the Pope’s intention is not ordinarily defined, but authors are agreed that five Our Fathers and five Hail Marys will suffice. The Pope’s intentions are: the common good of the Church, the propagation of the Faith, the conversion of sinners, heretics, and schismatics, and peace and concord among Christian peoples. To gain the indulgence it is not necessary to have these intentions distinctly in mind; it will be sufficient to pray for the Pope’s intentions in general.

The prayers may be said alone or with others alternately, and they may be said anywhere, unless it is specially prescribed that they are to be said while visiting the church.

Unless some special church is mentioned for the visit, any church or public oratory to which the public have free access may be selected. Semi-public oratories of religious and other communities will suffice (Can. 929), but private chapels will not suffice, unless by special indult.

Canon 931 specially provides that for the gaining of any indulgences whatever, when confession is required, it may be made within the eight days which immediately precede the day to which the indulgence is annexed, and the Communion may be made on the eve of the same day; and, moreover, both may also be made within the whole of the following octave, The faithful who are accustomed, unless they are lawfully prevented, to go to sacramental confession at least twice a month, or to receive Holy Communion daily with a right intention and piously, in the state of grace, though they may abstain from it once or twice in the week, can gain all indulgences, even without actual confession, which otherwise would be necessary to gain them, except the indulgences of an ordinary or extraordinary jubilee or one granted after the manner (ad instar) of a jubilee.

If a visit to a church or oratory is required for gaining an indulgence annexed to a certain day, the visit may be made at any time between midday on the previous day and midnight which terminates the day itself (Can. 923).

Canon 935 grants power to confessors to commute the good works enjoined for gaining indulgences into other good works in favour of those who are hindered from fulfilling them by any lawful impediment.

The conditions enjoined may be fulfilled in any order.

According to the general rule, an indulgence can only be gained once on the day designated, but not infrequently an indulgence is granted toties quoties, and then it may be gained as often as the conditions are fulfilled. In this case if confession and Communion, or in general any good work which is not capable of being repeated on the same day, be among the conditions prescribed, such conditions are only fulfilled once, and the others are repeated as often as it is desired to gain the indulgence. When several indulgences are attached to the same action, and this cannot be repeated, as is the case with Holy Communion, all the indulgences may be gained by the one action. If, however, the action enriched by several sets of indulgences be capable of being repeated on the same day, such as saying the rosary, as a general rule only one set - of indulgences determined by him who wishes to gain them can be gained by performing the action once. Pius X, however, by a decree dated June 12, 1907, made an exception to this rule in favour of rosaries enriched with the Croisiers’ indulgences, which may now be gained in reciting the rosary cumulatively, together with other indulgences already granted to the same rosaries.

It must frequently happen that plenary indulgences cannot be gained in full on account of some obstacle in the way, such as unforgiven venial sin. In such a case Canon 926 makes it clear that according to the intention of the Church the indulgence takes its effect as far as possible, and becomes in fact a partial indulgence.

Almost all indulgences are now applicable to the souls in purgatory (Can. 930). In order that they may be applied to them in fact, the person who fulfils the conditions should form his intention of offering them to God for the benefit of certain souls, or for the benefit of the souls in purgatory in general. It is a controverted point among the theologians whether such application is infallible in its effect or not. The difficulty is about the divine promise to accept such offerings, some theologians holding that such a promise is implicitly contained in the words of our Lord: “ Whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven ”’; others denying this. The negative opinion seems to be more in accordance with the mind and practice of the Church.

Similarly, it is a disputed question among theologians whether one who gains an indulgence for the souls in purgatory must himself be in the state of grace. Many hold that he must be, as he must gain the indulgence himself before he can apply it to the holy souls. Others do not see the necessity of this, for such a one only fulfils the conditions, and on the fulfilment of these the Church offers to God the corresponding satisfactions. Both opinions are probable, but the former is safer in practice.

Objects to be indulgenced should be solid and not easily breakable. Hence pictures on paper, and hollow glass beads, may not be indulgenced; but beads made of solid glass, or of iron, or wood, may be.

Objects do not lose their indulgences as long as they remain morally the same. In a rosary the indulgences are attached to the beads, not to the string, so that even though the string be changed, or a few beads be lost and others substituted for them, the indulgences are not lost. When a crucifix is indulgenced, the indulgence is atta ched to the image, not to the cross. To prevent the danger of simony, indulgences attached to a movable object are lost if it is sold, or if it is completely destroyed (Can. 924, Sec, 2),