Chapter II: On Acquiring Indulgences

— Common conditions for gaining an indulgence. 1. A capable subject is every baptized person, not excommunicated, in the state of grace at least at the end of the prescribed works, if several are prescribed, and a subject of the one granting (c. 925, §1).

Yet, unless something else appears from the concession, travelers, vagi, and all exempt persons dwelling in the territory can gain episcopal indulgences; but subjects can gain them also outside the territory (c. 927).

2. To gain indulgences there is required at least a general intention of acquiring them, besides due execution of the enjoined works (c. 925, §2).

Although the safer opinion, to which Cardinal de Lugo, d. 27, n. 85, adheres, requires the state of grace even when the indulgence is applied to the dead, nevertheless this is not established. Others hold that it suffices that the prescribed work be done; and this having been posited, the Pontiff himself applies the indulgence to the dead. This is more likely when the indulgence can be obtained for the dead alone, as the indulgence totiens quotiens on the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed; but other indulgences, as is gathered from the words of c. 930, "No one acquiring indulgences can apply them to others living in this life," seem to be acquired before they are applied. But they cannot be acquired except in the state of grace. Again, however, c. 925, §1, expressly requires the state of grace only so that someone may gain indulgences for himself. Therefore the matter is not free from doubt.

It is controverted whether habitual intention, that is, intention once had and not retracted, but which now no longer moves to acts, suffices for gaining indulgence or not. Some deny that it suffices, since an indulgence is given so that we may be stirred up to the work; others affirm, since the Pontiff is not to be thought less liberal toward those who perform the work of their own accord than toward those who are moved by the stimulus of spiritual gain. And Lehmk., II, 675, thinks that an implicit habitual intention suffices (cf. Palm., t. V, n. 775-778; Beringer-Steinen, Die Ablasse, I, 80 ff.).

But they say that this is already had in the very profession of Christian life. And the general norm by which they think defects are supplied by the Church when it is a question of probable and practical opinions renders us practically more secure (cf. Palm., V, n. 778).

Yet the usage is to be commended of making in the morning the intention of gaining indulgences if any are annexed to works done; this entirely suffices. There is no reason why knowledge of the indulgence itself should be demanded.

But if the condition of the indulgence is a work furnished for a certain end, it is necessary that it truly be referred to that end.

There are some, for example Lehmk., II, 662, who judge that the value of a partial indulgence varies according to the disposition of him who fulfills the prescribed work, since the efficacy of the canonical penance, which the indulgence supplies, would also have been different according to the different fervor of the penitent. Yet against this conclusion it can be objected that the work which is the condition of the indulgence is not truly substituted in place of canonical penance.

— The work satisfying the condition of an indulgence: 1. cannot be a work which by another title, from law or precept, and therefore under sin, is owed, unless something else is expressly said in the concession itself. Yet by the same work someone can both satisfy sacramental penance and gain indulgences (c. 932).

And it already appears alien from the very mind of the Legislator that a spontaneous obligation taken up by vow should remove indulgences from the promised works. What is prescribed by a rule not obliging under sin remains useful for gaining indulgences;

2. when it is done, it must be useful for the end intended by the one granting. Thus the defect of venial vainglory will not prevent the condition from being satisfied by alms prescribed for a military expedition or for the building of a church (cf. Lugo, d. 27, n. 85); but by him who, while fasting, at the same time makes himself drunk, the end of placating God intended by the fast is frustrated (Laymann, L. 5, tr. 6, n. 4);

3. the work must be furnished by the one gaining himself, at least as by the principal cause. For in giving alms someone can use another as an instrument, or even, when advised, consent that alms be given in his name. This consent seems to suffice even if the giving is taken from goods which do not belong to the one gaining the indulgences.

4. the work must be fulfilled morally whole. Therefore a notable omission, though not that of a very small part, for example two or three Hail Marys in the Rosary, will impede the indulgences.

5. by one and the same work several indulgences cannot be obtained at the same time, unless something else is expressly provided, as it has been granted that one recitation of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary have force for the apostolic indulgences and those of the Crucifers; for the indulgences of the Most Holy Rosary and of the Crucifers (Rescript, June 12, 1907). Yet confession and Communion which are required for obtaining several indulgences do not have to be repeated (c. 933).

6. When several things are prescribed, of itself it matters little in what order the works are performed.

— The prescribed confession is to be made even by him who does not have mortal sins; but absolution is not necessary (Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, May 19, 1759, Decr. n. 214; May 6, 1852, D. n. 259). It is always usefully performed within the eight days which immediately precede the day to which the indulgence is annexed, or within its octave. And the confession which is prescribed for gaining indulgences for pious exercises drawn out over a triduum or week is usefully made also within the octave which immediately follows the completed exercise. Nor is actual confession required from those who a) are accustomed to confess at least twice in the month; or b) nearly daily, that is, five times in the week, receive the Holy Eucharist in grace and with a pious mind. Except the confession required for indulgences of an ordinary and extraordinary jubilee, or after the manner of a jubilee (c. 931).

— The prescribed Communion is always, even for the first Friday of the month, usefully received on the vigil of the day to which the indulgence is annexed, or within its octave; as also within the octave which immediately follows completed triduan or septenary, or octavary, exercises to which indulgences have been granted (c. 931). Except for the indulgence of a jubilee, Paschal Communion has force for gaining indulgences which demand Holy Communion (Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, May 10, 1844).

— The required visit to a church can be made from noon of the preceding day up to the midnight which closes the day to which the indulgence is affixed (c. 923).

This was already granted from June 26, 1911 (cf. Per., VI, p. 8).

Those faithful who, for the sake of striving for perfection, or because of instruction or education or even health, live a common life in houses established with the consent of the Ordinaries, lacking a church or public chapel, satisfy the condition of visiting a church or non-determined public oratory by visiting the chapel of the house in which they can satisfy by law the obligation of hearing Mass; and likewise all persons dwelling there for ministering to them (c. 929).

Therefore this privilege does not have force concerning the indulgence of the Portiuncula, August 2, since then a definite church must be visited; nor in hospital houses erected by lay authority without the intervention or consent of the Ordinary, although the chapel itself has been erected by the authority of the Ordinary; nor does it profit those detained in prison, since the cause of common life is different.

Cardinals, archbishops, bishops, even titular ones, and their households enjoy a similar privilege in the proper chapels of Cardinals, archbishops, or bishops.

But the notion of a public oratory is to be taken from the Code itself; and observe that the formal reason of the Code is no longer taken from access from a public way, but from the fact that all the faithful have, at least during divine offices, the legitimately approved right of approaching it (c. 1188).

Moreover, he visits a church who enters it piously, or with the intention of worshipping God. Formal prayers are not necessary for this. Thus he who goes into a church to confess, to decorate an altar, visits it. If entrance itself cannot be made, either because the door is closed or the crowd prevents it, most hold that it is enough that someone place himself piously at the doors (St. Alph., VI, 538, q. 10). This is more certain when someone joins himself to a crowd which as a whole is judged morally present in the church.

But visits are not multiplied except by going out or departing and by a new approach to the church.

The daily plenary indulgence which, either for a time or as perpetual, is available to those visiting some church or public oratory signifies an indulgence which individual faithful can acquire only once in the year, but on any day (c. 923, §1). It is called daily for the living and dead insofar as it is applicable to the dead. Yet the Basilica of St. Peter has been enriched with a perpetual indulgence after the manner of the Portiuncula.

— Prayers prescribed in general must be at least in part vocal; but any prayers can be chosen.

A definitely prescribed prayer can be recited in any language, "provided the fidelity of the version is established by the declaration either of the Penitentiary, or of one of the Ordinaries of the place where the language into which the prayer is translated is vernacular" (c. 934, §1).

Under the old law, only the condition of fidelity was demanded as essential (Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, Decr. auth., n. 415). Now the printed version must bear the testimony of the Sacred Penitentiary or of the competent Ordinary concerning the fidelity of the version. Yet we judge it enough that a manuscript version be faithful; for testimonies of this kind are not usually sought for such a version.

It is also enough to recite the prescribed prayer with a companion in alternate parts, or to follow it mentally while it is recited by another, for example an act of consecration (c. 934, §3).

But the mute gain indulgences annexed to public prayers if, together with the other faithful praying in the same place, they lift their mind and pious affections to God; but for private prayers it is enough that they recollect them in mind, or pour them forth by signs, or run through them with the eyes (c. 936).

And provision has also been made for the maimed, who cannot perform a bodily act sometimes prescribed together with recitation: it is enough that they pour forth prayers (from audience of His Holiness, October 22, 1917).

But any addition, subtraction, or interpolation takes away the indulgence (c. 934, §6).

This is understood quite severely. Thus the sung Litanies of the Blessed Virgin Mary in which the Kyrie eleison is recited only once, or in which individual Ora pro nobis do not respond to the individual titles enumerated, do not suffice for gaining indulgences (Sacred Penitentiary, July 21, 1919; A. A. S., XII [1920], p. 18).

But what about the custom of inserting, in the middle of the Hail Mary, a brief statement of the mystery to be meditated?

The Sacred Penitentiary, having been privately asked by an orator whether this custom could or could not be preserved and propagated, while the indulgences of the Most Holy Rosary remained intact, responded negatively on July 27, 1920. But then on January 22, 1921, it declared that the indult of 1859 had in no way been revoked, by which Pius IX, for places where the custom had already prevailed, had granted that the faithful reciting the Rosary in such a way could gain its indulgences. And besides, with the Penitentiary itself supplicating, Pope Benedict XV extended the indult in such a way that it profits all who, in any places whatsoever, have been accustomed to recite the Most Holy Rosary according to that custom (A. A. S., XIII [1921], p. 163).

But what, with the indult excluded, seems to have to be answered?

I think the matter must be defined from the mind of the one praying. He who, and this intention is to be presumed, wishes the Angelic Salutation itself to be whole and intact, and merely, after the middle part of the Angelic Salutation, to insert as it were a certain pause through which he recalls the mystery or part of the mystery, seems by this usage to generate no danger to the indulgences. Do they not, in the graver matter of Baptism, admit that Baptism conferred with these words has force: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and of the Blessed Virgin," provided the one baptizing does not wish to number the Blessed Virgin together with the Most Holy Trinity, but merely, after the form of the sacrament, to implore her aid so that she may as it were ratify the Baptism already conferred?

Observe also that the usage of naming the mystery after the word Jesus is to be traced back to Dominic of Prussia, Carthusian, who, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, first joined the mysteries to be meditated with the recitation of the Angelic Salutation, which at that time ended at the word Jesus (cf. Beringer-Steinen, I, 897).

The prayers to be recited are said by those who are at least contrite in heart, that is, who are in the state of grace and can obtain remission of punishments, because sufficient contrition has deleted the fault. The word at least excludes the necessity of recourse to the sacrament of Penance.

— The intention or mind of the Pontiff is the exaltation of the Holy Church, the extirpation of heresies, the propagation of the faith, the conversion of sinners, peace and concord among Christian princes. But it is enough that the one praying wish to offer prayers for the intention of the Supreme Pontiff or for gaining indulgences (Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, July 12, 1817).

But how much must one pray? The matter is not defined. Since the law does not demand except prayer (c. 934, §1), not a few judge that one Our Father suffices. Others object, however, that by so scant a prayer a defect of devotion is demonstrated, by which at least a plenary indulgence is impeded. It is plainly established that five Our Fathers and Hail Marys, or a prayer equivalent to this, suffice. Nor does it seem less certain that fewer prayers suffice if they are recited slowly and with great care⁽¹⁾ (cf. Beringer-Steinen, I, 130 ff.). Moreover any vocal prayer can be chosen, but only mental prayer does not suffice (c. 934, §1).

⁽¹⁾ Today the most common opinion is, and it is sufficiently gathered from the cited decrees, that recitation of five Our Fathers and Hail Marys, or an equivalent prayer, suffices for fulfilling the condition of praying for the intention of the Supreme Pontiff, and also that a shorter one can be enough if it is discharged more devoutly and fervently (cf. St. Alph., l. 6, n. 538; Mocchegiani, Coll. Indulg., 1897, n. 187).

— The general faculty of commuting the works enjoined into others for those who are prohibited from furnishing them by legitimate impediment is granted to confessors by canon 935. This commutation can be made even outside the tribunal of Penance by a confessor, that is, by a priest approved for confessions.

The things said seem to have force also concerning the indulgences of the Portiuncula.

Yet it is necessary that the object or cause of the indulgence be substantially preserved, with only the conditions changed. Thus use of a crucifix blessed for this purpose is substantial so that the Way of the Cross can be supplied; an indulgence granted because of frequent Communion necessarily supposes this Communion. But that which is annexed to feasts supposes only the feast.

— I. Common conditions. There is required: 1. a capable subject: every baptized man, not excommunicated, in the state of grace, unless perhaps he applies the indulgence to the dead, at least at the end of the prescribed works; a subject of the one granting. Yet in the territory of a bishop, of themselves all, even non-subjects, can gain episcopal indulgences;

2. at least a general intention, which several think is already contained in the profession of Christian life;

3. due execution of the enjoined works. Although others judge only the safer parts to be secure, Ballerini-Palmieri judge probable fulfillment of the conditions to suffice, since from the general canon the Church supplies defects.

II. On prescribed works. The work of itself cannot be one already owed from law or precept, except sacramental penance; it must be useful for the end intended by the one granting; it is to be furnished by the one gaining himself, as by at least the principal cause; and it must be fulfilled morally whole. By one and the same work, which can and is accustomed to be repeated, several indulgences cannot be acquired, unless something else is expressly provided. It does not matter in what order the works are done.

The prescribed confession is always usefully performed within the eight days which immediately precede the day to which the indulgence is annexed, or within its octave, as within the octave which immediately follows the completed triduan or septenary exercises. Nor, excepting an indulgence of jubilee or after the manner of a jubilee, is special confession demanded from those who are accustomed to confess at least twice in the month, or nearly daily to receive the Holy Eucharist with pious mind.

The prescribed Communion is always usefully made on the vigil of the day to which the indulgence is annexed or within its octave, as also within the octave which follows completed triduan or septenary or octavary exercises.

A visit to a church can be made from noon of the preceding day up to the midnight which closes the day to which the indulgence is affixed. Of itself the visit is to be made in a public oratory, but privileges and exceptions are had.

Prayers enjoined in general must in part be vocal. For the mute and the maimed special provision is made. If definite prayers are prescribed, any addition, subtraction, or interpolation takes away the indulgence.

The general faculty of commuting for the legitimately impeded the conditions of indulgences is granted to confessors.

III. Cessation of indulgences. A local indulgence ceases when the place has been destroyed. Yet it revives if the church within 50 years is built again in the same or almost the same place and under the same title. One granted to a group is extinguished with the group; but a moral person, after the members have died out, survives for one hundred years, and is judged to remain in one surviving member. Indulgences annexed to Rosaries or things cease if they altogether cease to be, or are sold, but not if they have passed to another gratuitously.