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General Absolution with a Plenary Indulgence
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Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology
Vol. II, Bk. III, Tr. V, Diss. II, Appendix. On Indulgences, Pt. II, Section V. On General Absolution with a Plenary Indulgence
I. Notion. The absolution of which there is question consists in a deprecatory absolution from the punishments of sin, which on certain days is granted to the three Orders of certain religious families; to this absolution is attached a plenary indulgence, applicable also to the departed.
II. Granting of the absolution.
- Publicly, that is, outside confession, whether to one or to several, it can be granted: to Religious of the First Order by their own Superior or his delegate; to Nuns of the Second Order and Tertiaries with simple vows, by the confessor of the monastery or another delegated1 by the Bishop;2 to secular Tertiaries by the director of the confraternity, and if he for any reason is absent, by anyone approved for confessions.3
Privately, or in confession, it can be granted by any confessor;4 nor, if the penitent is in the state of grace, is it required that confession and sacramental absolution have preceded, but it is enough that it be granted in the confessional.5
The absolution is of itself to be granted on the very day to which it is attached, namely from midnight to midnight; but Leo XIII declared that any Tertiary "can become a participant in the general absolution on the day before the day on which it is listed in the Index of indulgences of the same Third Order as to be bestowed, yet not publicly, but only privately, namely after completed sacramental confession," or at least in the confessional, as seems able to be added according to what was said above.6
The formula of absolution to be used is found in the Roman Ritual (edition of 1925), namely:
a) The Formula of General Absolution for Regulars of any Order enjoying this privilege (p. 276).
b) The Formula of Blessing with a plenary indulgence for Secular Tertiaries, and for all others having communication of privileges and graces with them, or with Regulars of any Order (p. 278).
c) "If this indulgence is imparted immediately after sacramental absolution, the rest being omitted, the Priest should begin absolutely from the words: 'Our Lord Jesus Christ,' etc., and so continue to the end, with only the plural number changed into the singular" (p. 279). Indeed in the case this formula suffices: By the authority granted to me by the Supreme Pontiffs, I impart to you a plenary indulgence of all your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.7 (p. 505).
1 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, February 11, 1903.
2 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, May 27, 1903.
3 Holy Office, section on indulgences, December 15, 1910.
4 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, June 10, 1886; January 30, 1896, to I.
5 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, July 21, 1881.
6 To the Orders of St. Francis these indults were furthermore granted: 1. Friars and Nuns, by decree of August 26, 1895, can receive the absolution on the vigil, or the day preceding those feasts to which it is granted. Indeed, by a privilege granted by Pius X to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and thence transferred to the other two families of the First Order, religious who are detained by a lawful impediment, to be recognized by the Superior, so that they cannot receive the General Absolution on the assigned day, are able to receive it on one of the seven days immediately following the assigned feast (Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, December 14, 1904). 2. Nuns of the Second Order impeded by illness can receive the same absolution on a day within the octave, when their own confessor enters the enclosure to hear the confessions of the sick sisters (Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, May 21, 1882). 3. For Tertiaries the Supreme Pontiff granted on January 16, 1886, that if on working days, or days which are not of precept, they are lawfully impeded from being able to receive the said absolution, they can receive it on some feast of precept (even on Sunday) which occurs within the octave of the working days (Stein, Tractatus de indulgentiis lucrandis, p. 60).
7 Cf. Sacred Congregation of Rites, March 22, 1905.
III. Acquisition of the indulgence. In order that the indulgence be acquired, confession, communion, and the assigned prayers are required.
Bucceroni, Moral Enchiridion
Bucceroni, Moral Enchiridion, On Indulgences in Particular
Formula of Blessing with Plenary Indulgence for Secular Tertiaries of St. Francis and of Other Orders
"If this Indulgence is imparted immediately after sacramental absolution, the rest being omitted, the Priest is to say absolutely:
May Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave to blessed Peter the Apostle the power of binding and loosing, absolve you from every bond of offenses, that you may have eternal life and live forever and ever. Amen.
By the most sacred Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by the prayers and merits of the Most Blessed ever Virgin Mary, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, of our Blessed Father N., and of all the Saints, by the authority committed to me by the Supreme Pontiffs, I impart to you a plenary indulgence of all your sins. In the name of the Father + and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." Decr. Authent., n. 444.