A Soul (or two) a Day! Easy Plenary Indulgences for November!!!

"It is God's will that here below souls shall distribute to one another by prayer the heavenly treasures with which He has enriched them. And this in order that, when they reach their everlasting Home, they may love one another with grateful hearts and with an affection far beyond that which reigns in the most perfect family circle upon earth."  - St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face

Welcome to November and the Octave of All the Saints!

In particular, welcome to All Souls Day and the Easiest Plenary Indulgence for a Poor Soul ever known to man!

Simply by going to Mass today (Sunday, All Souls Day), we will each already be most of the way to gaining a plenary indulgence for the Holy Souls:

1. At Mass, during Mass, we recite the Creed and the Our Father: and saying these in church on November 2, All Souls day, (today!), gains the plenary indulgence for a Poor Soul!
 
2. By receiving Holy Communion at Mass, we fulfill one of the "usual conditions" for the plenary indulgence.
 
3. All that's left are the other "usual conditions" :
 
 - Say an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be (or another prayer) for the Holy Father's intention
 - Go to confession or have gone to confession within 20 days
 - Be detached from sin (for this one you might say an Act of Contrition and really mean it :), or ask Our Lady and the Holy Spirit, "Please help me to be detached from sin so that I may gain this plenary indulgence for a Poor Soul!")
 
Then, also, during this whole Octave of All Saints, (November 1-8) the Church gives us a special opportunity to gain indulgences for the departed.

A plenary or full indulgence, applicable only to the souls in Purgatory, is granted to the faithful who:

1. On any and each day from November 1 to 8, devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, if only mentally, for the departed; or

2. On All Souls’ Day, devoutly visit a church or oratory and recite an Our Father and Creed.

It is also necessary to fulfill the following conditions for the plenary indulgence:

1. Make a sacramental confession within 20 days before or after the indulgenced act (one confession can apply to many indulgences); and

2. Receive Holy Communion (one Holy Communion required for each plenary indulgence); and

3. Pray for the intention of the Holy Father (no particular prayers are prescribed for the intention of the Holy Father, an Our Father and a Hail Mary are appropriate, and adding a Glory Be is a common practice).

4. Be detached from all sin (do not let this intimidate you. On this side of Heaven we will most likely feel inclinations and temptations and attractions to sin, but that does not mean you are "attached." Also you can ask the Holy Spirit, "Please grant me the detachment from all sin needed to gain this indulgence for a soul in purgatory." As Our Lord says, if you ask your father for bread, he will not give you a stone. And if our Holy Mother Church offers a plenary indulgence, she won't snatch it back).

Gaining a plenary indulgence for a poor soul in purgatory means you launch that soul out of purgatory and into Heaven! How privileged all Catholics are to have this opportunity: the joy of the Mystical Body of Christ which extends through space and time from earth to Heaven and over all the ages. We can even offer these for those who have died long ago in history – or family and friends who have died in more recent times . . .

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In other indulgence news:

In this Jubilee Year of Hope, the Church is indulging us with the extremely rare opportunity of gaining 2 plenary indulgences on any day for the Holy Souls in Purgatory!

Typically, normally, usually, always, you can gain only one plenary indulgence a day, for yourself or a soul in purgatory, except on the day of your death, on which day you can gain two. I think this is so that if you have already offered a plenary indulgence for a holy soul on that momentous day of your death, Holy Mother Church gives you the chance to gain one for yourself too, particularly at the hour of death. Also, perhaps she wants to be sure that in case you gained a plenary indulgence and then fell into serious sin, or even committed small sins after the first plenary indulgence and before the moment of your death, you can gain one more, to free you from all punishment due to sin, at the very moment of death.

In order to gain 2 plenary indulgences in one day for the Holy Souls in this Jubilee Year, you are required to go to 2 Masses and receive Holy Communion at both (this is allowed in canon law any day, always), and you must perform 2 indulgenced acts - one for each indulgence. This is kind of a crazy program for a day, but just thought I’d let you know 😊

As to every day in November and beyond . . .

There are 4 "daily plenary indulgences" (not dependent on a particular feast or season in the Church) you can gain any day of the year:

1. Saying a 5 decade rosary (while meditating on the mysteries) either: 
in a church, or in a family, or in a religious organization/group

2. Adoring (praying before) the Blessed Sacrament for half an hour (before the tabernacle or before the exposed host)

3. Making the Stations of the Cross in a church

4. Reading Sacred Scripture for half an hour

(All of these require also the usual 4 conditions mentioned above: Holy Communion, Confession within 20 days, prayers for the Holy Father's intentions, and detachment from sin.)

I don't mean to make this sound as complicated, and I don't want to make anyone scrupulous...Please think of these indulgences as they really are:

Gifts that Our Lord wants so much to give to us and the Holy Souls so that He will cement our friendship with them and let us, by our "suffrage" (prayers for the dead), unite with Him to send beloved souls (He loves them infinitely!) straight into His eternal and infinitely loving Presence.

As November continues (past the Octave that begins it with its special plenary indulgences November 1 - 8), you can continue to gain plenary indulgences for the Holy Souls by performing one of the acts mentioned above as "daily plenary indulgences."

Also...
A partial indulgence, applicable only to the souls in Purgatory, is granted to the faithful who:

1. Devoutly visit a cemetery and at least mentally pray for the dead; or

2. Devoutly recite lauds and vespers from the Office for the Dead or the prayer:
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord and let the perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.

I have recently heard several times that the Holy Souls, although they can't pray for themselves, can pray for us. Be sure to commend your special needs and intentions to them too! I'm sure that at this time when we have so many interesting opportunities to pray for them and free them from suffering, they will be more than happy to return the favor! May their guardian angels and ours help us in this thrilling task!

As our sister St. Therese tells us: "In Heaven there will be no looks of indifference, because all the Saints owe so much to one another." 

Even now there are many already There who are grateful for our prayers, and many on their way whom we can launch into Jesus' loving arms today!

Draw me; we will run!!!

P.S. If you are reading this after you have gone to your Sunday (All Souls Day) Mass, and you didn't know about the indulgence then, well no worries! God is out of time! Let's ask Our Blessed Mother:

Dear Mary, today and every day help us to gain every merit and indulgence we can so that you may apply them to the interests of Our Lord's most Sacred Heart . . . and today, let that be our Plenary Indulgence for a Poor Soul, thanks to our Creed and Our Father in the Holy Mass of All Souls Day!

God willing, you received Him in Holy Communion.
Now say an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for the Holy Father's intentions,
and get yourself to confession in the next 20 days if you haven't gone in the last 20 days!
And . . . do you hear it? . . . Whooooooooosh and Aaaaaaaaah.......Another Poor Soul in Jesus' sweet embrace!