Plenary Indulgence: The Get Out of Jail Free Card

I don’t know about you, but if I have my druthers, when I die, I’d like “a pass” on the intense, purifying fires of Purgatory if I can help it.  I prefer to skip the unpleasantries of suffering or delay or separation from complete union with God and all the Church Triumphant, going straight on to the joys of heaven!  

Of course, there are consequences to all tough decisions.  Reparation has to happen.  I’ve either got to face it here or there, which means I will have to “step up the suffering” in this mortal coil if I want to skip it after.  As my saintly Mom taught by extreme example, she requested and did her Purgatory here on earth; she battled ten years of terminal cancer.  She strapped that motherlode of incredible, star-spangled suffering on her emaciated shoulders and atoned.  While that’s a true saint’s journey, I’m all about finding an easy road and taking it (well, only if it’s leading to Paradise at the end of the trail). 

Now this philosophy might appear to be at odds with reality.  After all, we, as Catholics know there will be no Beatific Vision (getting to actually see God) if we are not made perfect.  We must be cleansed of all those residual attachments to our sinful nature, and that, my friends, is never a comfortable experience.  No matter how much we humans try to avoid that cross, Jesus Himself told us, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) So, how does one reconcile such opposing realities: the need for a miserable soul’s purification with the desire for “taking a pass”?    

Enter Plenary Indulgence.  As stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1471)

“An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.”  The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.

Ah, like manna from on high.  And another beautiful bonus is I can share the joy!  I can rack up those plenary points and give them to one of my dearly departed still languishing within the Church Suffering.  There are also some extra bonus opportunities given by Pope Francis during this year of St. Joseph.  I will briefly outline the conditions for acquiring indulgences each day, but I encourage you to look for yourself. There are many other practices you can do that qualify. Just go to EWTN.com and type in “Plenary Indulgence” or “Year of St. Joseph Plenary Indulgence” in the search bar, and get going, Church Militant! 

• You can only gain one Plenary Indulgence per day, for you or some one who has died.
• You must be in a state of grace.
• You must have a disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin. (Um.  Now this is tough to process to be honest.  Like, how do I know if I’m truly detached from my attachments?  That kind of stuff can make my head explode.  Just saying.)
• Make a good confession within about twenty days before or after. (This will be good for several plenary indulgence acquisitions.)
• Receive Communion. (Be a regular at morning Mass and rack up the plenary points every day!)
• Pray for the Pope’s intentions. (You’ve got to do that each time, too.  An Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be are a great addition to the end of your daily rosary.)

I talked to the Holy Spirit and asked Him to help me compose the following little prayer.  I wanted to address all the items each day in my mission to offer a plenary indulgence for someone.  I was naming specific people (which I sometimes still do) but then I figured, God knows better than I which one of my “dear ones” (those who I loved so dearly on earth) has done their time and can enter Heaven.  So, I have left the decision making up to Him. 

Maybe use this prayer as your template; tweak it to make it your own special offering.  It is such an excellent way to practice an important spiritual work of mercy.  Let’s hear it for plenary indulgences, our continual “get out of jail free” card!  Don’t waste one bit of the abundance of grace and mercy Jesus wants to give His Church!

My God, and my All-

In Your wonderful Mercy You have allowed

the opportunity today for me to offer a plenary

indulgence for a holy soul within the Church

Suffering.  I thank You and with a full and

grateful heart I give You the sacrament of my

heartfelt confession, my time in prayer today

filtered through the Immaculate Heart of

Mary, my mother.  I unite my prayers with all

the Church Militant- those who cry out for help,

for the conversion of poor sinners, and in

particular do I pray for the intentions of the Holy

Father that are in accord with Your most Holy Will. 

But most important, I offer my Jesus in the

Holy Eucharist that I received in Mass today. 

I praise You!  I thank You for all the blessings of

the Catholic Church and offer them all, thus united,

for the deliverance from Purgatory this very

day to the soul I held dear here on earth and who

You, in Your Wisdom and great Mercy, deem

ready to enter Paradise. 

   Oh, Holy Soul!  Pray for me and all those remaining

dear ones- that one day we might join you with the

Church Triumphant, to sing the praises of the Sacred

Trinity forever in Heaven.

Amen.