Indulgences

Indulgences for the deceased

“Let all set great store by indulgences”
(the Church in the Code of Canon Law)

“To become a saint, all you have to do is earn as many indulgences as possible”
(St Alphonse de Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

The Church invites us to make a great deal of the indulgences which she attaches to certain prayers or good works and by which the penalty due to sin is remitted to us. It is of faith, in fact, that once the sin is forgiven, it can remain to satisfy divine justice by some temporal penalty, and that, possessing the treasure of the infinite merits of Jesus Christ and the superabundant merits of the Blessed Virgin, the Church has the power to apply them to ourselves in this life or, by way of suffrage, to the souls of the deceased who suffer in Purgatory.

Reminders of the usual conditions for the Plenary Indulgence applicable for oneself or for the deceased:

• To do the work prescribed, with the intention (at least usual and general) of gaining indulgence.
• Confession (even in the week before or after the prescribed work) and Communion (the day before or the week after the prescribed work).
• If a visit to a church is requested, it can be done from the day before from noon.
• Make any vocal prayer according to the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff, that is to say of the Holy Church which are the following: exaltation of the Faith, extirpation of heresies, conversion of sinners, peace between Christian princes
• to be in a state of grace

I – Indulgences that can be done throughout the year:

• Requiem æternam etc…: 300 days each time
• Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem sempiternam 300 days each time
• Matins and Lauds of the Office of the Dead: 7 years, Plenary if 30 consecutive days. Under the usual conditions
• A Nocturne and Lauds of the Office of the Dead: 5 years
• Vespers of the Office of the Dead: 5 years
• De profundis: 3 years [5 during November]
• Pater – Ave – Requiem: 3 years
• Misery: 3 years
• Dies Irae: 3 years
• Visiting a cemetery associated with any prayer, even mental, for the deceased: 7 years
• Recitation of any prayer or exercise of piety for the deceased with the intention of continuing for 7 or 9 days: 3 years, once a day. Plenary under the usual conditions if recited during the 7 or 9 consecutive days.

II- Indulgences specific to the whole month of November:

Any prayer or exercise of piety for the deceased: 3 years 1 time per day; plenary if every day of the month (under the usual conditions).

III- Exceptional indulgences for the first days of November:

• During the Octave of the Commemoration of the faithful deceased (from November 2 to 9), plenary indulgence for the visit of a cemetery by reciting any prayer, even mental, for the deceased: once a day, under the usual conditions.
• November 2 or the following Sunday (therefore in the Octave, or one or the other): plenary indulgence for the visit of a church or public oratory by reciting 6 Pater, Ave and Gloria. You can win the plenary indulgence as many times as you do (toties quoties). According to canon 923, these indulgences can also be earned the day before from noon (from 12 noon on All Saints’ Day or from 12 noon the following Saturday).

IV- Those who performed the heroic Act of Charity in favor of the souls in Purgatory can win a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions:

all year round at each communion in a church or public oratory, every Monday for attendance at a Mass in favor of the souls in Purgatory (if this is impossible, the following Sunday).

For priests who have performed the heroic act of charity: privileged altar.

Concessions:

According to canon law, the confessor can commute (change) the conditions for obtaining indulgences, which are not realizable.

For example, a cemetery is desecrated by the burial or cremation of a pagan, heretic, schismatic, freemason or public sinner. Churches and chapels have been desecrated by heretical and/or schismatic worship or events.

Neither the priests nor the bishops speak of it any more. TERRIBLE ! Wake them up!!! They send their faithfull to desecrated (and therefore invalid) cemeteries, churches and chapels to earn indulgences. Since the conditions are no longer met (visiting CATHOLIC cemeteries, churches/chapels), the indulgence is also invalid. Because to deserve indulgence, you have to meet the conditions. Miserere Domine, miserere nostri!

Code of Canon Law nr 935: “Confessors can change the pious works imposed to gain indulgences, in favor of those who are legitimately prevented from accomplishing them. »

So for all those who confess to your servant (Father Eric Jacqmin) I change the following conditions:

• Communion on the day is switched to Spiritual Communion
• the confession 8 days before or after is commuted by an examination of conscience and an act of contrition
• the visit to a Catholic cemetery (which no longer exists because of the desacralizations of our cemeteries) is commuted by a visit to a manifestly Catholic tomb (where there is a cross on it)
• the visit to a chapel or church (which are practically all novus ordo and therefore desacralized) is commuted to the visit to a chapel or church where there is no longer or no liturgy at all (e.g. small chapels dedicated to Saints). If this is impossible then a visit is enough to a small oratory in your house or a room where you usually pray, a dwelling, in any case where there is a crucifix (but not a bedroom!).
• the way of the cross in a church is switched to the way of the cross prayed at home with a crucifix (wooden by preference)
• the rosary in front of the tabernacle is switched to the rosary in front of a statue of the Blessed Virgin, recognized by the Church (therefore no statues of unrecognized private revelations) and thinking of a tabernacle where the Host validly licitly consecrated is kept respectfully.

If there are any further questions, please call me.

Have a good devotion !

N.B. Here I give you de OCR of the scan of the master piece about this matter :

Traité de Droit Canonique, TREATISE ON CANON LAW,
PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF DR. RAOUL NAZ

SECOND VOLUME, BOOK III, CAN. 726-1153

CHAPTER V
THE INDULGENCES
(CAN. 911-936)

BIBLIOGRAPHY. F. Beringer, Les indulgences, leur nature, leur usage, 4th French ed., 2 vols., Paris, 1925, with a supplement published in 1932. – N. Paulus, Geschichte des Ablasses im Mittelalter, 3 vols., Paderborn, 1922-1923.

I. – CONCESSION.

203. Principles. – CAN. 911. All shall hold indulgences in great esteem, that is, the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven as to guilt, which the ecclesiastical authority grants from the treasury of the Church, to the living in the form of absolution, to the dead in the form of suffrage.
     The remission of faults committed after baptism does not necessarily entail the remission of the temporal punishments due for these sins. Temporal punishments inflicted by God, notably in purgatory after death, which the Church endeavored to mitigate by imposing on the faithful during their lifetime a penance, public or private, to be performed before or after sacramental absolution.
     In the West, the development of private penance gradually leads to the redemption of the latter by alms or simple prayers; in the 11th century, remissions valid for all the faithful appear upon the performance of a determined pious work. This is what is called indulgences properly so called. These are at first partial, that is, extend only to a part of the penance imposed in confession; then they also become plenary, that is, extend to this penance incurred for all the sins confessed in a perfect and true confession, as Urban II expresses it in granting it to those who participate in the first crusade to the Holy Land. It is manifest that in the pontiff’s idea the remission of the temporal punishment is equally valid in the eyes of God, and it was admitted that even the partial indulgence expressed for a determined duration of ecclesiastical penance also entailed a corresponding remission, impossible to specify in time, before God. – The texts concerning indulgences are found in book V of the collections of Decretals, under the title De poenitentiis et remissionibus.
     The plenary indulgence was at first reserved to participants in the crusade; at the Lateran Council of 1215, Innocent III extended it to those who contributed to the success of the crusade and to those who fought heretics¹. The first plenary indulgence that could be gained by visiting a church was that of the Portiuncula²; another was granted by Celestine V in 1294, but revoked the following year by Boniface VIII. The latter pope instituted in 1300 the plenary indulgence called the jubilee, to be gained every hundred years³; this period was reduced to fifty years by Clement VI in 1343⁴, then to thirty-three years by Urban VI in 1389, finally to twenty-five years by Paul II in 1470.

The abuses in the matter of indulgences led to an overly general reprobation of the institution itself by Wicleff, Huss⁵, Luther⁶ and the Protestants. The Council of Trent proclaimed the Church’s right to confer indulgences⁷.
Can. 911 borrows some terms of its definition of indulgence from the bull of 1343 on the jubilee. It then distinguishes, in terms already used by Benedict XIV⁸, between application to the living and that to the dead: the first authentic document concerning this latter modality dates from 1457; the indulgence can be gained for the intention of the deceased only in the form of suffrage, that is, with the hope that God will apply it to them⁹.

204. Ordinary grantors of indulgences. – 1° Their powers. – CAN. 912. Apart from the Sovereign Pontiff, to whom Christ committed the dispensation of the entire spiritual treasury of the Church, only those to whom the law expressly concedes it can grant indulgences by virtue of their ordinary power.
     From the 11th century, only popes granted plenary indulgences, while bishops contented themselves with conceding partial indulgences¹⁰; the Lateran Council of 1215 forbade the latter to grant more than one year of indulgence for a church dedication, more than forty days for the anniversary of the same or in any other circumstance¹¹. The concession of indulgences on the occasion of a church dedication was extended to the consecration of a fixed altar without church dedication. But outside these cases, titular bishops had no right to grant indulgences¹². A decree of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of August 28, 1903¹³ raised the number of days of indulgence that could be given in any circumstance: fifty days by residential bishops in their territory; one hundred days by patriarchs in their entire jurisdiction; two hundred days by cardinals.

The Code took up this provision (can. 239, § 1, 24°; 274, 2°; 349, § 2, 2°), but since then, a decree of the S. Penitentiary of July 20, 1942¹⁴ raised these figures to one hundred, two hundred and three hundred days. Abbots and prelates nullius (can. 215, § 2; 323, § 1), apostolic vicars and prefects (can. 294, § 1), permanent apostolic administrators (can. 315, § 1) have the indulgence faculties of residential bishops. These powers are ordinary, granted by the law by virtue of the office exercised (can. 197, § 1). They are acquired upon taking possession of the same, independently of a sacred order to be received.
The Holy See has several times risen against the concession of plenary indulgences by Eastern patriarchs, without its indult¹⁵.

205. – 2° Limits of their powers. – CAN. 913. Those inferior to the Sovereign Pontiff cannot:
     1° delegate to others the faculty of granting indulgences, unless the Holy See has expressly permitted it to them;
     2° grant indulgences applicable to the deceased;
     3° add to the same thing, the same act of piety, the same confraternity, to which indulgences have already been granted by the Holy See or by someone else, new indulgences, unless new conditions to be fulfilled are prescribed.
     An ordinary power can generally be delegated, except in cases expressly provided by the law: delegation, by grantors inferior to the Sovereign Pontiff, of the power to grant indulgences constitutes one of these exceptions. Before the Code, it was debated whether indulgences granted by them were applicable to the deceased; can. 913, 2° settles the debate in the negative. Can. 913, 3° transforms into a general rule particular decisions issued by the S. Congr. of Indulgences¹⁶.
206. Two forms of plenary indulgence. – Concessions of plenary indulgences can only be made by the Holy See or by virtue of a delegation from it. The Code studies two forms in cann. 914-918; the first three canons concern a delegation properly so called (another is found in can. 468, § 2).

1° The papal blessing.

Boniface VIII attached an indulgence of one hundred days to the papal blessing, Urban VIII a plenary indulgence¹⁷. Moreover, popes delegated to others the right to give this blessing in their name. Benedict XIV, in a Constitution of March 19, 1748¹⁸, prescribed the rite to be followed for this purpose by regulars in their churches. Clement XIII, by Constitution of September 3, 1762¹⁹, abolished all delegations granted on a personal basis, but conceded a new privilege to heads of ecclesiastical circumscriptions: those having episcopal dignity may give the papal blessing, at the end of solemn Mass, on Easter and on another solemn feast of their choice; those having only the use of pontificals may do so only on one of the days when this use is permitted to them. The same pope moreover indicates the formula to be observed and forbids regulars to use their privilege on days when heads of ecclesiastical circumscriptions exercise theirs.
CAN. 914. Bishops in their diocese may grant the papal blessing with plenary indulgence, according to the prescribed formula, twice a year, that is, on the solemn day of Easter and on another solemn feast to be designated by them, even if they only assist at solemn Mass; abbots and prelates nullius, apostolic vicars and prefects, even if they do not have episcopal dignity, may do so in their territory only one solemn day a year.

The S. Congr. of Rites recalled on several occasions that the formula prescribed by Clement XIII must be observed²⁰; but, whereas normally prelates had to sing solemn Mass themselves, it permitted some to have it celebrated by others, contenting themselves with personally assisting at it²¹. This tolerance is general by virtue of can. 914. The S. Penitentiary declared, on April 25, 1922, that the power granted by can. 914 could not be delegated. The Code Interpretation Commission replied, on February 17, 1930²², that the prelate, finding himself at the head of several territories and unable to grant the papal blessing except in one of them on Easter day, had no right, for the other territory, to transfer it on his own authority.
Finally, the decree of the S. Penitentiary of July 20, 1942, increasing the number of days of indulgence that heads of ecclesiastical territories can grant (can. 912) moreover permitted abbots and prelates nullius, apostolic vicars and prefects, to henceforth give the papal blessing twice a year, as bishops could until then; it conceded to the latter to do so three times a year, that is, on two days of their choice. It does not specify more than before what these days must be: some authors require a feast of obligation; others content themselves with an occasion, for ex. a pilgrimage, where attendance at Mass is at least equal to that of a day of obligation.
CAN. 915. Regulars, who have the privilege of granting the papal blessing, are not only bound by the obligation to use the prescribed formula, but they can use this privilege only in their churches, in those of nuns or tertiaries legitimately aggregated to their order; this, not on the same day nor in the same place as the bishop.
Following various questions posed to the S. Congr. of Indulgences²³, Leo XIII, in his Constitution of July 7, 1882²⁴, carefully distinguishes the papal blessing that regulars can give in their churches twice a year, following the rite prescribed by Benedict XIV, from the general absolution with plenary indulgence conferred on members or tertiaries of their order, on the eve of the principal feasts, and for which he promulgates two new formulas²⁵. Attenuating the rule of Clement XIII, he adds that regulars cannot give the papal blessing properly so called on the same day as the bishop, if it is in the same place as him. Can. 915 takes up this discipline: by bishop, understand any head of ecclesiastical circumscription; by place, the city or town where he pontificates that day. In 1754²⁶, the S. Congr. of Indulgences had specified that regulars could give the papal blessing only in the churches of their convents; can. 915 adopts a broader tolerance. And, concerning tertiaries, the S. Office decreed, in 1910, that any priest having jurisdiction to confess could give them the papal blessing in default of a priest of the order²⁷, and, in 1914, that regular superiors could delegate a priest of the order not even having this jurisdiction²⁸.
A decree of the S. Congr. of Rites, of March 12, 1940²⁹, declared that secular priests, receiving from the Holy See the faculty to give the people the papal blessing properly so called on determined days, must use the same formula as regulars, that is, that of Benedict XIV.
Neither can. 915 nor this decree concern the papal blessing that preachers have the right to grant at the end of a mission preached by them.

207. – 2° The privileged altar. – The favor of the privileged altar consists in that the Mass celebrated at this altar is accompanied by a plenary indulgence which, currently, is no longer conceded except exceptionally as applicable to the living³⁰. The privilege was primitively local – the first example dates from 1537 – that is, played when Mass was celebrated by any priest at a determined altar; it was subsequently given on a personal basis, and then valid for a determined priest, whatever the place where he celebrated; it can also be mixed. According to the Church’s will, the Mass must be applied to the intention of the deceased³¹, but, according to a decree of the S. Office of February 20, 1913, it no longer needs, for the validity of the indulgence, to be a Requiem Mass or to include the memory of the deceased when the rubrics permit it³².
     CAN. 916. Bishops, abbots and prelates nullius, apostolic vicars and prefects, major superiors of an exempt clerical religion, can designate and declare privileged for each day and in perpetuity an altar, provided there is no other already privileged in their cathedral, abbatial, collegiate, conventual, parochial, quasi-parochial churches, but not in public or semi-public oratories, unless they are united or subject to the parochial church.
     Benedict XIII, by a Constitution of August 20, 1724³³, granted bishops to designate in their cathedral church a privileged altar of their choice, if it did not yet possess one. By virtue of a decree of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of May 19, 1759³⁴, bishops and abbots nullius could also obtain the faculty, renewable every seven years, to designate a privileged altar in each parochial, abbatial and collegiate church. In various responses, the same Congregation specified that this faculty applied to churches not strictly called collegiate but where the choir office was ensured, and to filial churches where parochial functions took place³⁵ (but not for a second altar in parochial churches at the same time cathedrals)³⁶, and that it concerned all heads of ecclesiastical circumscriptions, but not vicars general or delegates³⁷. Finally the Congregation declared that the privilege on a local basis does not require the altar to be fixed, in the strict liturgical sense, but simply, whereas only the stone is consecrated, that the altar (even if it is wood) be placed in a stable manner³⁸. Can. 916 includes in its enumeration abbots or regular major superiors, who can designate a privileged altar in the church of each abbey or convent under their jurisdiction, except if this church is cathedral or parochial (in which case the designation belongs to the head of the ecclesiastical circumscription).
     CAN. 917, § 1. On the day of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, all Masses enjoy the privilege, as if they were celebrated at a privileged altar.
     The S. Congr. of Indulgences had granted this favor to the entire Latin Church by decree of May 19, 1761³⁹. Benedict XV renewed it by his Constitution of August 10, 1915⁴⁰. A decree of the S. Penitentiary of October 31, 1934 extended it to all Masses celebrated for the deceased during the octave of the Commemoration⁴¹. This privilege is gained even if the Mass is celebrated on an absolutely movable altar, outside a church or oratory, and is thus personal; in Masses said for several or for all the faithful departed, the celebrant must positively apply the plenary indulgence to one alone. Other personal cases of privileged altar are indicated in the Code (can. 239, § 1, 10°; 349, § 1, 1°; 294, § 1; 315, § 1; 323, § 1).

CAN. 917, § 2. During the days when the supplication of the Forty Hours is celebrated, all the altars of the church are privileged.
The exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for forty continuous hours originated in Italy in the 16th century; Clement XI fixed the rules in 1705; Pius VII, on May 10, 1807, conceded the favor of the privileged altar during its entire duration to all the altars of the church where it took place. In various regions the Blessed Sacrament was however exposed only during the day and, on January 22, 1914, the S. Office extended the indulgences to this modality; it is in this sense that can. 917, § 2 must be understood. This favor of the privileged altar affects on a local basis all the stable altars of the church (cf. can. 1275), but does not concern oratories.

CAN. 918, § 1. To indicate that an altar is privileged, only the words: privileged altar shall be inscribed, with the indication, according to the terms of the concession, that the latter is perpetual or provisional; daily or not.
The privilege can be granted in perpetuity or for a determined period; in both hypotheses, it can be valid for all days or for a certain number of days; if, within the limits of the indicated number, the choice of days is free, the intention to make use of the privilege must evidently exist.

CAN. 918, § 2. For Masses celebrated at a privileged altar, a greater stipend cannot be demanded under pretext of the privilege.
This rule was established by the S. Congr. of Indulgences concerning November 2, on May 19, 1761⁴². If it is transgressed, the indulgence is not gained; the privilege, if it is personal, is forever lost⁴³; and, if the conditions necessary to incur the penalty exist, the priest is struck ipso facto with simple excommunication reserved to the Holy See (can. 2327).

208. Publication of indulgences. – 1° Intervention of the Ordinary of the place. – CAN. 919, § 1. New indulgences, even conceded to churches of regulars, which have not been promulgated at Rome, cannot be published without the consent of the Ordinary of the place.

§ 2. The prescription of can. 1388 shall be observed in the edition of books, booklets, etc., which enumerate the concessions of indulgences for different prayers or pious works.
Already the Council of Trent ordered that the publication of indulgences be done through the Ordinaries of the place⁴⁴, prescription that popes⁴⁵ and Roman dicasteries⁴⁶ recalled on several occasions. The S. Congr. of Indulgences however specified that this intervention was not necessary for indulgences promulgated urbi et orbi by the pope⁴⁷. Concerning the others, it is debated whether can. 919, § 1 must be understood in the sense of indulgences conceded “to churches, even of regulars”, and thus affect only indulgences conceded to a church, an altar, a community; or whether it must be understood in a wholly general way and apply even to indulgences conceded on a purely personal basis. Be that as it may, can. 919, § 1 does not affect the validity of the gain of indulgences granted by the Holy See, except when it is a communication of indulgence by an aggregated archconfraternity. Can. 919, § 1, as opposed to can. 919, § 2, concerns only oral publication or private divulgation of indulgences; a verbal authorization of the Ordinary may then suffice and a manuscript text or equivalent should not bear mention of it.
The public written divulgation of indulgences falls under the rules of book censorship and more specially under can. 1388, which provides for the imprimatur of the Ordinary of the place, or even the authorization of the Holy See for certain publications of general character.
The 1898 edition of a private work, printed in Rome⁴⁸ and entitled Raccolta di orazioni e pie opere per le quali sono state concesse dai Sommi Pontefici le sacre indulgenze, was recognized as authentic by the Holy See; a French translation appeared in Rome in 1901⁴⁹ and also received this official approval. The S. Penitentiary, by decree of February 22, 1929⁵⁰, published an authentic and exclusive supplement to this work under the title: Collectio precum piorumque operum quibus Romani Pontifices in favorem omnium Christifidelium aut quorumdam coetuum personarum indulgencias adnexerunt ab a. 1899 ad 1928. By decree of December 31, 1937⁵¹, it promulgated a new authentic collection: Preces et pia opera in favorem omnium Christifidelium aut quorumdam coetuum personarum indulgentiis ditata et opportune recognita. Finally, by decree of January 30, 1950⁵², it recognized as solely valid the new Enchiridion indulgentiarum edited under its care. General concessions of indulgences not indicated in the collection must be considered abrogated.

209. – 2° Legislation by the S. Penitentiary. – CAN. 920. Those who have obtained from the Sovereign Pontiff concessions of indulgences for all the faithful are bound, under pain of nullity of the grace obtained, to bring an authentic copy of these concessions to the S. Penitentiary.
     Benedict XIV entrusted to the S. Congr. of Indulgences⁵³ the legalization of certain indulgences granted directly by Sovereign Pontiffs. In 1904 the S. Congr. of Rites, then in 1908 the S. Office⁵⁴ took up this function. Pius X decreed on April 7, 1910⁵⁵ that any concession of indulgence, general or particular, not strictly personal, as well as the concession to bless pious objects and to attach to them concretely indulgences (already granted in principle for such objects), must be submitted to legalization under pain of nullity of the grace obtained⁵⁶. But Benedict XV, on September 16, 1915⁵⁷, suppressed this formality for the second category indicated by Pius X and for all particular concessions. His decision is at the basis of can. 920. What to say of indulgences that concern “all the faithful” but require the visit of a determined place? Some claim that can. 920 applies to them, others say that it aims only at indulgences to be gained by all, at all times and in all places.
     When the pope himself signs a copy of a concession of indulgence, it is this autograph that will be brought to the S. Penitentiary; in case of oral concession, it is a written attestation of the same by a cardinal (can. 239, § 1, 17°), or by another competent dignitary to testify to it, that will be remitted.
210. Days prescribed for indulgences. – 1° Determination of the day. – CAN. 921, § 1. A plenary indulgence conceded for the feasts of Our Lord Jesus Christ or for the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary is understood only for the feasts that figure in the calendar of the universal Church.

§ 2. A plenary or partial indulgence conceded for the feasts of the apostles is understood as granted only for the anniversary day of their martyrdom.

§ 3. A plenary indulgence, conceded as daily, perpetual or for a determined time and those who visit a church or public oratory, can be gained by any faithful on any day, but only once a year, unless the decree of concession says otherwise.
The S. Congr. of Indulgences established these first two rules in 1862⁵⁸, the third in 1852⁵⁹. As opposed to the second, the first concerns only plenary indulgences. The third likewise, and only those obtained by visiting a church or public oratory, on a day that is not fixed in the concession but left eventually within certain limits to the choice of the faithful. Exceptions are moreover provided.

211. – 2° Transfer of the day. – CAN. 922. Indulgences attached to feasts, supplications or prayers taking place during nine, seven or three days, before or after the principal day or during its octave, are deemed transferred at the same time as this day is legitimately transferred, if the office and Mass of the feast are transferred in perpetuity without there being solemnity or exterior celebration, or if the solemnity and exterior celebration are transferred for a time or in perpetuity.
     The gain of indulgences is more a popular practice than liturgical: it therefore follows above all the exterior solemnity, that is, the day when the people go to church for the celebration in question. Already for this purpose the S. Congr. of Indulgences had granted, in particular cases, several transfers of indulgences⁶⁰, and this led it⁶¹ to decide in a general way, on August 9, 1852⁶², that in case of transfer of solemnity, even for one time only and without translation of the office or Mass, the indulgence is likewise transferred, but that, if the day of solemnity does not change, the indulgence remains attached to it, even if Mass and office are transferred in perpetuity. The S. Congr. replied in 1878⁶³ – the S. Office confirmed in 1912⁶⁴ – that this perpetual transfer entails that of the indulgence only if there is no exterior solemnity. Can. 922 takes up these provisions; it implicitly says that a non-perpetual transfer of office and Mass does not entail that of the indulgence, even if there is no exterior solemnity, which the S. Penitentiary moreover explicitly replied on February 18, 1921⁶⁵. The latter also specified, on December 14, 1937⁶⁶, that the transfer of solemnity must include a religious celebration and not simply a civil one.
     The S. Office had decreed, on December 14, 1916⁶⁷, that the toties quoties indulgence of November 2 followed the liturgical transfer of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed; this provision remains in force, although it does not fit completely with can. 922, specially where the influx to the cemetery and neighboring church takes place from the morning (cf. can. 923) of November 2, when this day is a Sunday. A decree of the S. Penitentiary of January 2, 1939⁶⁸ permits gaining the toties quoties indulgence of November 2 on the following Sunday.
     The S. Congr. of Indulgences had decreed, on January 12, 1878⁶⁹, that the same person cannot, by reason of a translation, gain the indulgences attached to an identical feast, a first time in one place and a second time in another. The S. Penitentiary replied on January 13, 1930⁷⁰ that this rule does not apply to the Portiuncula⁷¹.
212. – 3° Anticipation. – CAN. 923. To gain an indulgence attached to a determined day, if the visit of a church or oratory is required, the latter can be made from noon of the preceding day until midnight of the proper day.
     The S. Congr. of Indulgences had always made the period run, to gain an indulgence, from midnight to midnight; the S. Office modified this provision on January 26, 1911⁷² in the sense indicated in can. 923.
213. Cessation of indulgences. – 1° Local. – CAN. 924, § 1. In conformity with can. 75, indulgences attached to a church do not cease if the church is completely destroyed but reconstructed within the fifty years that follow, in the same or nearly the same place and under the same patronage.
     Can. 75 states that local privileges revive if the place is reestablished within the fifty years following its disappearance. In the old law, this principle was especially affirmed by the S. Congr. of Indulgences which specified that a church must be rebuilt in the same place and not for ex. on the site of the neighboring cemetery⁷³; it however admitted a gap of twenty to thirty paces⁷⁴. It suffices that a part of the new church coincides, even twenty or thirty paces away, with the site of the old; and that reconstruction has simply begun within the fifty years following destruction.
214. – 2° Real. – CAN. 924, § 2. Indulgences attached to rosaries and other objects are lost only when these cease completely to exist or are sold.
     The word only indicates, as the S. Penitentiary confirmed on February 18, 1921⁷⁵, the difference with the old law: indeed, according to a decree of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of February 6, 1657⁷⁶, recalled several times by it, not only sale but also loan or gift of objects entailed the loss of indulgences attached to them. The S. Congr. however specified that indulgences are not lost if, after ordering an object, one has it blessed by the seller, even if one pays for it only later⁷⁷.
     The indulgence attached to crucifixes is attached to the image of Christ, so that it is not lost if the wood of the cross is broken or renewed. That of the way of the cross is attached to the fourteen wooden crosses that surmount the images; it emerges from various particular responses of the S. Congr. of Indulgences that neither the total destruction of these images⁷⁸, nor the partial repair of all the crosses⁷⁹, nor even the replacement of some of them⁸⁰, nor the transfer of the way of the cross to a better place in the same church⁸¹, entail the loss of the indulgence. The S. Penitentiary declared, on December 21, 1925⁸², that indulgences cannot be attached to rosaries in tin, lead, glass, or any other similar material. A rosary must be said to be destroyed only if it breaks and if at the same time half the beads are lost; the successive renewal of the beads does not entail loss of the indulgence.

II. – ACQUISITION OF INDULGENCES

The Code first formulates certain general principles (cann. 925-926); it then intermingles practical rules concerning all indulgences (cann. 927-928, 930, 932-933, 935-936), or certain particular prescribed works (cann. 929, 931, 934).

215. Principles. – 1° Capacity to gain indulgences. – CAN. 925, § 1. To be capable of gaining indulgences for oneself, one must be baptized, not excommunicated, in the state of grace at least at the end of the prescribed works, subject of the one who concedes the indulgence.
     It is by baptism that man becomes subject of rights and duties in the Church (can. 87); one of these rights is precisely to gain indulgences. But exclusion from the communion of the faithful can hinder the exercise of these rights, it does so notably in the matter of indulgences (can. 2262, § 1). The question whether heretics and schismatics in good faith can gain indulgences is debated.
     The state of grace is absolutely necessary to gain an indulgence for oneself. If a series of pious works is prescribed, it suffices but it is necessary that the state of grace exist at the moment when the last work is accomplished, that is, when the indulgence is in fact gained. Such was notably the teaching of St. Antoninus and St. Charles Borromeo, taken up by Benedict XIV⁸³. Of course if a work to be accomplished, for ex. communion, requires of itself the state of grace, the latter is required at that moment for the validity of the indulgence, even if the work is not accomplished last. The S. Congr. of Indulgences specified, on December 17, 1870⁸⁴, that the state of grace required as such to gain indulgences can be acquired by perfect contrition, and that those already in the state of grace need not formulate a special act of contrition.
     The S. Penitentiary declared, on July 7, 1917, that faithful of the Oriental rite can gain all indulgences granted by a universal decree of the pope⁸⁵. Church law establishes not only which authorities inferior to the pope are the ordinary grantors of indulgences (can. 912), but also in favor of which subjects these authorities can exercise their power.
     Can. 925, § 1 concerns only indulgences to be gained for oneself. The Code did not wish to condemn explicitly the opinion according to which catechumens could gain indulgences in favor of baptized deceased; moreover, in conformity with constant jurisprudence anterior⁸⁶, it refuses to settle the question whether the faithful must be in the state of grace to apply indulgences to souls in purgatory: in cases where this state is not required directly or indirectly (for ex. if confession and communion are required), it seems one can answer negatively.
216. – 2° Efficacy of indulgences. – CAN. 925, § 2. For a capable subject to in fact gain indulgences, he must have at least general intention to acquire them, and accomplish the prescribed works, in the time and in the manner desired by the tenor of the concession.
     Many authors admit that the general intention to gain indulgences can be habitual, that is, have been made once for all, and some even add: implicitly. Such an implicit will suffices in any case for the local privilege of the privileged altar⁸⁷, and in those deprived of the use of their senses during the blessing at the article of death.
     CAN. 926. A plenary indulgence is conceded in such a way that if someone cannot gain it entirely, he can at least do so in the measure of his dispositions.
     An indulgence applies only to sins already remitted as to guilt. If a faithful therefore wishes to gain for himself a plenary indulgence, all his sins must have been remitted as to guilt, either by sacramental absolution, or by perfect contrition, and, since that moment, he cannot have committed the least venial sin, otherwise the indulgence is not plenary, since it is not valid for this last sin⁸⁸. One sees therefore that if, the state of grace existing, the act of contrition is not necessary as such to gain an indulgence, it can, when contrition is perfect, give the soul the last required disposition to apply to itself a plenary indulgence.
     Concerning the deceased, if God does not grant the plenary indulgence asked of Him, He will grant a partial remission of the punishments of purgatory.
217. Subjection to the grantors of indulgences. – CAN. 927. Unless it appears otherwise from the tenor of the concession, indulgences conceded by a bishop can be gained by his subjects even outside his territory and, in his territory, even by pilgrims, vagi and exempts.
     This canon takes up the rules fixed by the S. Congr. of Indulgences in a particular response of May 26, 1898⁸⁹. What is said of bishops is also valid for abbots and prelates nullius (can. 215, § 2; cf. can. 323, § 1), apostolic vicars and prefects (cf. can. 294), permanent apostolic administrators (cf. can. 315, § 1). Can. 927 moreover applies can. 201, § 3 concerning the inhabitants of various ecclesiastical circumscriptions, and can. 94, § 2 concerning vagi. The extension of the concession of indulgences to pilgrims and exempts is analogous to the power that the Ordinary of the place has to absolve their sins.
     Just as cardinals can everywhere absolve those who confess to them, they can everywhere grant indulgences to present faithful; for the rest, independently of their eventual power as head of ecclesiastical circumscription, the indulgences they attach to works to be accomplished in places depending on their jurisdiction or of which they are protectors can be gained only by persons relevant to this jurisdiction or to an institute under this protection (can. 239, § 1, 24°).
218. Repetition of indulgences. – 1° Plenary. – CAN. 928, § 1. A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day, although the same prescribed work is accomplished several times, unless it is specified otherwise.
     The possibility of gaining in a short period several plenary indulgences was brought before the S. Congr. of the Council at the beginning of the 18th century; a few years after its institution, on March 7, 1678⁹⁰, the S. Congr. of Indulgences declared that one can gain only once in the day the plenary indulgence conceded to those who visit a church on certain days or who do another pious work. It specified in 1852 that, in the first case, it was days fixed by the concession, while edicting a stricter rule for the case where these days were not specified by the concession (cf. can. 921, § 3). And its particular response of February 29, 1864⁹¹ permitted concluding that one could gain several plenary indulgences the same day by accomplishing different works, conclusion confirmed by the expression: the same prescribed work of can. 928, § 1. The Portiuncula and various other concessions constitute the exceptions provided by the canon.
219. – 2° Partial. – CAN. 928, § 2. A partial indulgence can be gained several times a day, by the repetition of the same work, unless the contrary is indicated.
     This rule, which was moreover already generally admitted by authors, was confirmed by the S. Office on June 25, 1914⁹².
220. Church visits. – CAN. 929. Faithful of both sexes who, for reason of perfection, belonging to an institution, education, or even health, live in common in houses constituted with the consent of the Ordinary of the place but deprived of church or public oratory, as well as persons who dwell there to serve them, each time to gain indulgences the visit of an undetermined church or public oratory is prescribed, can visit the chapel of their own house in which they satisfy the obligation to hear Mass, provided they accomplish in the desired manner the other prescribed works.
     This canon reproduces literally the decree of the S. Office of January 14, 1909⁹³. Normally church visits prescribed to gain indulgences must be made to a church or public oratory, and until 1909 only particular indults had permitted acting otherwise. For the rule established since to apply, the house must have been erected, or subsequently recognized, by the Ordinary of the place and possess a chapel where Mass can be heard on Sunday; some authors however content themselves with the existence of such a chapel, even if the house depends exclusively on civil authority; they however agree that the rule does not apply to prisons. For the rest it matters little whether those living in common have the possibility or not to go out and gain indulgences in a church or public oratory.
     Cardinals (can. 239, § 1, 11°), bishops (can. 349, § 1, 1°), abbots and prelates nullius (can. 215, § 2), apostolic vicars and prefects (can. 294), permanent apostolic administrators (can. 315, § 1), as well as familiars found with them, can, to gain indulgences, visit the particular chapel they use, even in the place of a simple de facto residence, even when the visit must be made to a determined church or oratory of this place.
221. Application of indulgences to the deceased. – CAN. 930. No one can apply the indulgences he acquires to other living persons; but all indulgences conceded by the Sovereign Pontiff are applicable to souls in purgatory, unless specified otherwise.
     A decree of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of September 30, 1852 had declared applicable to the deceased all indulgences published in the collection Raccolta di orazioni e pie opere⁹⁴…; can. 930 states analogously concerning all past and future indulgences granted by popes⁹⁵.
222. Confession and communion. – 1° Their date. – CAN. 931, § 1. Confession eventually required to gain any indulgences can take place in the eight days immediately preceding the day to which the indulgence is attached, communion the eve of the same day, one and the other during the entire following octave.

§ 2. Likewise, to gain indulgences conceded to those who do pious exercises for three days, a week, etc., confession and communion can also take place in the octave that immediately follows the end of the exercise.
It is here a question only of confession prescribed as such, notably by the words contritis et confessis. The S. Congr. of Indulgences declared, on May 19, 1759, that it is required even if one does not remember having committed mortal faults since the last absolution received⁹⁶, but specified, on December 15, 1841, that it was not necessary that absolution follow the new confession⁹⁷. This Congregation permitted, on May 19, 1759, that confession take place the eve of the day to which the indulgence is attached; on March 11, 1908⁹⁸, it extended the period to two or three days according to whether the indulgence could be gained one or several times in the same day; on April 23, 1914, the S. Office fixed uniformly⁹⁹ the period to eight prior days. Concerning communion, the S. Congr. of Indulgences permitted, on June 12, 1822¹⁰⁰ and October 6, 1870¹⁰¹, that it take place the eve.
The novelty of can. 931, § 1 therefore consists in that confession and communion can be done during the octave that follows the day to which the indulgence is attached; by comparison with § 2, one can conclude that this permission applies not only to feasts having a liturgical octave, but must be understood in the sense of eight days, that is nine, the one to which the indulgence is attached included. The provision of can. 931, § 2 is new and applies to all triduums, octaves, novenas, retreats, etc.

223. – 2° Dispensation from actual confession. – CAN. 931, § 3. Faithful who have the habit of approaching the sacrament of penance twice a month, unless legitimately impeded, or of receiving holy communion daily in the state of grace and with a right and pious intention, although they abstain from communing one or two times a week, can gain all indulgences, even without the actual confession that would otherwise be necessary for this purpose, except indulgences of ordinary or extraordinary jubilee or ad instar.
     Can. 931, § 3 grants dispensation from confession required as such to gain the indulgence in two distinct hypotheses: the faithful has the habit of confessing twice a month, whatever the interval between the two confessions (the S. Congr. of Indulgences had admitted, on December 9, 1763, weekly confession¹⁰² and subsequently granted several indults admitting confession every two weeks¹⁰³); or he has the habit of communing every day (case recognized by the S. Congr. of Indulgences on February 14, 1906¹⁰⁴), even if, having no mortal sin on his conscience, he does not confess the entire year. The habit is not broken if a serious motive impedes one of the two monthly confessions, or if communion takes place only five days a week.
     In conformity with the doctrine established under the old law¹⁰⁵, the dispensation is not valid during ordinary jubilees, that is every twenty-five years, or extraordinary, for ex. upon the advent of a pope (or other assimilated indulgences).
224. Cumulation of indulgence. – 1° With an obligatory action. – CAN. 932. An indulgence cannot be gained by a work to which one is obliged by virtue of a law or precept, unless said otherwise in the concession; he who accomplishes a work imposed as sacramental penance and eventually enriched with indulgences can at the same time satisfy the penance and gain the indulgences.
     The work prescribed to gain indulgences must be supererogatory. Such is already the opinion indicated as the most probable by Benedict XIV¹⁰⁶. The S. Congr. of Indulgences however declared in 1841¹⁰⁷ that confession and communion done to satisfy the paschal precept can serve to gain a plenary indulgence, except, it added in 1844¹⁰⁸, that of the jubilee. This exception to can. 932, although not indicated by it, seems always in force. That, on the contrary, mentioned in the second part of the canon was affirmed by the S. Congr. of Indulgences on June 14, 1901¹⁰⁹; sacramental penance aims at the diminution of the temporal punishment due to sin already pardoned, there is therefore no opposition for this diminution to be further increased by the gain of indulgences properly so called.
     The first part of can. 932 applies only when there is truly law or precept: the priest, for ex., cannot gain indulgences by reciting the breviary¹¹⁰; on the contrary, religious accomplishing pious works imposed by the rule but not under pain of sin can at the same time gain indulgences.
225. – 2° With another indulgence. – CAN. 933. Several indulgences can be attached to one and the same object or place for different motives; but several indulgences attached to one and the same work for different motives cannot be acquired at the same time, unless this work is confession or communion or it has been expressly stated otherwise.
     The double principle established in can. 933 was affirmed by the S. Congr. of Indulgences in a particular response of February 29, 1820¹¹¹; it subsequently formulated the exception indicated in can. 933 for communion¹¹² and confession¹¹³. Finally, on June 12, 1907, it promulgated the first express contrary statute by permitting gaining by the rosary at the same time the Dominican indulgences and those of the Crosiers. On June 14, 1922, the S. Penitentiary declared that apostolic indulgences¹¹⁴ could be acquired at the same time as any other¹¹⁵.
226. Prescribed prayers. – 1° For the pope. – CAN. 934, § 1. If any prayer, to the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff, is prescribed to gain indulgences, a solely mental prayer is not sufficient, but vocal prayer is left to the choice of the faithful, unless a particular text is assigned.
     Authors wondering whether prayers required to gain indulgences must be vocal or mental, Benedict XIV, concerning the visit of Roman basilicas for the 1750 jubilee, required and declared sufficient a vocal prayer¹¹⁶.
     Except contrary indication of the concession, the choice of the formula to recite to the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff is left to the faithful. The S. Congr. of Indulgences refused to decide how many Pater or Ave must be said; on the occasion of the 1925 jubilee, the S. Penitentiary declared that five Pater, Ave and Gloria sufficed, without saying they were necessary¹¹⁷; on the contrary it declared, on January 13, 1930¹¹⁸, that to gain the indulgences of the Portiuncula one must recite six Pater, Ave and Gloria, and, on the following July 5¹¹⁹, that the same was true for analogous plenary indulgences toties quoties, including a church visit; it added, on September 20, 1933¹²⁰, that one Pater, one Ave and one Gloria sufficed to gain the other subordinate indulgences on condition of praying to the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff.
     Can. 934 requires vocal prayer only when it is a question of prayers to the intentions of the pope; an inferior grantor can impose it for prayers prescribed to other intentions and required for the effect of indulgences conceded by him.
227. – 2° Free choice of language. – CAN. 934, § 2. If a particular prayer is assigned, indulgences can be gained in whatever language it is recited, provided the fidelity of the translation has been ascertained by a declaration of the S. Penitentiary or of one of the Ordinaries of the places where the vernacular language in which the prayer is translated is current; but indulgences cease completely as soon as there is any addition, subtraction or interpolation.
     It goes without saying that if no formula is imposed, the language to use is free. Moreover, the S. Congr. of Indulgences, on September 30, 1852¹²¹, had admitted the translation of indulgenced prayers published in the Raccolta, while reserving to itself eventual approval of complete versions of this collection. On December 29, 1864¹²² it recognized the power of Ordinaries, already admitted in particular cases, to approve the translation of separate indulgenced prayers.
     Many authors admit that the fidelity of a manuscript translation destined for private use need not be officially ascertained. Concerning the imprimatur, the choice of the Ordinary of the place (can. 1385, § 1; 1388) is restricted by can. 934, § 2: this Ordinary must be one of those where the language of the translation is usually employed by the population of the place.
     The end of can. 934, § 2 takes up in part the very terms of a decree of the S. Office of June 22, 1916¹²³: the text of an indulgenced prayer cannot undergo modification. The S. Penitentiary at first understood this rule in a very rigorous sense¹²⁴; however, on January 21, 1921¹²⁵, it declared that can. 934, § 2 did not revoke particular privileges that would have permitted the adaptation of certain prayers, and it even provoked the concession of new indults in particular cases. Finally it stated, on November 26, 1934¹²⁶, that the only changes that prevented gaining the indulgence were those that affected the substance of the text.
228. – 3° Recitation in group. – CAN. 934, § 3. To gain the indulgence, it suffices to recite the prayer alternately with a companion, or to follow it in spirit while another recites it.
     The S. Congr. of Indulgences had admitted alternate recitation, on February 29, 1820¹²⁷; moreover, when a vocal prayer is necessary, it suffices that one alone recites it and that the others follow it in spirit.
229. Commutation of prescribed works. – 1°. By the confessor. – CAN. 935. Confessors can change the pious works imposed to gain indulgences, in favor of those legitimately impeded from accomplishing them.
     The Holy See had granted confessors powers of commutation only in wholly particular circumstances¹²⁸, until, on September 18, 1862, the S. Congr. of Indulgences¹²⁹ conceded to all certain faculties of commutation for plenary indulgences that the faithful could normally gain “in the place where they live”. Many authors admit that this limitation also affects the very extensive powers that can. 935 grants as soon as there is impediment to accomplish any work whatever, prescribed to gain indulgences. The Code Interpretation Commission declared, on January 19, 1940, that confessors can modify the determination of the church to visit, even for the indulgences of the Portiuncula¹³⁰.
     There must always be a certain similarity and equivalence in the commutation. Most authors admit that the confessor exercises his power even outside the confessional vis-à-vis all those he could hear in confession¹³¹, and that he commutes even the confession eventually prescribed.
230. – 2° Without any intervention. – CAN. 936. The mute can gain indulgences attached to public prayers, if they raise their soul to God, in pious sentiments, with the other faithful praying in the same place; if it is a question of private prayers, it suffices that they do them in spirit, adding signs or only running their eyes over them.
     The first part of this can. 936 takes up various terms from the decree of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of March 15, 1852 concerning the deaf-mute¹³². The latter required the intervention of the confessor when it was a question of private prayers, but already a particular response of July 18, 1902¹³³ had suppressed this intervention. Can. 936 speaks of the mute in general, although, concerning prayers said at the same time as non-mutes, can. 934, § 3 traces a sufficient rule of conduct for those deprived only of the use of speech.
     A decree of the S. Penitentiary of October 22, 1917 suppressed for the mutilated the modalities that must accompany an indulgenced prayer, for ex. to kneel, that they would be incapable of accomplishing¹³⁴.
     The S. Congr. of Indulgences decided, on August 2, 1760, to grant pious associations making the request that their infirm or incarcerated members could gain the indulgences granted to their grouping by replacing the eventual required church visit by another pious work¹³⁵. A new decree of August 20, 1887¹³⁶ granted this privilege to all associations without their having to present a request for this purpose. The privilege is always in force, no intervention of the confessor is necessary.

NOTES

¹ Decr., l. V, tit. vii, c. 13.
² The tradition dates it back to 1223; this date is not absolutely proven.
³ Extravag. comm., l. V, tit. ix, c. 1.
⁴ Extravag. comm., l. V, tit. ix, c. 2; Denz., n. 550-552.
⁵ Cf. the propositions condemned by the Constitution of Martin V of February 22, 1418 (Fontes, n. 43; Denz., n. 622, 676).
⁶ Cf. propositions 18 to 22 of Luther condemned in the Constitution of Leo X of June 15, 1520 (Fontes, n. 72; Denz., n. 758-762).
⁷ Sess. XXV (Denz., n. 989). – Cf. also the Constitution of Pius VI of August 28, 1794 (Fontes, n. 475; Denz., n. 1541-1543).
⁸ Constitution of June 26, 1740 (Fontes, n. 400).
⁹ Cf. the particular responses of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of July 28, 1840, and of the S. Congr. of Propaganda of September 27, 1843 (Fontes, n. 5015, 4805).
¹⁰ Decr., l. V, tit. xxxviii, c. 4.
¹¹ Can. 61. Decr., l. V, tit. xxxviii, c. 14.
¹² Particular response of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of January 12, 1878 (Fontes, n. 5081).
¹³ Fontes, n. 5137.
¹⁴ Acta, t. XXXIV, p. 241.
¹⁵ Cf. notably the decision of the S. Congr. of Propaganda of July 8, 1774 (Fontes, n. 4566).
¹⁶ December 11, 1838 and January 12, 1878 (Fontes, n. 5009, 5081).
¹⁷ Fontes, n. 186.
¹⁸ Fontes, n. 457.
¹⁹ Fontes, n. 186.
²⁰ It is reproduced in appendix to the Roman pontifical. Particular responses of May 23, 1835 and December 7, 1844 (Fontes, n. 5873, 5921). Particular indults were conceded to read the final formula only in vernacular language: particular response of March 5, 1847 (Fontes, n. 5949).
²¹ Particular response of January 15, 1847 (Fontes, n. 5941).
²² Acta, t. XXII, p. 195.
²³ Cf. the particular response of March 22, 1879 (Fontes, n. 5088).
²⁴ Fontes, n. 586.
²⁵ The rite of the papal blessing was inserted in the Roman ritual itself (tit. VIII, ch. 32), whereas the two formulas approved by Leo XIII were taken up only in appendix. The 1925 edition, on the contrary, also inserted them in the ritual itself (tit. VIII, ch. 33). Cf., concerning the use of one or the other of these formulas, the particular responses of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of December 19, 1885 and November 11, 1903 (Fontes, n. 5091, 5138).
²⁶ Decree of February 4 (Fontes, n. 4979).
²⁷ December 15 (Fontes, n. 1289).
²⁸ May 28 (Fontes, n. 1297).
²⁹ Acta, t. XXXII, p. 199.
³⁰ The Constitution of Benedict XV of June 15, 1917 recognized to priests members of the pious society of the death of St. Joseph the personal indult of the privileged altar in favor of the dying (Acta, t. X, p. 317).
³¹ Cf. infra, can. 925, § 1. The communion of the priest can, on the contrary, enter into account for the gain of another indulgence: particular response of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of May 10, 1844 (Fontes, n. 5033).
³² Fontes, n. 1291.
³³ Fontes, n. 281.
³⁴ Fontes, n. 4983.
³⁵ January 30, 1760 (Fontes, n. 4981).
³⁶ September 18, 1776 and September 10, 1781 (Fontes, n. 4997, 4999).
³⁷ June 7, 1842 (Fontes, n. 5024).
³⁸ May 24, 1843 (Fontes, n. 5031).
³⁹ Fontes, n. 4991.
⁴⁰ Fontes, n. 706.
⁴¹ Acta, t. XXVI, p. 606.
⁴² Fontes, n. 4991.
⁴³ Decree of the S. Congr. of Propaganda of August 13, 1774 (Fontes, n. 4167).
⁴⁴ Sess. XXI, De reform., chap. IX.
⁴⁵ Constitution of Clement VIII of December 7, 1604 (Fontes, n. 192).
⁴⁶ Particular responses of the S. Congr. of the Council of June 21, 1760 (Fontes, n. 3701) and of the S. Office of July 8, 1846 (Fontes, n. 898).
⁴⁷ Particular response of July 11, 1839 (Fontes, n. 5012).
⁴⁸ The first edition was made by T. Galli in 1807.
⁴⁹ Collection of prayers and pious works enriched with indulgences by Sovereign Pontiffs.
⁵⁰ Acta, t. XX, p. 200.
⁵¹ Acta, t. XXX, p. 110. The edition bears the vintage of 1938.
⁵² Acta, t. XLII, p. 404-405.
⁵³ Decree of this Congr. of January 28, 1756, confirmatory decree of April 14, 1856 (Fontes, n. 4980, 5057).
⁵⁴ Ordo servandus in S. Congregationibus, Tribunalibus, Officiis Romanae Curiae, September 29, 1908, Normae peculiares, ch. VII, art. 1, § 3 (Fontes, n. 6460).
⁵⁵ Fontes, n. 685.
⁵⁶ Fontes, n. 707.
⁵⁷ Fontes, n. 6450. Cf., concerning indulgences to be gained by Catholic Orientals, the decisions of the S. Penitentiary of April 29, 1930, January 31, 1931, April 22, 1944, and of the S. Congr. Oriental of April 3, 1934, April 7 and August 10, 1943 (Acta, t. XXII, p. 292; t. XXIII, p. 88; t. XXVI, p. 317; t. XXXV, p. 146-147; t. XXXVI, p. 155, and 245).
⁵⁸ September 18 (Fontes, n. 5064).
⁵⁹ Particular response of March 15 (Fontes, n. 5047).
⁶⁰ Particular responses of December 12, 1731, February 8, 1762, July 12, 1847 (Fontes, n. 4965; 4992, 5042).
⁶¹ Particular response of May 6, 1852 (Fontes, n. 5049).
⁶² Fontes, n. 5050.
⁶³ January 12 (Fontes, n. 5083).
⁶⁴ June 13 (Fontes, n. 1291).
⁶⁵ Acta, t. XIII, p. 165.
⁶⁶ Unpublished response in the Acta. It is found in the Periodica de re morali, t. XXVII, 1938, p. 261.
⁶⁷ Fontes, n. 1303.
⁶⁸ Acta, t. XXXI, p. 23.
⁶⁹ Fontes, n. 5083.
⁷⁰ Acta, t. XXII, p. 43.
⁷¹ Cf. particular response of January 12, 1878 (Fontes, n. 5082).
⁷² Fontes, n. 1290.
⁷³ Particular response of August 9, 1843 (Fontes, n. 5012).
⁷⁴ Particular responses of March 29, 1886 and July 7, 1905 (Fontes, n. 3096, 5140).
⁷⁵ Acta, t. XIII, p. 164.
⁷⁶ Fontes, n. 4045.
⁷⁷ For ex. particular responses of December 14, 1722, July 12, 1817, July 16, 1887 (Fontes, n. 4962, 5043, 5102).
⁷⁸ Particular response of July 10, 1896 (Fontes, n. 5128).
⁷⁹ Particular responses of November 13, 1837 and August 20, 1844 (Fontes, n. 5006, 5031).
⁸⁰ Particular response of December 16, 1760 (Fontes, n. 4988).
⁸¹ Particular responses of August 22, 1842 and August 20, 1844 (Fontes, n. 5028, 5034).
⁸² Acta, t. XVIII, p. 24.
⁸³ Constitutions of November 25 and December 3, 1749 (Fontes, n. 402, 404).
⁸⁴ Fontes, n. 5078.
⁸⁵ Fontes, n. 6450. Cf., concerning indulgences to be gained by Catholic Orientals, the decisions of the S. Penitentiary of April 29, 1930, January 31, 1931, April 22, 1944, and of the S. Congr. Oriental of April 3, 1934, April 7 and August 10, 1943 (Acta, t. XXII, p. 292; t. XXIII, p. 88; t. XXVI, p. 317; t. XXXV, p. 146-147; t. XXXVI, p. 155, and 245).
⁸⁶ S. Congr. of Indulgences, responses of August 20, 1822 and February 22, 1847 (P. Cimetier, Consultations de droit canonique, t. 6, p. 205).
⁸⁷ A response of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of March 12, 1855 (Fontes, n. 5054) declares that no intention is necessary. If the Mass is said for one deceased alone, the plenary indulgence is applicable to him automatically; if the Mass is celebrated for several deceased (as during the second or third Mass of November 2), the priest will choose one of them to apply the indulgence to him; it is however admitted that he can celebrate for a small number of deceased and leave to God the choice to apply the indulgence to one of them.
⁸⁸ Fontes, n. 5130.
⁸⁹ Fontes, n. 4951. – Cf. the Constitution of Benedict XIV of December 3, 1749, the particular responses of the same Congr. of December 14, 1717 and September 13, 1905 (Fontes, n. 404, 4958, 5111).
⁹⁰ Fontes, n. 5068.
⁹¹ Fontes, n. 1298.
⁹² Fontes, n. 1286.
⁹³ Fontes, n. 5051.
⁹⁴ Cf. supra, can. 919, § 1.
⁹⁵ The S. Office declared, on November 9, 1922, that the indulgence of the privileged altar applicable to the dying (cf. supra, p. 185, n. 4) subsisted after the Code, although it derogates from can. 930 (Monitore ecclesiastico, t. XXXV, 1923, p. 264).
⁹⁶ Fontes, n. 4982.
⁹⁷ Fontes, n. 5020.
⁹⁸ Cf. p. 194, n. 6. Subsequently, the S. Congr. granted indults for regions where there was a shortage of priests, permitting confession in the week preceding the feast: cf. decisions of June 12, 1822 and June 20, 1836 (Fontes, n. 5003, 5005). The word week was to be taken in the sense of eight days: particular response of December 15, 1841 (Fontes, n. 5020).
⁹⁹ Fontes, n. 5144.
¹⁰⁰ Fontes, n. 1296.
¹⁰¹ Fontes, n. 5003.
¹⁰² Fontes, n. 5077.
¹⁰³ Fontes, n. 4993. – That is, at least every seven days, as the S. Congr. of Indulgences declared on November 23, 1878 and February 25, 1886 (Fontes, n. 5086, 5095).
¹⁰⁴ That is, every fourteen days, as the S. Congr. of Indulgences declared on November 23, 1878 and February 25, 1886.
¹⁰⁵ Fontes, n. 5143.
¹⁰⁶ Particular responses of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of March 12, 1855 and December 5, 1893 (Fontes, n. 5053, 5123).
¹⁰⁷ Constitution of December 3, 1749 (Fontes, n. 404).
¹⁰⁸ Responses of March 19 and December 15 (Fontes, n. 5018, 5021).
¹⁰⁹ Particular response of May 10 (Fontes, n. 5033).
¹¹⁰ Fontes, n. 5134.
¹¹¹ Particular response of the S. Congr. of Indulgences of May 29, 1841 (Fontes, n. 5019).
¹¹² Fontes, n. 5000.
¹¹³ Particular response of March 19, 1841 (Fontes, n. 5018).
¹¹⁴ Particular response of January 12, 1878 (Fontes, n. 5082).
¹¹⁵ These are the indulgences published by every new pope for the duration of his pontificate; they require the use of a legitimately blessed object.
¹¹⁶ Acta, t. XIV, p. 394.
¹¹⁷ Constitutions of November 25 and December 3, 1749 (Fontes, n. 402, 404).
¹¹⁸ Particular responses of May 29, 1841 and September 13, 1888 (Fontes, n. 5019, 5110).
¹¹⁹ Acta, t. XVII, p. 342.
¹²⁰ Acta, t. XXII, p. 43.
¹²¹ Acta, t. XXV, p. 303.
¹²² Acta, t. XXV, p. 446.
¹²³ Fontes, n. 5051.
¹²⁴ Cf. also the response of May 6, 1887 (Fontes, n. 5072, 5100).
¹²⁵ Fontes, n. 1301.
¹²⁶ Cf. the particular responses of the S. Penitentiary of July 21, 1919 and July 27, 1920 (Acta, t. XI, p. 18, 548).
¹²⁷ Acta, t. XIII, p. 163.
¹²⁸ Acta, t. XXVI, p. 643.
¹²⁹ Fontes, n. 5000.
¹³⁰ Cf. for ex. the Constitution of Benedict XIV of December 3, 1749, concerning the powers of minor penitentiaries during the 1750 jubilee, and the decree of the S. Congr. of Propaganda of September 19, 1773, granting to all confessors of the Far East faculties of commutation in favor of confreres of the Holy Rosary (Fontes, n. 401, 4560).
¹³¹ Fontes, n. 5065. Cf. the particular response of January 16, 1886 (Fontes, n. 5093).
¹³² Acta, t. XXXII, p. 166.
¹³³ Cf. the particular response of the S. Congr. of Propaganda of February 20, 1801 (Fontes, p. 4665).
¹³⁴ Fontes, n. 5046.
¹³⁵ Fontes, n. 5135.
¹³⁶ Acta, t. IX, p. 530.
¹³⁷ Fontes, n. 4987.
¹³⁸ Fontes, n. 5106. Cf. beforehand the particular responses of February 25, 1877 and July 16, 1887 (Fontes, n. 5080, 5103).