I’ll get out ahead of this this year.
From midnight 1 August (some say evening of 1 August) to midnight 2 August, you can gain the “Portiuncula” Indulgence.
This indulgence seems to have been granted directly by Christ Himself in an appearance to St. Francis. The Lord them told Francis to go to Pope Honorius III, who, as Vicar of Christ, who wielded the keys, would decree it.
St. Francis, as you know, repaired three chapels. The third was popularly called the Portiuncula or the Little Portion, dedicated to St. Mary of the Angels. It is now enclosed in a sanctuary at Assisi.
The friars came to live at the Little Portion in early 1211. It became the “motherhouse” of the Franciscans. This is where St. Clare came to the friars to make her vows during the night following Palm Sunday in 1212 and where Sister Death came to Francis on 3 October 1226.
Because of the favors from God obtained at the Portiuncula, St. Francis requested the Pope to grant remission of sins to all who came there. The privilege extends beyond the Portiuncula to others churches, especially held by Franciscans, throughout the world.
A plenary indulgence is a mighty tool for works of mercy and weapon in our ongoing spiritual warfare. A plenary indulgence is the remission, through the merits of Christ and the saints, through the Church, of all temporal punishment due to sin already forgiven.
To obtain the Portiuncula plenary indulgence, on 2 Augusta until midnight a person can visit a Minor Basilica, a cathedral, or one’s parish church and (sources differ) prayer one Our Father, one Apostle’s Creed, and on other prayer of your choice (a Hail Mary seems good) and pray for the intentions designated by the Roman Pontiff (a Memorare and Glory Be could be good for this).
Conditions: You must intend to gain the indulgence and, for the indulgence to be plenary, you must be at least intentionally free from attachment to sin. Moreover, you must make a good confession and receive Communion within 20 days of 2 August.
You should be free, at least intentionally, of attachment to venial and mortal sin, and truly repentant.
BTW… the faithful can gain a plenary indulgence on a day of the year he designates (cf. Ench. Indul. 33 1.2.d). You might choose the anniversary of your baptism or of another sacrament or name day.
My friend the great Fr. Finigan, His Hermeueticalness, has some excellent points and suggestions in his post about the Porticuncula indulgence. HERE
Also, HERE, Fr. Finigan wrote about the requirement that we not have any attachment to sin, even venial. He offers quite a hopeful view of what sounds like a difficult prospect. I warmly recommend it.
Regarding “the Pope’s intentions”, this means intentions designated by the Pope. However, some people have wondered how strict this is, or what to do it the intention is… odd. I wrote about this issue HERE. Read that post. However, here’s an excerpt:
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Because we are Unreconstructed Ossified Manualists, and we love our old dependable compendia of theology with its sober and thorough analyses, we can turn to the manual by Prümmer.
Prümmer says that the intentions of the Holy Father for which we are to pray have a tradition of five basic categories which were fixed:
1. Exaltatio S. Matris Ecclesiae (Triumph/elevation/stability/growth of Holy Mother Church)
2. Extirpatio haeresum (Extirpation/rooting out of heresies),
3. Propagatio fidei (Propagation/expansion/spreading of the Faith)
4. Conversio peccatorum (Conversion of sinners),
5. Pax inter principes christianos (Peace between christian rulers).
These five categories were also listed in the older, 1917 Code of Canon Law, which is now superseded by the 1983 Code.
However, they remain good intentions all.
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Hi Fr, thanks for reminding everyone about this special indulgence.
However, according to the Enchiridion, it may be gained in fact from noon on August 1 through midnight on August 2. To gain it, in addition to the usual conditions mentioned in this post, one must indeed pray an Our Father and Creed at the church they visit. This may be an older part of the grant no longer required, but why not do it: have the intention during one’s devout visit to the church of honoring Our Lady of the Angels.
There is in fact no option for anyone to simply annually choose a day of the year to gain a plenary indulgence, except when it is tied to a visit to a major or minor basilica that has the indulgence attached to it, and then a person can visit that place on any day once a year and gain a plenary indulgence (i.e. the major shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Maryland, which announces this on a plaque on the wall).
Also, there is already a designated indulgence for a person who renews their baptismal promises according to any legitimate formula on the anniversary of their baptism each year.
Some readers might do well to take note that the 1968 code is the only one currently in force, since it specifically stated that previous grants (unless renewed by request at the time or by the new code itself) were suppressed. Older pious books will often mention indulgences that are no longer valid, even if many or most of them would end up qualifying under the new code as gaining a partial indulgence.
Thanks, Father. It lines up with a First Saturday too, which I plan to begin this upcoming Saturday, thanks be to God.
Thanks for the reminder and the degree of detail. in past years i had mistakenly thought the indulgence was limited to churches in care of Franciscans, which sharply limits availability in these parts. now i have a plan for tomorrow.
Oh my goodness I don’t care in the least bit if the “indulgenced” prayers/devotions I use from pre-1968 books are suppressed or not. The prayers and devotions I find, especially in my old Latin missal, are certainly more vivid, elegant and useful for meditation than any sorry sounding effort I could make (though I try). Why reinvent the wheel? It’s my private devotion. I’m not looking to gain points on the big indulgence scoreboard in the sky. Just trying to get closer to God.
maternalView, the granting of indulgences is a juridical act of the Church’s authority that is akin to the way absolution of sin works. Pre-1968 prayers themselves are not suppressed, obviously, but the specific indulgences that may have been once attached to many of them are no longer valid. It is an important point to be made. Of course you – we – can use legitimate prayers from the past anytime. That’s really not the point, is it? Seek indulgences or don’t seek indulgences – they’re not required by the Church, but for those who seek to gain them, doing them correctly does matter.
I was at the Porziuncola in Santa Maria degli Angeli a couple weeks ago…. a remarkable place to visit.