November 2nd is All Souls Day – a day for Catholics to remember and to pray for the souls in purgatory, and to obtain indulgences for their release. Here is the list of all the requirements necessary for parole (note the subjectivity of the last requirement):
The decree reminds the faithful that to obtain a plenary indulgence it is necessary to observe the “usual conditions”:
1. Sacramental confession, usually within a week before or after obtaining the indulgence. One sacramental confession is sufficient for several indulgences.
2. Eucharistic Communion. Unlike confession, only one indulgence may be obtained for each Communion. Although this Communion may be fulfilled several days before or after obtaining the indulgence, it is preferable that this condition be fulfilled the same day. Thus, those who practice regular confession and daily Mass may obtain a plenary indulgence practically every day.
3. Prayer in keeping with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. Like Communion, prayer for the Pope’s intentions must be recited for the gaining of each plenary indulgence. Although there are no prescribed prayers the condition is satisfied by reciting one Our Father and one Hail Mary.
4. Having the soul completely removed from attachment to any form of sin. This is the most difficult condition as even attachment to venial sin precludes the possibility of obtaining the indulgence. However, note that the condition is not freedom from all venial sin, but from attachment to sin; that is, that there is no sin which the soul is unwilling to renounce.
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All Souls Day. A day (November 2) for Catholics to commemorate the faithful departed, and to pray for their escape from the suffering of Purgatory. Catholicism teaches that the sacrificial death of Jesus removes the guilt of sin, but not the temporal punishment. The soul in purgatory can be helped by gaining indulgences through the prayers of the living, thereby shortening their time of suffering. One plenary indulgence (full pardon of the punishment) can be obtained by visiting a cemetery between November 1 and November 8 and praying for a particular soul in Purgatory. The one praying must be in a state of grace (having received the sacrament of penance within 8 days) and must pray for the intentions of the Pope.
There is no mention of a place of purgation in the Bible. Jesus tells the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in paradise the very next day (Lk 23:43Lk 23:43
English: World English Bible - WEB
43 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”). The sacrificial death of Jesus paid the full penalty for sin; the sinless life of Jesus provides the righteousness that the believer needs to enter heaven. The effect of the fiction of All Souls Day, purgatory, and indulgences is to deceive the Catholic into a false sense of security. They may not be good enough to qualify for direct admittance to heaven, but at least they can qualify for purgatory.
Tags: All Souls Day, indulgence, plenary, purgatory, visit a cemetery