Starting from the week of October 28, and then subsequently throughout the so-called “All Souls' Octave” until November 8, it is possible to obtain what are called plenary indulgences for the souls of the deceased.
What does "indulgence" actually mean?
The sin that a person commits always causes some harm around us (and let's admit that it is not always immediately visible – for example, in relationships, when our words deeply hurt someone and they don't show it much). Even though God forgives our sins and never brings them up again (a Christian can experience absolute certainty in the sacrament of reconciliation), the consequences (you may call them effects) of our sins remain, and these need to be rectified somehow by someone (in this sense, we encounter the term “temporal penalties”). During earthly life, we have the opportunity to at least partially rectify the consequences of our own sins (we can apologize, make amends ...), but everything is probably difficult to atone for in our lifetime. We will have the opportunity to do so – even if only with the help of others – in the phase of so-called posthumous purification after death, which we call purgatory.
A person does not live (and cannot live) as a “separated island,” an individual without relationships, but rather his life is significantly shaped by relationships with others, and as we know, relationships do not end with death. Besides natural relationships (family, friends, etc.) a Christian also lives in the community of the church, where we are all members of one body of Christ – in Christ, we are brothers and sisters. That is why it is possible for anyone living in this community to penetrate the process of purification. The acquired indulgences are actually an amazing opportunity, a plea, and assistance to a person in the state of purification, and we help him to make up for what he himself was not able to achieve in life, so that he may recognize and accept as quickly as possible what he has realized about himself as insufficient compared to the likeness of Christ, which he could not attain throughout his life.
And why do indulgences have certain conditions? We can say that there is a “minimum” of acts that the church, led by the Holy Spirit, has wisely established (in the so-called Enchiridion of Indulgences), and which a person must develop in his Christian life as a clear expression of personal desire for deeper connection with God, so that those who can no longer do it by their own strength may receive it in fullness, and for whom we want to obtain it precisely through indulgences.
Unfortunately, “empty” fulfillment of the given conditions without at least some effort towards personal closeness and deepening of the relationship with God is somewhat of a missed target.
How and when is it possible to obtain the so-called plenary indulgences for the deceased?
· Receiving the sacrament of reconciliation
It does not have to be on the exact day; it is sufficient within the range of the days of remembrance. This expresses our effort to cleanse our hearts and our desire for forgiveness and the rectification of our mistakes and to live again in the closeness of God.
· Receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist
Our closest possible connection with Christ, through whom we can assist in connecting with Christ for eternity for our deceased.
· Prayer for the intention of the Pope
Prayer through which we can realize that our faith is always the faith of the whole Church, in which we all form one community, of which the Pope is a symbol.
· Not having a liking for even slight sin
A clear internal and personal decision to resist every evil in any form.
· Performing a pious act
This is prescribed to achieve plenary indulgences, which can only be attributed to the souls in purgatory.
- on the 1st and 2nd of November
Visiting a church combined with the prayer Our Father, the Profession of Faith, and Glory Be to the Father.
- in the period from October 28 to November 8
Visiting a cemetery connected with any prayer for the deceased.
