Plenary indulgence for Year of Consecrated Life decreed in Boston

The Boston Pilot reports that Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley has issued a decree to allow Catholics to receive a plenary indulgence during the Year of Consecrated Live through Feb. 2, 2016. 

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a plenary indulgence is: "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints."

Effective Sept. 10, Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston can receive the plenary indulgence in the following ways:

1. make a pilgrimage to Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St. Clement Shrine during the Year of Consecrated Life; or

2. attend Year of Consecrated Life celebrations such as the one held at the Cathedral on Nov. 29 or any open church in the archdiocese that day after 2 p.m.; or

3. worship with Franciscan women and men at their places of worship and/or, where invited, at their residences on Oct. 3, the Transitus of Saint Francis, or Oct. 4, the Feast of Saint Francis.

While making pilgrimage or attending a special Year of Consecrated Life celebration, those seeking indulgence must:

1. recite publicly the Liturgy of the Hours or for an appropriate amount of time dedicate themselves to pious thoughts;

2. pray the Our Father, recite the Profession of Faith or Creed and make "pious invocations" to the Blessed Virgin Mary;

3. pray for the intentions of the pope and make a sacramental confession and receive Communion as soon as possible. 

Read more about The Gift of the Indulgence from the Vatican website today.