About Indulgences in Plain English

The starting point for a correct understanding of what indulgences are and how they are applied for the spiritual benefit of the faithful must be the beautiful reality of the Mystical Body of Christ in which we live through Baptism. 

Saul, the future St. Paul, was on his way to Damascus with murderous thoughts to do away with the fledging Church of God in that city. This is what happened before he got there: He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Acts 9:4. From that shocking experience, St. Paul understood that by persecuting members of the early Church, he had been persecuting the Lord Jesus Christ himself as Head of the Mystical Body. Thanks to that experience, in St. Paul’s letters we find the best doctrine on the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ. Especially in 1 Corinthians 12: 12-24, St. Paul draws many parallels between the human body and the Mystical Body of Christ and then he adds: so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy. Now you are Christ’s Body, and individually parts of it. 1 Corinthians 12:25-27.

Let us first reflect on what causes the Body of Christ to suffer: it is sin, any sin however small brings pain to the whole Body. Sin is an offense against God for breaking one of His laws. Although God cannot be hurt by anything, sin included, the Church, (Mystical Body of Christ) is hurt, and suffers.

The ordinary way in which the faithful can be reconciled with God and with His Church for the suffering caused by sinning is by availing themselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). Penitents who are truly sorry for their sins and who resolve, with the help of grace, to avoid sinning in the future and who receive absolution, have their sins washed away by the Blood of Christ through the ministry of the Church. However, they need to do the “penance” assigned to them by the confessor. Penance consists of expressions of love such as prayers, charitable work, sacrifices, fasting, almsgiving, and so on, all designed to make up for the hurts caused to the “militant” part of the Mystical Body of Christ, the one living on this earth as distinct from the “triumphant” part (the Blessed Mother and all the Saints), and the “suffering” part, the one undergoing purification in the state of  Purgatory.

Let us now reflect on what brings honor, solace, and joy to the Mystical Body of Christ. Docile and humble cooperation with the Holy Spirit enables the faithful to bear the fruits of genuine love: In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, Galatians 5:22. Since in Heaven there is no reason or need for faith and hope, the only reality which lasts for all eternity is love. God is love, those in Heaven are love (cf. 1 John 3:2). Love creates a permanent bond among the Saints, the faithful on this earth, and those being purified in the state called Purgatory. This bond is referred to as the Communion of Saints.

This bond of love is meant to be a source of tremendous comfort for us sinners. This is because, in virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted to her by the Lord (cf. Matthew 18:18 and John 20:23), the Church makes available to us and to those being purified the treasury of the infinite merits and prayers of Jesus Christ, those of the Blessed Mother and all the Saints, all the acts of love, the prayers and all the fruits of the Spirit, which those still on this earth are bearing.

Indulgences can be thought of as the applications of the riches of the Church’s treasury to lessen or nullify the temporal punishment resulting from sinning. Indulgences can be likened to a spiritual balm to soothe or eliminate the pain caused to the whole Body of Christ and to aid the faithful’s efforts to correspond to the Holy Spirit in their sanctification. The Church assigns certain conditions for the application of indulgences. The conditions are set by those to whom Christ has given the power to bind and to loose.

Indulgences can be partial, or plenary as defined by the Church. The partial ones are intended to remit a determined portion of the temporal punishment due to sins; the plenary ones remit the temporal punishment in its totality up to the time they are requested for those still on this earth.

Within the Communion of Saints, indulgences can be applied to the faithful pilgrims on this earth and/or to those undergoing purification after death. With every sin committed, the image of Christ, which was perfectly pure on the day of Baptism, undergoes woeful “punishment” and disfigurement. After death, this “punishment” inflicted by sins to the image of Christ in each of the faithful, needs to undergo a punishment of fire until all the dross and incrustations built on that image are “burned away”, and they become pure love just as God is the pure perfection of love. Right away it should be said that we must think of this punishment of fire not as chastisement of a vengeful God but, rather, as an expression of His infinite love and mercy. For example, the finest swords, including the famed samurai swords, undergo an incredible amount of punishment in the forge of skillful smiths and the vigorous, incessant pounding of their hammers until perfection is reached.

The purification is done by a combination of three “fires:” First, the fire of God’s infinite love and mercy. Second, the fire of the excruciating pain and sudden, fierce embarrassment of the faithful being purified as, free from the distractions of earthly life, they realize their utter unworthiness and sinfulness in the blinding light of God’s absolute perfection. Lastly, the fire of the love of members of the militant Church expressed by their prayers, sacrifices, fasting, and acts of love including application to specific faithful departed plenary or partial indulgences and, most importantly, the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Cross to shorten the length of their purification.

Fr. Dino Vanin, PIME

The Missions Corner