Temporal
punishment in Purgatory
Church teachings explain that
individuals who experience trials and tribulations in this world by God's grace
may have them serve as their temporal punishment for forgiven sins (Catechism
1473); other individuals die without having served the full temporal punishment
for their sins. These individuals do not have guilt for sin, because it has been
forgiven either through reconciliation or perfect contrition before death, and
therefore they will attain Heaven. However, they are not yet ready to enter
Heaven, as their punishment has yet to be served. Therefore, these individuals
“enter” Purgatory, and the punishment they owe is "purged." The Church teaches
that the souls in Purgatory desire to be there because they have realized that
they are not yet ready to attain Heaven. Purgatory may be illustrated as a place
of preparation for the deceased; they know they will enter Heaven, and Purgatory
is a place in which the deceased are cleansed for God.
Temporal
punishment and indulgences
In Catholic theology, the salvation
made possible by Jesus allows the faithful sinner eventual admittance to Heaven.
Baptism forgives all of the baptized person's existing sins; any sin committed
after baptism incurs both guilt and a penalty that must be addressed. These are
the sins addressed in reconciliation. With the act of penance after
reconciliation, both the guilt and eternal punishment for the confessed sins are
canceled, though not necessarily the entire temporal punishment. Furthermore,
human beings by nature commit many venial, "light" sins daily which are
unconfessed and, though they don't break communion with God, do damage one
spiritually, and temporal punishment remains for these. This punishment may be
remitted in Purgatory, or by indulgence. The granting of an indulgence is the
spiritual reassignment, as it were, of existing merit to an individual requiring
that merit.
Indulgences occur when the Church,
acting by virtue of its authority, applies existing merit from the Church’s
treasury to an individual. The individual gains the indulgence by participating
in certain activities, most often the recitation of prayers. By decree of Pope
Pius V in 1567, following the Council of Trent, it is forbidden to attach the
receipt of an indulgence to any financial act, including the giving of alms. In
addition, the only punishment remitted by an indulgence is existing punishment,
that is, for sins already committed. Indulgences do not remit punishment for
future sins, as those sins have yet to be committed. Thus, indulgences are not a
“license to sin” or a “get-out-of-Hell-free” card; they are a means for the
sinner to “pay” the “wages” of sin.
"plenary"
indulgences
remit all of the existing temporal punishment due for the individual’s
sins. An individual can only earn one plenary indulgence per day.
"partial"
indulgences
remit only a part of the existing punishment.
Before the Second Vatican Council, partial indulgences were stated as a term of days, weeks, months, or years. This has resulted in Catholics and non-Catholics alike believing that indulgences remit a specific period of time equal to the length of the soul's stay in Purgatory. This was not true, rather the stated length of time actually indicated that the indulgence was equal to the amount of remission the individual would have earned by performing a canonical penance for that period of time. For example, the amount of punishment remitted by a “forty day” indulgence would be equal to the amount of punishment remitted by the individual performing forty days of penance.
The original reasoning for the "days" notation was, in the early days of the Church, a person's only means of returning to the state of grace was performing penances equal to the actions he had committed. Because a person may not receive Eucharist while not in a state of grace, he must perform these penances if he wished to be Catholic. However, because some people had been professional thieves, prostitutes, or some other sinful individual, he would have to undergo hundreds of years of penance to get remission for his sins. To alleviate this, the Church instituted certain actions or prayers which would cleanse him for the amount of time noted.
In addition to remitting punishment for the individual's own existing sins, an individual may perform the actions necessary to gain an indulgence with the intention of gaining the indulgence for a specific individual in Purgatory. In doing so, the individual both gains the indulgence for the soul in Purgatory, and performs a spiritual act of mercy.
To gain an indulgence the individual
must be “in communion” with the Church, and have the intention of performing the
work for which the indulgence is granted. To be “in communion,” the individual
must be a baptized Catholic without any un-reconciled mortal sins (if there are
any un-reconciled mortal sins, the individual has cut himself/herself off from
God and cannot receive the indulgence) and must not be dissenting from the
Church’s teaching. The individual must also intend to receive the indulgence.
Generally, a plenary indulgence requires the following conditions in order to be valid (in addition to the acts performed to earn the indulgence).
pray for the intentions of the Holy Father. An Our Father and a Hail Mary said for the intentions of the Pontiff is sufficient, although you are free to substitute other prayers of your own choice.
It is recommended that the Communion
be received at Mass on the same day that the indulgence is earned.
Reconciliation may be within a prudent period before or after the act
(typically, one week, though during the Great Jubilee, the Vatican specifically
allowed confession within three weeks of the act). Several indulgences may be
earned under the same confession (reconciliation). If any of these additional
conditions is missing, the plenary indulgence will instead be partial.
Penitential redemptions were a
milder form of indulgence that cut down the time of penance.
Indulgenced acts
An act of spiritual communion, expressed in any devout formula whatsoever, is endowed with a partial indulgence.
A plenary indulgence is granted when the rosary is recited in a church or oratory or when it is recited in a family, a religious community, or a pious association. A partial indulgence is granted for its recitation in all other circumstances.
A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who read sacred Scripture with the veneration due God’s word and as a form of spiritual reading. The indulgence will be a plenary one when such reading is done for at least one-half hour [provided the other conditions are met].
A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who devoutly sign themselves with the cross while saying the customary formula: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
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