Good Things in Common

What do Holy Doors, pilgrimages and the Daily Prayer of the Order have in common?  Indulgences!

 

Recently some Members asked about Church-granted indulgences related to passing through the Holy Door of Mercy. Since we are soon to embark upon the 2016 Lourdes Pilgrimage and a Holy Door has been established there, it seemed a good idea to investigate what this means to us as pilgrims. 

 

To provide a better understanding of indulgences, Msgr. Edward J. Dillon as chaplain to the pilgrimage was consulted.

 

The Church teaches that when sins have been forgiven through the sacrament of Reconciliation there remains some residual effect, or consequences, to be resolved; and so we know the concept of Purgatory as a place or process of purification for a person to go through before entering the Beatific Vision of God. An indulgence absolves that residual effect, either in whole (a plenary indulgence) or in part (a partial indulgence). Indulgences are attached to particular works or prayers. For a plenary indulgence, however, which can be earned for oneself or for a soul in Purgatory, the person must take additional steps to receive the sacrament of Penance and Holy Communion and pray for the intentions of the pope, saying one Our Father and one Hail Mary, or some equivalent prayer.

 

Holy Doors

Many Holy Doors have been authorized during the 2016 Holy Year of Mercy beyond those at the four principal basilicas in Rome. Each diocese has one and special places, such as shrines like Lourdes and Our Lady of Good Help in Wisconsin, also have them. So there are many opportunities to obtain a plenary indulgence in this way.

 

Pilgrimages

Participating in a pilgrimage, such as our Order’s pilgrimage to Lourdes or to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, allows a person to obtain a partial indulgence. And so for that matter does the recitation of the Daily Prayer of the Order.

 

In addition, during each 2016 pilgrimage there will be processions for all Members of the Order through the designated Holy Door. The conditions will be easily fulfilled. Remember to receive Holy Communion at any of the Masses. The prayers for the pope can be recited and the sacrament of Penance can be received in reasonable proximity to entering the Holy Door. Yet there is more. Through these indulgences “the Church wants to also spur works of devotion, penance and charity” (CCC 1478). The use of these indulgences helps us to understand that “by our efforts alone, we would be incapable of making reparation for the wrong we have done, and that the sins of each individual harm the whole community” (Benedict XVI Sacramentum Caritatis 21).