All Souls Octave FAQs of 2024

Frequently asked Questions of the All Souls Octave (From November 1st-8th, 2024)

This article is written to specifically address the All Souls Octave-Plenary indulgence, which takes place on November 1st-8th. Other indulgences, even indulgences for the dead of indulgences that can be done on the same days, may have different guidelines.

1) Must I do all 8 days, and what happens if I don’t?

2) Who can I gain this indulgence for?

3) What must I do each day, and is it possible that I do the requirements differently?

4) What if I’m incapable of doing this indulgence?

5) How do I know if it worked, or if I did it right?

1) Must I do all 8 days, and what happens if I don’t?

> “Is it necessary to visit the cemetery everyday from Nov. 1 to 8?”

> “If visiting the cemetery of a beloved relative every day between 11/1 - 11/8, but have miss one day, does that negate the indulgence?”

This may be thew most common question surrounding the November All-Souls Octave. And the answer is NO. You do not have to do all 8 days of this Octave for it to count. And missing a day does not negate the indulgences you receive.

This octive is not like a novenas in that the indulgences gained on these days are not dependent on the days before or after them. Each one of these 8 days is it’s own, independent day/work.

2) Who can I gain this indulgence for?

> “Is this indulgence for me or for my loved one that passed away”

> “I have a question, the indulgence, is it only for the poor souls? Or can I earn one as well if I fulfill the requirements?”

These indulgences, connected to the Octave, are only applicable for souls in purgatory. There are other indulgences (the majority of them) that you may gain for yourself or, once you gain the indulgence, you can then offered it up for the souls in purgatory.

These other indulgences can be gained and offered up at any time, and 2 easy ways to gain a plenary indulgence is to 1) pray a rosary in a church, in an oratory, or in a group of 3 people or more. Or 2) you may read a Catholic bible for a half an hour.

> “Do we get to choose who gets the indulgence or not”

As far as specific souls in purgatory, like choosing our loved ones, we do not get to choose who receives our gained indulgence. Instead, we must trust that Christ, who we offer our indulgences up to for the souls in purgatory, is distributing them in a perfect manner.

This being said, there is nothing against the idea that we can’t prayerfully lift up our loved ones to Christ in the hope that He will remember their souls in particular.

> “Is it true that this Nov 1-8 indulgence can only be applied to a holy soul who was a Catholic in the earthly life? Can it be someone who was considering to be a Catholic (ie started the RCIA)? If not, why not?”

This is not true. The fact is that anyone in purgatory is eligible to receive our offered indulgences, whether they were Catholic on earth or not. Saints who have had visions of purgatory will sometimes talk about how they see Non-Catholic souls there, and how these souls are especially grateful for our prayers and indulgences because they often have far fewer people on earth to pray for them. Not many people, other then Catholics, believe in purgatory and praying for the departed.

3) What must I do each day, and is it possible that I do the requirements differently?

>“you must do everything at the same day?”

What must be done in order to gain a plenary indulgence through this octave is: Visit a Cemetery and pray for the dead, receive Eucharistic Communion, go to Confession, Pray for the Pope/His intentions, be Detached from sin. All of this (except for confession) must be done each time you want to gain a Plenary indulgence (up to 8 days, between Nov 1st-8th).

>“Praying for the Pope's intention on particular month - yes. Praying for the Pope - which is a good thing to do - does not satisfy the requirement.”

This was addressed to me personally and this person’s comment is true! Technically only praying for the Pope’s intentions is required… I think.

I wanted to address this because usually I try not to add on anything to indulgences unless it’s reasonably necessary. It’s just that, after reading and re-reading what the Manuel of Indulgences says (the Church’s official book on indulgences) I am still confused by the language. Whether it is saying the Pope’s intentions, or for the Pope who offers intentions. So, this is the one thing where I will usually put a slash “/,” so that an indulgence is not negated because I understood it wrong… plus, like this commenter said: “Praying for the Pope... is a good thing to do.”

> “In this article the confession and Holy Communion was not mentioned? One just have to visit a cemetery and that is all?”

Every plenary indulgence requires that you: receive communion, go to confession, pray for the Pope/his intentions, detachment from sin, and a work (in this case visit/pray at a cemetery). These are required for every Plenary indulgence, regardless of if they are explicitly mentioned or not.

I don’t always explicitly mention the requirements in my posts and some reason for this is because: the longer a post is, the more likely the reader will lose interest. Or, the longer a post is, the greater chance there is that some of the important/pointed information in the post will be looked over. Or, the longer a post is, especially with information that the reader already knows, the less likely they will read the post for it’s new information. So, although I try to make this information easily accessible, I don’t’ often include it in every post I make.

>“Can I just go to mass the rest of the days and pray?”

>“How about attending mass and receiving the Holy communion instead of visiting the cemetery?”

> “Do you have to visit a cemetery? Can you pray at home or at Mass or during Adoration instead?”

For this Octave it is a requirement that one goes to a cemetery each day they want THIS indulgence. BUT, if praying at a church is more natural for you then going to a cemetery every day, there are definitely other ways to gain Plenary indulgences by praying at a church. Like I mentioned above, one may gain an indulgence by praying a rosary in a church or oratory. If that church has 14 crosses (often accompanied by statues or images) you may also do stations of the cross at a church. These indulgences are just as good as the All Souls Octave indulgences, and they can be done any/every day!

> “Good morning! I have question, what if prayer is not mentally done? Many thanks. God bless”

If you pray aloud, this does count. If you only visit a cemetery but do not pray at all (out load or silently/mentally) it would not count toward this indulgence. Nearly every indulgence requires some form of prayer, meditation, or general intention to raise our minds to God.

>“I did this but couldn’t go to the cemetery because it is in another state. I have a picture of the grave stones so that for my prayers. [Will this worked?]”

You do not have to go to a cemetery/grave of a specific person in order to gain an indulgence (and offer that indulgence up in prayer, to Christ, on their behalf.) Any cemetery will work, regardless of if you know someone buried there or not.

So, in this case, this person probably did not gain a plenary indulgence on this day. However they probably did gain a partial indulgence (which is still helpful for the souls in purgatory). Also, they posted this question before the 8th, so there were more days for them to try again.

**Partial indulgences only need for you to do a work (visit the cemetery) and be sorry for your sins.

>“I went today to the cemetery and prayed the novena and few more prayers for the dead. So is that enough at the cemetery?

>“Do I just walk in cemetery and pray out loud to release the souls?”

There are no specific prayers, or amount of prayer that needs to said. As long as the prayers you say are said devoutly for the departed, you may pray a short prayer or a long prayer. One prayer or a series of prayers. Out loud, or silently/mentally.

4) What if I’m incapable of doing this indulgence?

>“How does a homebound bedbound individual Gain a plenary indulgence?”

If you are homebound, the best way to get an answer for this is to talk to your priest. Priest’s are capable of dispensing certain things, like what may be required or the time frame that it may be required by.

Otherwise, in past years, the Church has emphasized that those who are impeded may be able to gain this indulgence by “mentally visiting” a cemetery instead.

>“I have a question. Where there is no cemetery what will I do?”

If this is your situation, the best way to get an answer for this is to talk to your priest. As mentioned above, priests may be able to offer alternatives or special arraignments to gain this indulgence.

Otherwise my advice here would be that maybe it would be best to try a different type of indulgence. For example, reading a Catholic bible for a half an hour or praying a rosary with a small group of 3 (like your family) may not require that you go anywhere else.

5) How do I know if it worked, or if I did it right?

> “How do u know if your family is released from purgatory”

Unless God grants us some divine vision or revelation, we do not know how, when, or to what soul in purgatory our indulgences are applied. We must be comfortable trusting Christ entirely with this, that he is making these indulgences possible and that he is distributing them as He sees best.

>“Does it count if it is a Jewish cemetery?”

>“Does it need to be a catholic cemetery?”

The cemetery you visit does not have to be a Catholic cemetery. That is, there’s nothing said specifically about cemetery types or avoiding any kind of cemetery. It just says “visit a cemetery.”

> “Can I visit a Columbarium?”

Although this indulgence doesn't say, I would think that a Columbarium is a ‘type of cemetery,’ and therefor it would count.

> “I would like an example of "detached" from sin.”

This is the hardest requirement to explain. And this is true for basically everyone I’ve come across to tries to explain it. So for this I will refer you to an article I wrote as I was looking up what “detachment” might mean. This article more or less outlines my view of what detachment from sin may look like, and this is not endorsed by any indulgence-related authorities. It’s simply a starting point of consideration, for something that is very complex.