December 16 - Traditional Indulgence of the day!

We are evaluating old indulgences that have been approve on todays date of: 

December

16

List of Traditional materials we will be looking at today, and the current/withstanding grants that they satisfy (directly or indirectly).

• 326. Making a novena for the Feast of the B. V. M. ….

  • partial indulgence… Grant 22

NOTE:

• Every prayer may be eligible for a partial indulgence, if applied correctly, under Grant 15.

• Every invocation may be eligible for a partial indulgence, if applied correctly, under ‘General Grant ’ 1 

• Every practice may be eligible for a partial indulgence, if it is applied correctly, under one of the ‘General Grant’s 2, 3, or 4

• Some spelling errors may be present.

• Abbreviations that are found at the end of an indulgence prayer/practice (like S. P. Ap., and S. C. Ind.,) are, in essence, a specific ecclesiastical approval for a particular indulgence.

• Traditional indulgences are ordered by their last date of approval.

CHAPTER V. “THE MOST BLESSED VIRGIN MARY” – Art. I “GENERAL DEVOTIONS TO THE MOST BLESSED VIRGIN” – V. Devout Exercise

326. The faithful who devoutly offer some prays in honor of the Nativity, Presentation, Annunciation, Visitation, Expectation, Purification or Assumption of the B. V. M. at any season of the year, with the intention of continuing these prayers for nine days without interruption, are granted:

An indulgence of 5 years once on each day; a plenary indulgence on the usual conditions at the close of the novena (Plus IX, Audience, Jan. 3, 1849; S. C. of Bishops and Regulars, Jan. 28, 1850; S. C. Ind., Nov. 26, 1876; S. P. Ap., Dec. 16, 1935)

NOTE: For other novenas in honor of the B. V. M. under various titles, see nn. 361, 380, 388, 396.

A devout exercise of thanksgiving to the Most holy Trinity for the gifts and privileges conferred on the B. V. M. is found under n. 47

This devout practice would fall under Grant 22, for novenas. For an indulgence, novenas need to be said “publicly,” which is generally understood that a parish or diocese or the Church at large set-up/approves a novena to be said by the laity. You cannot do it only on your own or in a group that is not sets/approved by a current ecclesiastic authority. Novenas like these, known as ‘private’ novenas, are notwithstanding for an indulgence. The specific reference in the 'Manuel of Indulgences' is as follows: A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who devoutly assist at public novenas.

This concludes the Traditional Indulgences

Every prayer/practice that we evaluated today is taken from the last approved publication of the Raccolta. The Raccolta was once the official book/document/list of approved Indulgences. In its last publication there were 780+ individualized prayers/practices that were approved for gaining indulgences.

In 1967 indulgence practices were revised so that indulgences are now, today, granted more in the style of “category” of prayers/practices rather than individually. This leaves me with the question: how do the indulgenced prayers/practices from the Raccolta (traditional indulgence) line up with the indulgences of today? That question is what this “study” seeks to answer.