May 1 - Traditional Indulgence of the day!

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

May

1

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

• 698. The Indulgence of the Portiuncula

  • potential plenary indulgence… Grant 33

NOTE:

• 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.

• The full written outline of the requirements for a partial or plenary indulgence, found at the end of an indulgence prayer/practice, may be omitted if not all of the information is unique or notable. (You will see three dots when there is a break in text …)

CHAPTER IX. “FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS” – Art. VII. “MISCELLANEOUS DEVOTIONS” - XXXII. THE INDULGENCES OF THE PORTIUNCULA

698. If for some special reason it seems advisable to allow this indulgence to be gained in a semi-public oratory, only those belonging to the community or group of the faithful for whose convenience the oratory was erected may avail themselves of the said indulgence.

The faculty is hereby granted to local Ordinaries, to parish priests and even to rectors of churches which enjoy the privilege of the indulgence, of transferring the day for gaining the indulgence from the second day of August, if this should fall on a day not a Sunday, to the Sunday immediately following, when a reasonable cause seems to make this advisable.

Those who wish to gain this indulgence must confess their sins, and if necessary, obtain absolution, receive Holy Communion, and visit a church or oratory possessing the privilege, and there pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff in the usual manner: i.e., they must say at least six times Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be, at each visit, which they may repeat at will in order to gain the indulgence as often as they desire. (See the decree of the S. P. Ap., July 10, 1924, concerning the regulations for granting and gaining the Indulgence of the Portiuncula. -Cf. the Acta Apostolica Sedis, vol. xvi, page 345.)

All cathedral and parochial churches, and moreover other churches and oratories - for which, especially in the larger parishes, the convenience of the faithful according to the prudent judgment of the Ordinaries of places, seems to demand it - can obtain the privilege of the Portiuncula from the Sacred Penitentiary upon a petition for it with a recommendation from the Ordinary (S. P. Ap., May 1, 1939; Cf. the Acta Apostolica Sedis, vol. xxxi, page 226).

This traditional indulgence does not necessarily explain what the “Portiuncula” indulgence is or how to do it. Rather is details regulations and allowances for this indulgence. So in that sense, this is Notwithstanding.

BUT, the Portiuncula indulgence itself is very much still available as a current indulgence. Under Grant 33 is says this: A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who visit, and there devoutly recite an

Our Father and the Creed,… [at] a minor basilica, a cathedral church, [and/or] a parish church… on August 2, the day of the “Portiuncula” indulgence.

You may wonder, what is the ‘Portiuncula’ indulgence? That is, what is a ‘Portiuncula’ and what is it’s story? The Portiuncula is a historic chapel in the town of Santa Maria degli Angeli, near Assisi, Italy. St. Francis had a special love and connection to this little chapel, and one night he reported that while praying there Jesus and Mary appeared to him in a vision and asked him what he wanted. He said that he wanted ‘a full pardon of sin to those who, having repented and confessed their sins, shall visit this church.

The Lord was said to have granted St. Francis’ wish, and eventually an indulgence was created around the concept. Originally, the indulgence likely only applied to the Portiuncula itself, and was only available on Aug 1st (from 12:00, noon) to Aug 2nd (until midnight). Later it was expanded to some other churches/chapels, and the indulgence could be transferred if it was fitting. Now, today, this indulgence applies to any of the general locations listed in the Grant, available on Aug 1st (from 12:00, noon) to Aug 2nd (until midnight), and/or on any date it may justifiably be transferred to.

*A last note I want to make is that, often times, a Christ-given promise and an indulgence are not exactly the same thing. This is the same case for the Divine Mercy promise that was given to St. Faustina. This is to say that, the promise is one thing, and a created indulgence, even thought it is similar in nature, is still most likely a separate thing. This is important to know because firstly: the two thinng may have diffrent requires, and secondly: you may be able to gain both within a day, and it would not go against the usually rule of gaining one plenary indulgence per day.

Here is an article talking more about the Portiuncula chapel/landmark and St. Francis’ connection to it.

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.