Due to the difficulties imposed by COVID-19, the Holy See has granted special indulgences during November: A plenary indulgence is granted (under the usual conditions; see below), applicable to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, every day during the month of November, for anyone who devoutly visits a cemetery, even if they can only do so mentally, and prays for the departed.
The plenary indulgence usually attached to All Souls’ Day has also been extended this year: this indulgence can now be obtained on any day during November by devoutly visiting a church or oratory and reciting the Our Father and the Creed (under the usual conditions; see below).
Those unable to leave their homes can also receive a plenary indulgence by “uniting themselves spiritually to other members of the faithful,” and praying for the deceased, on condition that they are “completely detached from sin” and have the intention of fulfilling the other conditions (Confession, Communion, and prayer for the Pope’s intentions) when possible. It is suggested that one pray before an “image of Jesus or the Blessed Virgin Mary”. Recommended prayers are: “prayers for the deceased, Morning or Evening Prayer from the Office of the Dead, the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, meditating on various Gospel passages proposed for the liturgy of the Dead, or completing a work of mercy by offering to God the suffering and discomforts of one’s own life”.
What’s an Indulgence?
“To understand this doctrine and practice of the Church, it is necessary to understand that sin has a double consequence.
1) Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the ‘eternal punishment’ of sin.
2) On the other hand every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the ‘temporal punishment’ of sin.
The forgiveness of sin and the restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1472, 1473). “’An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.’
The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead” (CCC, 1471).
How to Gain an Indulgence
To gain a partial indulgence, one must be a Catholic in a state of grace and perform the act to which the indulgence is attached with a contrite heart. To gain a plenary (or total) indulgence, you must perform the act (such as those outlined above) with a contrite heart, make a sacramental confession, receive Holy Communion, and pray for the Pope’s intentions (one Our Father and one Hail Mary is customary). In order to be granted the indulgence, it is permissible to go to confession and receive Holy Communion within 20 days of the act; however, it is preferred that this be done on the same day as the act. Indulgences are granted to spur us to penance and help us grow in grace and charity. Consider that we, hopefully, one day will be a “Holy Soul in Purgatory” and will desire to be relieved by the prayers of the faithful.