An indulgence, the Catechism teaches, is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the Church grants from the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints. It is plenary if it removes all of that punishment and partial if it removes part. An indulgence is never a forgiveness of sin, which comes only through repentance and the sacrament of Penance; it is the Church's help to a Christian who has been forgiven and wants to be wholly healed of the effects of sin, in this life or in purgatory. The conditions below are those of the Church's Manual of Indulgences, summarised by the Apostolic Penitentiary in The Gift of the Indulgence.

What you need

• A work to which the Church has attached a plenary indulgence (see step 2)
• Sacramental confession, within about twenty days before or after the work
• Holy Communion, preferably on the day of the work
• Prayer for the Holy Father's intentions — an Our Father and a Hail Mary suffice
• The interior disposition of being free from all attachment to sin, even venial sin

When to pray it

Whenever you perform an indulgenced work; a plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day (except at the moment of death). Certain days carry special grants: All Souls' Day for the visit to a church, November 1 to 8 for the visit to a cemetery, and the days of a Jubilee year.

Steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Understand what an indulgence is and is not

   Sin has two consequences: guilt, which separates us from God and is forgiven in confession, and a disordered attachment to created things that remains even after forgiveness and must be purified, here or in purgatory; this purification is what the Catechism calls temporal punishment. An indulgence is the Church, exercising the power of binding and loosing given to Peter, applying the merits of Christ and the saints to remit that punishment. It presupposes forgiveness; it cannot be bought, and it does not excuse anyone from repentance or conversion. It is a gift, and the Church attaches it to works of prayer, penance and charity precisely to encourage them.

2. 2

   Step 2: Perform an indulgenced work

   The Manual of Indulgences lists the works. Four can be done on any day: adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for at least half an hour; devout reading or hearing of Sacred Scripture for at least half an hour; the Way of the Cross before legitimately erected stations; and the Rosary (five decades, prayed continuously, with meditation on the mysteries) in a church or oratory, or in a family, a religious community or a pious association. Other grants are attached to particular days and places: visiting a church or oratory on All Souls' Day and praying the Our Father▾ and the Creed; visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead from November 1 to 8; the papal blessing Urbi et Orbi; the renewal of baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil; and the works of a Jubilee. Do the work devoutly and completely.

3. 3

   Step 3: Go to sacramental confession

   A plenary indulgence requires sacramental confession. It need not be on the same day: the Apostolic Penitentiary explains that the confession may be made within about twenty days before or after the work. A single confession suffices for several plenary indulgences gained in that period. Confession is required even if you are not conscious of mortal sin; the point is the sacramental grace of reconciliation, without which the healing an indulgence completes has not begun.

4. 4

   Step 4: Receive Holy Communion

   Receive the Eucharist, preferably on the same day as the indulgenced work, though it too may be received within the same period of several days before or after. Unlike confession, a separate Communion is required for each plenary indulgence: one Communion, one plenary indulgence. Receive in the state of grace and with the usual fast, and let the Communion itself be the centre of the day, not a box to be ticked.

5. 5

   Step 5: Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father

   Pray for the Pope's intentions, preferably on the same day as the work. The condition is fully satisfied by one Our Father▾ and one Hail Mary▾, but any other prayer may be added or substituted according to your devotion. The intentions are the Pope's, not yours: you pray for whatever he is praying for, whether or not you know what that is. As with Communion, a separate prayer is required for each plenary indulgence.

6. 6

   Step 6: Be free from all attachment to sin, even venial

   This is the hardest condition and the most important. It is not the same as being sinless; it means that there is no sin, even a small one, that you are holding on to and unwilling to give up. Examine yourself honestly: is there a habit, a resentment, a compromise that you would rather keep than surrender? Ask God for the grace to let it go. If, despite your good will, this full disposition is lacking, the Church says the indulgence is gained partially rather than not at all. Aim at the full gift, and trust God with the rest.

7. 7

   Step 7: Apply the indulgence to yourself or to the dead

   Decide, at least in a general way, for whom you are gaining the indulgence. You may apply it to yourself, or offer it by way of suffrage for a soul in purgatory: a parent, a friend, or simply the soul most in need. You cannot apply it to another living person, who must gain their own. Many Catholics make it their custom to offer every indulgence for the dead, and in November especially the Church invites this. Then let the matter rest with God; the indulgence is his gift through the Church, and he applies it as he wills.

Tips

• Do not be discouraged by the condition of detachment from sin. If it is lacking, the indulgence is still gained as partial, and the honest attempt is itself a grace.
• One confession serves for several plenary indulgences, but each one needs its own Communion and its own prayer for the Pope.
• Form the intention at least in a general way — 'I wish to gain any indulgences I can' — since indulgences are gained only by those who intend to gain them.
• The indulgence can be applied to yourself or to a soul in purgatory, never to another living person.