Do you practice gaining Indulgences?

An all too often forgotten immemorial Catholic practice is that of gaining or ʻwinningʻ indulgences. 

In order to do what we can (while in this earthly life) to engage in reparation for the temporal punishment due to our sins we ought to know what indulgences are and the necessary conditions for gaining them.

What is an indulgence?

"can. 992† An indulgence is the remission before God of temporal punishment for sins whose guilt is already forgiven, which a properly disposed member of the Christian faithful gains under certain and defined conditions by the assistance of the Church which as minister of redemption dispenses and applies authoritatively the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints."

How do we gain indulgences? (Notes in Red our mine)

"The conditions for the winning of Indulgences are, in addition to the reception of Baptism and communion with the Church;

α) The state of Sanctifying Grace at least at the close of the prescribed works; (You need to NOT be in mortal sin)

β) Subordination to the one granting the Indulgence;

γ) The habitual intention at least of gaining the Indulgence; (You have to INTEND to receive the specific indulgence)

δ) The exact performance of the prescribed works. Cf. CIC 925, 927; Suppl. 25, 2." (Ott, L. (1957). Fundamentals of Catholic dogma )

What types of indulgences are there?

* There are two types of indulgences. Partial and Plenary:

Partial - Partially remits from the temporal punishment due to sins

Plenary - Fully remits from the temporal punishment due to sins

* To acquire a plenary indulgence the following conditions are required:

1.  Sacramental confession

2.  Reception of the Blessed Sacrament

3. Prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff

4. Total detachment from sin, even venial sin. 

Where can we look to see approved indulgences?

There is a manual of indulgences put out by the Supreme Tribunal Apostolic Penitentiary (Tribunal of the Roman Curia in charge the governance of indulgences)  The manual is known as the ʻEnchiridion Indulgentiarumʻ.

image from the 'Public domain' via wikimedia commons. St Peter in Penitence by El Greco

The ʻRogation Daysʻ after the 5th Sunday after Easter

The Rogation Days are the "Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day are observed by all Catholics of the Latin rite as days of solemn supplication, and are called Rogation days because the Litany of the Saints is chanted in the procession which takes place on each of the three days, rogatio being the Latin equivalent for the Greek word litany. " (Addis, W. E., & Arnold, T. (1887). A Catholic Dictionary)

The observance of the ʻRogation Daysʻ started in the 5th century when St. Mamertus (who was Bishop of Vienne) instituted these ʻlitaniesʻ as a public supplication asking God to hold back his wrath upon their city which had gone through nearly half a century of various calamities. As most true immemorial customs usually do, the example of the ʻRogation Daysʻ in Vienne was soon followed in many places places throughout the world.  It became a general observance throughout the Church soon after Pope Leo III introduced it in Rome in 816

image from the 'Public domain' via wikimedia commons.  St. Valentine Kneeling in Supplication

Is Hell Empty? (The answer from the from Church Fathers, Saintly Visionaries, the Church, & Christ Himself!)

There are many ways to demonstrate that the Tradition of the Church clearly shows that Hell is NOT empty.

1. You could look at the writings of the Doctors of the Church like St. Augustine (civ. Dei 21.3.1; ench. 93) or St. Thomas Aquinas (STh., Supplementum q.69 a.2) who clearly believed there ARE souls in Hell

2. You could look to the saintly testimony of saints like St. Drithelm or the visionaires of Our Lady of Fatima that were shown damned souls in Hell.

3. You could also consider the fact that it is a ʻDe Fideʻ teaching that "The souls of those who die in the condition of personal grievous sin enter Hell."(Ott, L. 1957)

It would logically flow that to believe that NO ONE is in hell is to believe that NO ONE dies in the condition of grievous personal sin. That is not a logical premise. period. 

4. Lastly, and most definitively, you could look to the very words of Christ in verses like Mt 25:34 ; Mt 7:13–14 ; Lk 13:23-24, and many others. As an example lets take a look specifically look at Lk 13:23-24

“And a certain man said to him: Lord, are they few that are saved? But he said to them: Strive to enter by the narrow gate: for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter and shall not be able.”

If no one is in Hell then why ʻstriveʻ? Did Jesus lie when he says "for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter and shall not be able"?

Certainly it should be clear that we cant discard the teachings St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, visionary Saints like St. Drithelm, De fide teachings of the Church, Our Lady of Fatima, and the very Words of Christ for a universalist view that Hell is empty!

Hell is real. Grievous sin can you send there. Souls have already been sent there. DON’T go to Hell! Go to Heaven!

image from the 'Public domain' via wikimedia commons.  Judgement of Christ by Antoine Joseph Wiertz

Augustine on the Sinlessness of Mary

"We must except the holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom I wish to raise no question when it touches the subject of sins, out of honour to the Lord; for from Him we know what abundance of grace for overcoming sin in every particular was conferred upon her who had the merit to conceive and bear Him who undoubtedly had no sin" (De nat. et grat. 36.42)

image from the 'Public domain' via wikimedia commons. Augustinus in betrachtendem Gebet, by Botticelli

Rules for Catholic Biblical Interpretation

St. Peter, in his first epistle, teaches us that "no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation" (1 Pet 1:20) He then goes on, in the same letter, to warn us that in Scripture there "certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Pet 3:16)

Clearly interpreting Scripture is not something any Catholic should take lightly. At the very same time the regular reading of Scripture IS something recommended for Catholics. In fact there are even indulgences attached to the reading of Scripture for even only a short amount of time (S.C. Ind., Dec 13, 1898)(Enchiridion Indulgentiarum n.50)

How then are Catholics to properly interpret Scripture without falling into pitfalls mentioned by St. Peter?

The answer can be found in the encyclicals of the great Roman Pontiffs. Denzinger points out that we ought to follow the "principles and norms of interpretation rightly established by Our predecessors of happy memory, Leo XIII in the Encyclical Letter “Providentissimus,” Benedict XV in the Encyclical Letter, “Spiritus Paraclitus,” and also by us in the Encyclical Letter, “Divino Efflante Spiritu.” [DS 3889]

Fr. Laux, in his ʻIntroduction to the Bibleʻ (1932) summarizes Leo XIIIʻs rules for Catholic Interpretation:

"1. No sense or meaning may be attributed to any part or passage of the Bible which would be contrary to the solemn or ordinary teaching of the Church. This rule is known as the "Analogy of Faith"

2. Where the Church has defined the meaning of a certain passage in the Scriptures, it must be accepted as the true meaning intended by the Holy Ghost. The meaning of very few passages in Holy Writ has been thus defined by the Church.

3. Whenever all the Fathers interpret in one and the same manner any text of the Bible as pertaining to the doctrine of faith and morals, they must be faithfully followed.

4. The opinion of other Catholic writers is not as great as that of the Fathers; still, the opinion commonly accepted by them is a safe guide

5. If the results of Biblical criticism or exegesis are inconsistent with the teaching of the Church, it argues a positive defect or mistake in the critical investigation, due to the critic himself or to insufficient data"

Interpreting Scripture without the ʻAnalogy of Faithʻ will inevitably lead us to our ʻown destructionʻ. However,with the guidance of Holy Mother Church, we can engage Scripture and allow it to deepen our understanding of the Catholic Faith.

image used with permission. By Kris A. 

Vegetarians SUSPECTED OF HERESY!

"BRAGA (560).1 Held about 560, by Lucretius, the metropolitan, assisted by seven other bishops, against the errors of the Priscillianists. They drew up twenty-two canons, mostly relating to ceremonies. . . . . The fourteenth orders clerks who are unwilling to eat flesh, to avoid the suspicion of Priscillianism, to be compelled to eat at least herbs boiled with meat."

(Landon, E. H. (1909). Vol. 1: A Manual of Councils of the Holy Catholic Church (122). Edinburgh: John Grant.)

BOOM goes the dynamite!

Lesson -In order to avoid suspicion of heresy, Eat meat OFTEN :) 

To help everyone out in our mission to avoid such suspicion here is a video I made a few months ago of one of my favorite chicken recipes. The short hand is here:

Bok Choy Chicken - Make sauce overnight: 2T tamari, 1T ginger, ½ c grapeseed oil, ½ c chopped scallion. Steam 2 halved chicken breasts, 2 halved baby bok choy 15min. Serve w sauce. (Recipe from the 4-Hour Chef, by Tim Ferriss)

The Necessity of the Ascension (Questions from the Gospel of the 4th Sunday after Easter)

“But I tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that I go. For if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you: but if I go, I will send him to you.” (Jn 16:7) 

This verse, from the Gospel reading of the 4th Sunday after Easter, has an air of mystery to it. 

Why does Christ say that unless He GOES the Paraclete will not come?

Why does Christ NEED to Ascend to the Father? Why couldn't he just stay here, in human form, with us?

St. Augustine gives us an answer about John 16:7 in his Letter on the Trinity

"But this is said, not on account of any inequality of the Word of God and of the Holy Spirit, but as though the presence of the Son of man with them would be a hindrance to the coming of Him, who was not less, because He did not “empty Himself, taking upon Him the form of a servant,” as the Son did. It was necessary, then, that the form of a servant should be taken away from their eyes, because, through gazing upon it, they thought that alone which they saw to be Christ. Hence also is that which is said, “If ye loved me, ye would rejoice because I said, “I go unto the Father; for my Father is greater than I:” that is, on that account it is necessary for me to go to the Father, because, whilst you see me thus, you hold me to be less than the Father through that which you see; and so, being taken up with the creature and the “fashion” which I have taken upon me, you do not perceive the equality which I have with the Father." (De Trin. 1.9)

Augustine clarifies that certainly the verse is not intended to intimate some sort of denial of the nature of the Trinity but rather that Christ needed to Ascend so that we would not know Christ ONLY as a man but as truly equal and consubstantial with the Father. 

The Catechism of the Council of Trent has much of the same Augustinian reasoning when addressing the question of why Christ needed to ascend. It also beautifully relates that until Christ, in fleshly form, left our presence our love for Him would be imperfect. Once he DID leave He would be able to send the Holy Ghost, by Divine love, to help PERFECT our love for Him. In other words, His Ascension and sending of the Spirit would allow us to love Him as Fully God and not just as the humanly present Jesus. 

"And, indeed, if Christ the Lord were dwelling on earth, our whole strength would be fixed upon the very sight of his human person, and the enjoyment of his presence, and we should regard only that man, who was to bestow on us such blessings, and would cherish towards him a sort of earthly affection. But, by his ascension into heaven, he has rendered our affection for him spiritual, and has made us venerate and love as God him who, though now absent, is the object of our thoughts. This we learn partly from the example of the Apostles, who, whilst our Lord was personally present with them, seemed to judge of him in some measure humanly; and in part, from these words of our Lord himself: ʻit is expedient for you that I goʻ, for that imperfect love, with which they had cherished Jesus Christ when present, was to be perfected by divine love, and that by the coming of the Holy Ghost; and, therefore, he immediately subjoins: ʻIf I go not, the Comforter will not come to you." (Roman Catechism of Trent 1.7.8)

image from the 'Public domain' via wikimedia commons.  The Ascension by Benjamin West, 1801