During the month of November, the Church remembers in a special way all of the faithful departed, urging us to pray for the repose of their souls.
In particular, the Church encourages us to obtain a plenary indulgence for the faithful departed, which remits all of the temporal punishment due to sin. In other words, a plenary indulgence, applied to a soul in purgatory, will be enough to release that soul into heaven.
Since we cannot know with certainty whether our faithful departed are in heaven--unless the Church has canonized them!--we are prudent to pray for them and try to obtain a plenary indulgence for them.
Normally, the plenary indulgence that can be obtained in the month of November is restricted in certain ways, but the Vatican recently issued a decree allowing for the plenary indulgence to be obtained during the entire month of November.
For your reference, here is the decree, which is essentially repeating the same decree from last year.
Here is what you can do to obtain the Plenary Indulgence:
1. Visit a cemetery and pray for the deceased,
2. Or, visit a church or oratory and offer up an Our Father and the Apostles Creed for the deceased.
To obtain the indulgence, in addition to doing the prescribed "work" (in this case, the prayers mentioned above), we MUST also do the following:
- DESIRE. In order to obtain an Indulgence, you have to want to and intend to obtain an indulgence. It doesn't happen by accident. I usually just say before I begin whatever act I do to obtain the indulgence: "Jesus, I'm doing this to obtain a Plenary Indulgence." You can also pray this morning prayer and it should cover you for the day:
"O my God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary (kiss your scapular), I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Jesus from all the altars throughout the world, joining with it the offering of my every thought, word, and action of this day. O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgence and merit I can and I offer them, together with myself, to Mary Immaculate, that she may best apply them in the interests of Thy Most Sacred Heart. Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! Amen." - CONFESS. You have to go to confession "several" days before or after you perform the indulgenced act. Traditionally, this was 8-10 days, although in the Great Jubilee Year of 2000, the amount of days was increased to 20, and that decision remains intact. Note: You must be in a state of grace to obtain a plenary indulgence. In addition, at the time you perform the indulgenced act, you must be free from all attachment to sin. You can't be mad at people, hold grudges, hate anyone, etc. Confess it all and let it go!
- COMMUNION. Receive Holy Communion. During Mass is preferable, although otherwise is allowed. The day of the indulgenced act is also preferred, but not required. You can obtain ONE plenary indulgence per Holy Communion.
- PAPAL INTENTIONS. You must pray for the intentions of the Holy Father. This is not praying for the Pope, himself, but for his intentions, which he releases each month. You don't need to know what they are--God knows. An Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be suffice.
For those who are homebound:
"The elderly, the sick and all those who for serious reasons cannot leave their homes, for example because of restrictions imposed by the competent authority in this time of the pandemic, in order to prevent numerous faithful from crowding into holy places, will be able to obtain the Plenary Indulgence as long as they join spiritually with all the other faithful, completely detached from sin and with the intention of complying as soon as possible with the three usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer according to the Holy Father’s intentions), before an image of Jesus or the Blessed Virgin Mary, recite pious prayers for the deceased, for example, Lauds and Vespers of the Office of the Dead, the Marian Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, other prayers for the deceased dearest to the faithful, or occupy themselves in contemplative reading of one of the Gospel passages proposed by the liturgy of the deceased, or perform a work of mercy by offering to God the sorrows and hardships of their own lives" (from the Vatican decree).
To learn more:
The Gift of the Indulgence, from the Vatican
An article from the Marians of the Immaculate Conception
See also the attached PDF, A Primer on Indulgences.
