During certain festivals and occasions, the Church offers the faithful what are known as plenary indulgences, but what are plenary indulgences? To understand the concept, we first have to understand the concept of penance, let’s imagine a freshly cut wood, smooth on all sides, this is how our soul is after receiving baptism, now let’s imagine nails on said board, the nails represent each sin we have committed, with the sacrament of reconciliation, these nails are removed from the board, but the wood now has holes and the occasional splinter, it is no longer smooth, it is through penance that we fill those holes and sand the board again to make it smooth again, this implies effort and dedication. This process can be compared to penance. In order for our soul to be clean again as it was after our baptism, we must not only confess our sins but also comply with penance, this penance is paid in two ways: with suffering and good works in this life or with a time in purgatory.
The Catholic Church, under the authority that Jesus Christ himself granted it (Matthew 18:18), establishes that plenary indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal penalty for sins, already forgiven, in terms of guilt, that a The willing faithful obtain through the mediation of the Church (CCC 1471), that is, the plenary indulgence is in charge of correcting the penalties of those sins that we have confessed up to that moment. A plenary indulgence can be obtained to also remedy the sorrows of a deceased person, so that his soul can be admitted to the Kingdom of Heaven.
How can we obtain a plenary indulgence? There are ways to obtain a plenary indulgence at any time: adore the Blessed Sacrament for half an hour, pray a Stations of the Cross, pray the rosary as a family or in community, read the Bible for half an hour, you can also obtain a plenary indulgence on special occasions, such as: Saying an Our Father and a Creed in a sanctuary or basilica, Receiving the Urbi et Orbi blessing, doing three-day spiritual exercises, Saying a “Te Deum” on December 31 or a “Veni Creator” on January 1 in a church, Pray a “Look at me, O my beloved and good Jesus” before a crucifix any Friday of Lent after communion, pray a “Tantum ergo” on Holy Thursday before the Blessed Sacrament after the services, attend the services on Good Friday, renewing baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil, praying the “Veni Creator” in a church on the day of Pentecost, participating in the Corpus Christi Eucharistic procession, praying an Our Father and a Creed in a cathedral or parish on the 2nd of August, and other opportunities determined by the Supreme Pontiff. All this accompanied by sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. (Enchiridion Indulgentiarum)
Let us use the mediation of our Holy Mother Church, to obtain a plenary or partial indulgence, and while we can, let us deliver these indulgences for the salvation of the souls in purgatory.