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The elusive Raccolta provides a catalog of indulgences which we can gain for the souls in Purgatory

     We continue our segment on Indulgences, both Plenary and Partial in conjunction with the Holy Father's most recent Papal Bull Incarnationis Mysterium for the Pope says in the bull, "Another distinctive sign, and one familiar to the faithful, is the indulgence, which is one of the constitutive elements of the Jubilee. The indulgence discloses the fulness of the Father's mercy, who offers everyone His love, expressed primarily in the forgiveness of sins." Today we look at the various prayers and pious practices by which we can gain Plenary and Partial Indulgences, and explain the out-of-print Raccolta which is the bible for indulgences. For the Eighty-ninth installment of this on-going megaseries, click on WHERE IS HOLY MOTHER CHURCH HEADING AS WE NEAR THE MILLENNIUM?.

      In the last two installments we have been discussing Plenary Indulgences and Partial Indulgences. We are focusing on these in light of the Holy Father's most recent Papal Bull Incarnationis Mysterium in which the Pope outlines Jubilee indulgences for Jubilee 2000 and encourages the faithful to gain indulgences. In this third installment, we want to talk about examples of Plenary Indulgences that can be gained by all the faithful and the origins of these prayers and pious practices. These are listed in the RACCOLTA or Manual of Indulgences which is the authentic collection of prayers and devotions which have been indulgenced by the Popes. Some of these are The Holy Rosary. By reciting the Rosary, at least a third or five of the fifteen decades, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament either in the Tabernacle or exposed in the monstrance, as often as one does this, according to Raccolta 395-c, one can gain a Plenary Indulgence on the condition one has gone to confession and received Holy Communion. The Raccolta, as we mentioned above, contains the prayers, devotions and acts which the Church determines are worthy of meriting indulgences. With each prayer, pious devotion, or novena the particular indulgence gained is listed there. This was first published by the Vatican during the papacy of Pope Pius VII in 1807. It is the Sacred Congregation of the Penitentiary which sets the conditions necessary to gain an indulgence and lists the amount of days the indulgence grants after each authorized prayer or practice. It is indicated by the abbreviation Rac. and the number of the prayer. If the Rosary one is using is blessed, then additional indulgences can be gained.

      Besides the Rosary, another example which falls under the "toties quoties" stipulations - or "as often as one can" is the Way of the Cross. If one has a contrite heart and has received Holy Communion on the same day or within a month after having performed the pious Stations of the Cross in a church, then one can gain a Plenary Indulgence according to Raccolta 194. Of course, All Souls Day is a special day and when one visits a church or chapel or cemetery on November 2 or on the Sunday immediately following this feast and specifically prays for the Church Suffering - the poor souls in Purgatory - with the recitation of six Our Fathers, six Hail Mary's and six Glory Be's for the intentions of the Holy Father, and has met the same obligations of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and received the Holy Eucharist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, then one will receive a Plenary Indulgence per Raccolta 590. Partaking in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can garner one a Plenary Indulgence according to Raccolta 173 in which "The faithful who make an offering and have the sacrifice of the Mass said in reparation for the insults offered by mankind to the most Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist may gain a plenary indulgence on the usual conditions." Additional prayers we can say each day that will help us gain a Plenary Indulgence are the Prayer before a Crucifix which brings a Plenary Indulgence of ten years if recited after Communion according to Raccolta 201. The Prayer to Christ the King brings a Plenary Indulgence as well on the usual conditions once daily per Raccolta 232. Raccolta article 638 states that the Act of Resignation to the Divine Will prayer brings an indulgence of seven years and a Plenary Indulgence at the hour of death for those who say this prayer on any day chosen after Holy Communion and Confession. There are numerous prayers in which, by reciting and fulfilling the requirements asked, we can gain indulgences, mostly Partial Indulgences on a daily basis. These prayers range from the Sign of the Cross to the Angeles. We will publish all of these important prayers this coming year periodically in our PRAYERS & DEVOTION section each day with the appropriate indulgence that can be gained. Most of these prayers can be found in approved prayer books and old missals. Also, most Partial Indulgences for prayers said can be translated into Plenary Indulgences if meeting the requisites of reciting them continuously for a month on the usual conditions.

      In addition to prayers, holy objects or sacramentals that have been blessed and used for prayerful purposes can serve as vehicles for indulgences such as Rosaries as mentioned above as well as Crucifixes, medals, statues, images, etc. provided they are made of strong material and not flimsy or breakable. All the family may use the same Rosary or crucifix or wear the same medal periodically and gain the indulgences attached. In addition, more than one indulgence may be attached to the same Rosary or crucifix. But care must be taken to realize that one and the same prayer will not necessarily avail one to be able to gain all the indulgences attached, unless it is expressly declared. That is why the stipulations in the Raccolta are so important. One of the biggest problems is finding a copy of this book. There are no copies of this material, to our knowledge, on the net and that is sad. Two reasons could be that the last published edition was in 1898 during the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII and the fact that one must receive permission to publish or post the entire Raccolta from the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Holy Relics and that is very difficult to do, even though the Roman Congregation has published an English version adapted for the faithful. Quite possibly because these have not been in circulation for many to read or even be exposed to, the concept of indulgences had all but disappeared among the faithful. Hopefully, now, a century after the production of the last edition of the Raccolta the Congregation will loosen its restrictions and allow a copy to be perused on the web, possibly at the Vatican's own official site. It would be helpful to all Catholics.

     Before wrapping up this installment it is vital to reiterate that one cannot gain indulgences for another living person. Only the souls in Purgatory can gain from the indulgences applicable to them. Even though an indulgence is granted for the living or the dead, the only living person who can gain it is the person who is performing the pious practice faithfully with the intentions outlined in the Raccolta. The Pope alone can grant indulgences directly applicable to the poor souls in Purgatory. The Church grants indulgences for the dead through intercessory prayer for the departed souls. We do not know how much temporal punishment is remitted by any indulgence. That is for God to determine and the only time we'll know is when we meet Him face to face in the Final Judgment and discover how many souls we were able to help through our dedication to indulgences for the souls in Purgatory. We must take care not to fall into the fault of pride in thinking we have freed a particular soul from Purgatory through our performance of requirements for Plenary Indulgences. That is presumption. At the same time we cannot be discouraged but rather must have the confidence that our prayers are meriting great graces for those souls most in need as God deigns. We are merely His instruments. In the next installment we will talk about the Indulgences the Holy Father is providing for Jubilee 2000 in his Papal Bull Incarnationis Mysterium.

Jesus had a method to His manger

     In her column this week, Sister Mary Lucy Astuto prompts us all to think about why God came as a defenseless infant, vulnerable to all things human when He could have come as the Mighty King. Think about it for the reasoning for His meager beginnings are quite pertinent to what He is asking of us. For her column, Why Jesus came as a baby, click on GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER.

WHY JESUS CAME AS A BABY

      On Christmas Day and every day since, I have been thinking about the Baby Jesus and what His coming as a baby signifies.

      There’s nothing sweeter, I think than a little innocent baby. There’s nothing less threatening and dependent, lovable and approachable.

      I think God chose to come to us as a baby, because He wanted to be approachable. In a Divine sense, He wanted to show us that He “needed” us, needed our love and care for Him. Now we all know that God really doesn’t “need” anything else to be happy, except Himself. But because He is so Good, He is All-love, He is so generous, He wanted to share Himself with us and what better way for us to come to Him without fear and with love than for us to see Him as a baby?

      Also, very essential to our growth in the spiritual life is for us to believe that GOD LOVES US. Many human beings walk around feeling very unloved by anyone. Perhaps that has its roots in their childhood or a broken relationship of some kind. Such spirits can “whither” with time. Such persons can so easily grow bitter, negative, pessimistic, lonely - all of which can get worse with time.

      But what happens to a person who really feels loved by someone? Their hearts are renewed! They soar! They feel like they can conquer the world! When we know we are loved, we are given new LIFE!

      That’s another reason why Jesus came to earth as a Baby. That God should leave His Heaven, His Kingdom, His “Glory” and become a defenseless, helpless, dependent baby displays a Divine love which we shall never totally fathom on this earth.

      Jesus entered into this world in great poverty. What did He have in the way of material things? A cold cave, the warm breath of animals (as well as their odor), some hay? Did He come in this manner to show us that the spiritual world is far more important than the material one? I think so!

      As a young Sister, I remember reading in Scripture: "With desolation is the whole land made desolate because there is no one who considers in his heart."

      In other words, to take time to meditate, consider, think about various aspects of our Faith is a must. Not to meditate on the truths of our Faith leaves a soul “desolate” and hopeless.

      It is my prayer that sometime during this Christmas Season, you can take TIME to truly MEDITATE on God’s love for you as revealed in His Birth, to think about the temporalness of earthly things, the shortness of this life, the expanse of eternity. To spend eternity with the One Who loves us beyond our ability to understand - that’s what Heaven is!

      Let’s begin here - on earth - with God’s help to consider and BELIEVE that God loves US. We can’t say we’ve deserved it. We’re just so BLESSED to have a God that is so Good.

      Happy New Year everyone! God loves you!

Events in Church History

     On January 3, 1521 and 1962 two "thorns" in the Church were excommunicated - Martin Luther by Pope Leo X and Fidel Castro by Pope John XXIII. For one his time ran out, for the other there is still hope of reconciliation with Holy Mother Church in light of the concessions the Cuban dictator has made since Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba this past January. For other time capsule events that happened in Church history on December 29th through January 3rd, click on MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES

Historical Events in Church Annals for December 29:

• 1170 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Thomas Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury is murdered in the cathedral by four of King Henry II's knights. For more, see LITURGY

• 1926 A.D.
  
• The Vatican places the works of Charles Maurras, A Catholic French Fascist on the forbidden list of the Index.

Historical Events in Church Annals for December 30:

• 274 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Saint Felix I, 26th successor of Peter. This Roman-born pontiff was elected on January 3rd, 269. He asserted the divinity and humanity of Jesus and the doctrine of two natures in one Person. He suffered the persecution of Aurelian. It was Felix who began the custom of burying martyrs under church altars and of celebrating Holy Mass on their tombs.

• 1317 A.D.
  
• Pope John XXII, 196th successor of Peter and second of the Avignon Popes in exile, issued his pontifical decree Sancta Romania which ordered the Franciscan Spiritualists to obey their superiors and accept the legitimacy of storing provisions even though the latter felt their founder Saint Francis of Assisi had never intended them to own anything. This decree angered their leader Michael of Cesena and prompted the Spiritualists to become bitter enemies of the French pontiff by aligning with his enemy Louis IV.

• 1591 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Innocent IX, 230th successor of Peter who was born in Bologna. He was elected on November 3rd and died less than two months later on this date. During that short span he succeeded in limiting the effects of a terrible plague and fought bandits and various internal factions with a certain degree of success. He undoubtedly would have left a lasting mark on Church history had he not contracted a chill and died of pneumonia.

Historical Events in Church Annals for December 31:

• 335 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Saint Sylvester I, 33rd successor of Peter. This Roman-born pontiff was the first to wear the Tiarra and called the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea where the "Creed" was formulated. For more, see LITURGY

• 431 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Melania the Younger, daughter of a Roman Senator who endowed and founded monasteries for men and women in Numidia and the Holy Land. She is widely venerated by Latin Catholics in Constantinople and Jerusalem.

• 1378 A.D.
  
• Birth of Alfonso de Borgia in Jativa, Spain. He would go on to become a cardinal priest and the 209th successor of Peter on April 8, 1455 as Pope Callistus III He would be responsible for the growth of Christianity in Scandinavia. It would be this Spanish-born pontiff who would order the ringing of the bells at midday each day, establishing the tradition of the Angeles and it was Callistus III who would institute the Feast of the Transfiguration.

• 1550 A.D.
  
• Birth of Henri Guise, French duke and leader of the Catholic League.

• 1929 A.D.
  
• Pope Pius XI releases his fourteenth encyclical Rappresentanti in terra on Christian education which would be published several months later with minor alterations to the Latin text Divini illius magistri.

• 1930 A.D.
  
• Pope Pius XI publishes his sixteenth encyclical Casti connubii on Christian marriage and the dangers of mixed marriages.

Historical Events in Church Annals for January 1:

• 379 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Basil, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. For more on him, see LITURGY.

• 1431 A.D.
  
• Birth of Rodrigo de Borgia at Jativa, nephew of Cardinal Alfonso de Borgia, bishop of Valencia and the future Pope Callistus III. Rodrigo would follow in his uncle's footsteps, becoming a cardinal and the notorious Pope Alexander VI who would bed and marry Lucretia Borgia and cause scandal universally within the Church during his eleven year pontificate. It was his papacy that triggered the beginning rumblings of the Protestant rebellion.

• 1557 A.D.
  
• Death of Jacques Cartier, French explorer who, with the blessings of Pope Paul III, founded the French Empire in America and Canada, bringing the faith to that region where it is still strong because of the Jesuit missionaries who traveled with him up the St. Lawrence River.

• 1982 A.D.
  
• Pope John Paul II publicly prays for an end to martial law in his native Poland and supports the solidarity movement that would take form under his friend Lech Walesa. Less than a decade later the iron curtain would topple, largely through the efforts of this great Polish Pope.

Historical Events in Church Annals for January 2:

• 329 A.D.
  
• Birth of Saint Gregory of Nazianzen at Nazianzus, Cappodocia. He would go on to become a bishop and Doctor of the Church. For more on this saint, see LITURGY.

• 533 A.D.
  
• Election of Pope John II as 56th successor of Peter. This Roman-born pontiff would serve for slightly over two years and would become the first Pope to change his name since Mercurius, his birth name, was the name of a pagan god. Through an edict of Atalaric the Pope would be recognized as the head of the bishops of the whole world.

Historical Events in Church Annals for January 3:

• 236 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Saint Anterus, 19th successor of Peter whose pontificate lasted less than two years. Born in Magna Grecia, he was elected on November 21, 235. Like others he suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Roman Emperor Maximus, the barbarian from Thrace. He ordered that the acts and relics of the martyrs be gathered together and kept in churches in a place called the "scrinium."

• 269 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Saint Felix I, 26th successor of Peter. He died a martyr at the hands of the Roman Emperor Aurelian and his successor Pope Saint Eutychian would commemorate his death on his tomb, a practice originated by Felix.

• 500 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Genevieve virgin and mystic of Paris who tended to the poor during the occupation of the city by Chilideric and the Franks. She was successful in interceding on behalf of the people and through her intercessory prayers and example, Paris was spared of attacks from the dreaded Huns as well as plagues, epidemics and other catastrophes.

• 1431 A.D.
  
• Saint Joan of Arc is handed over to the court of Bishop Pierre Cauchon and charged with heresy and witchcraft because of her mystical visions she received from God. Five months later, on May 30th she would be burned at the stake and not absolved until Pope Callistus III would find her innocent in 1456.

• 1521 A.D.
  
• Pope Leo X publishes his Papal Bull Decet Romanum pontificem, condemning Martin Luther and officially excommunicating the Augustinian monk for burning Leo's previous bull Exsurge Domine.

• 1962 A.D.
  
• Pope John XXIII hands Cuban ruler Fidel Castro the bell, book and candle for his refusal to heed the teachings of the Church or allow the people to worship, and for his embracing atheistic communism.

Pope asserts the Holy Familiy is a "marvelous model" to emulate

      In his Sunday Angelus from Castel Gondolfo, the Holy Father focused on families and the role of the Holy Family in our lives and society's in upholding the Sanctity of Life in honor of the Feast of the Holy Family. He pointed to the third annual worldwide encounter with families earmarked for October 14-15 in the Jubilee year of 2000 at Rome as hope for all with the theme "Children: springtime for the family of society." For more, click on Pope's Sunday Angelus.

Investigation of Swiss Guard deaths sealed in the Vatican archives

     After seven months of conjecture, the Vatican has put to rest any controversy or conspiracies regarding the death of Swiss commandant-elect Alois Estermann and his wife Gladys and the subsequent purported suicide of Swiss Guard Cedric Tornay. The investigation unveiled nothing new, leaving the summation that it was indeed a murder-suicide by a disgruntled younger guard. For more, click on Swiss Guard

Pope and Cuban people show their appreciation for revival of Christmas celebrations

     Despite their differences, the Holy Father expresessed his deepest gratitude to communist leader Fidel Castro for reinstating Christmas as an official holiday in Cuba. This gesture of good will comes from the fruits of the Pope's visit to Cuba last January in which he urged for the restoration of Christmas traditions and for more brotherly love to and among the people and cooperation with the world. For more, click on Christmas in Cuba.

Cardinal George equates "Dr. Death" with the Grinch in trying to steal the true meaning of life that is Christmas

      The Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Francis George, OMI pulled no punches when he recently did not include Jack Kevorkian, the notorious suicide-assisted physician, among those men of good will. The cardinal showed the difference between "Dr. Death's" agenda and the true meaning of Christmas which is a celebration of life, which is the great gift God has given us and cannot be exchanged or canceled by man. For more, click on Grinch

For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site at the CWN home page and Church News at Noticias Eclesiales. Both CWN and NE are not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provides this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

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December 29 - January 3, 1998 volume 9, no. 250   DAILY CATHOLIC