Monday, October 26, 2020 –
Okay! Now that we have covered each of the Mysteries of the Rosary with their own special day of meditation, let’s get back to our Super Basic Primers on the Rosary.
Today we are going to cover something truly exciting: The Rosary Indulgence!
In case you already forgot what an indulgence is, here you go: What is an indulgence?
“An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.”
“An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.” Indulgences may be applied to the living or the dead.
There are partial and plenary indulgences, and there are necessary conditions for gaining an indulgence. you can also learn more from EWTN HERE. Generally speaking, the conditions of Confession and receiving the Eucharist should be done within a couple of days of the indulgence. The bare basics are listed below.
- Sacramentally confess your sins
- Receive Holy Communion
- Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father
- You must “have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin.”
As for the Holy Father’s intentions, HERE is a link to every month in 2020, and I have specifically listed June’s intentions below:
October – The Laity’s Mission in the Church
We pray that by the virtue of baptism, the laity, especially women, may participate more in areas of responsibility in the Church.
Okay, so now that we covered that (again), here is the indulgence “stuff” about the Rosary from the Handbook of Indulgences:
48 – Rosarii marialis recitatio
Recitation of the Marian Rosary
A plenary indulgence is granted when the rosary is recited in a church or oratory or when it is recited in a family, a religious community, or a pious association. A partial indulgence is granted for its recitation in all other circumstances.
(The rosary is a prayer formula divided into fifteen decades of Hail Mary’s with the Lord’s Prayer separating each of these decades. During each of these decades we recall in devout meditation the mysteries of our redemption.)
It has become customary to call but five such decades the “rosary” also. Concerning this customary usage then, the following norms are given as regards a plenary indulgence.
1. The recitation of a third** of the rosary is sufficient for obtaining the plenary indulgence, but these five decades must be recited without interruption.
2. Devout meditation on the mysteries is to be added to the vocal prayer.
3. In its public recitation the mysteries must be announced in accord with approved local custom, but in its private recitation it is sufficient for the Christian faithful simply to join mediation on the mysteries to the vocal prayer.
4. In the Eastern Churches where recitation of the Marian rosary as a devotional practice is not found, the patriarchs can establish other prayers in honor of the blessed Virgin Mary which will have the same indulgences as those attached to the rosary, (e.g. in the Byzantine churches, the Akathist hymn, or the office Paraclisis.)
Right…okay…what!?
First, let’s deal with the **. This book was written before JPII added the Luminous Mysteries. In this case, when you see “third,” think “fourth” because now we have four sets, not three. Unless you wan to be **ultra traddy** and reject the Luminous mysteries, then stick with three and third. Ehh…it’s up to you! #ChooseYourOwnAdventure!
Back to our “what does this mean” section…
Basically, the first part tells you what a Rosary is: a set of prayers where you meditate on a set of mysteries. Each mystery has its own “decade” of prayers. It also says rather than pray all the mysteries at once, we usually just pick a set (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, or Glorious) and pray just five mysteries.
The first part also covers who gets what indulgence when:
Plenary Indulgence:
- recited in a church or oratory (private or with a crows)
- OR recited in a family
- OR recited as a religious community
- OR recited as a pious association (Note: Mr. Flusche and I are part of a weekly Rosary group, and this is a “pious association” with snacks after!!)
Partial Indulgence:
- granted for its recitation in all other circumstances (as in all those times I recite it in my car going hither and dither, so long as it is completed in one drive)
With me so far? Good! Now on to the numbered section.
- You can pray just one set of mysteries for this shindig to count! Woot! BUT…you MUST pray the entire set all at once, not a mystery in the morning, one while you brush your teeth, one after lunch, one before your mid-afternoon nap, and one before bed. Sorry, but you have to stick it out and do an all-in Rosary.
- You must THINK about each mystery. You cannot just mindlessly rattle off Hail Mary’s and expect this to count.
- If you are in a group and aiming for the plenary indulgence, you DO have to announce the mystery, presumably so everyone is on the same decade, but who knows!? If you are alone you can simply add it to your meditation (AKA does not have to be said out loud).
- Uh…you can skip this one unless you are part of the Byzantine rite or just like to do things the hard way.
So, there you have it. The Rosary is not just a sweet history lesson or devout “thing,” it can actually work off some of our time in purgatory! Cool, right!?
Queen assumed into Heaven, pray for us!
