Receive a Plenary Indulgence ‘In Our Own Backyard,’ thanks to St. Francis of Assisi
- Jacqueline Gilvard Landry
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
During the Jubilee Year of St. Francis, the Catholic Church offers the faithful an opportunity to draw nearer to God through the example of the holy man of Assisi.
On the 800th anniversary of his death, St. Francis of Assisi, the saint who preached peace and respect for all creation, is being celebrated with a Jubilee year and the opportunity to obtain a plenary indulgence — in our own backyard.
In a January 7 letter commemorating the Year of St. Francis, Pope Leo XIV noted that, in a time of “particular urgency,” St. Francis conveys that “peace is the sum of all God’s gifts, a gift that comes from above.”
Annunciation Parish in Denver plays a part
The Year of St. Francis has particular significance for Denver’s Annunciation Parish, which has been served for nearly 50 years by Capuchin Franciscans. Given its connection to the spiritual family of St. Francis, the parish has been designated as a Jubilee site, where the faithful can receive a plenary indulgence under the normal conditions.
Its pastor, Father Christopher Gama, said the Jubilee opportunity is “a great way to access being at the tomb of St. Francis … right in our own backyard.”
He called St. Francis “the most universally recognized saint across many cultures and epochs,” who embodied the Gospel.
“He’s a clear sign of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus,” he told the Denver Catholic.
Pilgrimage for Piety
While a pilgrimage to Assisi to visit St. Francis is a beautiful thing, Father Gama said Annunciation Parish offers many ways to honor the holy saint’s example and to satisfy the conditions of the indulgence, including numerous opportunities for Mass and confession in English and Spanish.
And the church’s Franciscan touches are perfect for pious meditation.
“As soon as you walk through the door, you’re going to see visually that we are a Franciscan site,” he said, noting that the church’s confessional is beneath the stained-glass window of St. Francis, near a large statue of the saint embracing Jesus.
To mark St. Francis’ feast day, October 4, this year, Father Gama said the church will offer a “Transitus” — Latin for “transformation” or “passing over” — commemorating the death of St. Francis the evening before his feast day, October 3.
“We do a liturgical service, kind of like a funeral,” he explained, adding that St. Francis called death his “sister,” and the Franciscan tradition is to meditate on facing death with courage and deep faith — the Catholic tradition of memento mori, Latin for “remember that you will die.”
Leading up to the Transitus, and especially during the Lenten and Easter seasons, Father Gama said he has included memento mori meditations in the church bulletin and is asking students and families to donate time and treasure to the Twin Parishes food bank and to encourage the pastoral care of immigrants.
He urges everyone to receive an indulgence daily or weekly.
“Every Christian should be coming to receive that gift,” he said. “I hope that [all pilgrims] encounter the living God in a deeper way and that they are able to live more freely for the Gospel, like St. Francis.”
What is a plenary indulgence, and how do I receive one normally?
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1471) and the Code of Canon Law (canon 992), “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.”
In other words, an indulgence removes at least some of the penitential punishment for sins that have already been forgiven, through the “treasury of satisfaction which Christ and the saints won for the remission of temporal punishment” (Indulgentiarum doctrina, 8).
Because we are part of the Body of Christ, we may benefit from the graces God gives his Church because of her holiness and the holiness of her members: “The union of the wayfarers with the brethren who have gone to sleep in the peace of Christ is not in the least weakened or interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the perpetual faith of the Church, is strengthened by a communication of spiritual goods” (ID, 5).
A gift from God through his Church, indulgences — the remission of temporal punishment for our sins — may help us along the way to Heaven. While sins are completely absolved in the sacrament of Confession, an atonement remains necessary. This atonement begins with our penitential practices and prayers and can be enhanced by special opportunities for indulgences granted by the Church, which was given the authority to forgive sins and dispense grace (cf. Mt 16:19). The Church sets forth the following conditions for a plenary indulgence to be granted (ID, norm 7):
Be in a state of grace when the indulgenced work is completed;
Have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin;
Have sacramentally confessed one’s sins;
Receive the Holy Eucharist;
Pray for the intentions of the Pope.
The Church also adds some extra clarification to some of these conditions:
A plenary indulgence can only be acquired once per day (ID, norm 6).
One may make a sacramental Confession and receive Holy Communion “within several days before or after the prescribed work” (ID, norm 8).
One sacramental Confession can satisfy the requirement for several plenary indulgences, but separate receptions of Holy Communion and prayers for the Holy Father are required for each plenary indulgence (ID, norm 9).
An Our Father and a Hail Mary are suggested prayers for the Pope’s intentions (ID, norm 10).
Indulgences can either be applied to oneself or to the souls of the deceased, but not to other living persons (ID, norm 3). It is worth noting that some indulgences can only be applied to the souls of the faithful departed, like the ones offered by the Church in early November for the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls).
Receiving a Plenary Indulgence in the Jubilee Year of St. Francis
The plenary indulgence for the Year of St. Francis is available under the usual conditions to the faithful who:
“with a heart detached from sin, participate in the Year of Saint Francis by visiting, in the form of a pilgrimage, any Franciscan conventual church or place of worship anywhere in the world dedicated to St. Francis or connected to him for any reason, and there devoutly follow the Jubilee rites or spend at least a reasonable period of time in pious meditation and raise prayers to God so that, following the example of St. Francis, feelings of Christian charity towards their neighbors and authentic vows of harmony and peace among peoples may spring forth in their hearts, concluding with the Our Father, the Creed and invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare and all the saints of the Franciscan Family." Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary on the occasion of the Eighth Centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi
The plenary indulgence may be earned by the faithful by prayerfully visiting one of the following locations in the Archdiocese of Denver and fulfilling the above conditions:
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Longmont
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Weldona
Annunciation Church, Denver
St. Patrick Oratory, Denver
Additional locations in neighboring dioceses within an hour’s drive from locations in the Archdiocese:
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Castle Rock
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Colorado Springs
St. Francis of Assisi Church, St. Francis, Kansas
