piate, I, in the person of Christ, have pardoned it for sakes.

your

Kinds of Indulgences. Some indulgences are called plenary, and others partial. By a plenary indulgence is meant the remission of the whole debt of temporal punishment due to our sins, and by a partial indulgence is meant the remission of a part of that debt. If, for example, he who had gained for his own benefit a plenary indulgence were to die immediately afterwards, he would go straight to heaven without passing through purgatory; but if he had only gained a partial indulgence, he would have to expiate the rest of his debt in purgatory. Partial indulgences are granted in the form of so many days' or of so many years' indulgence, for the performance of certain acts of virtue. To understand the precise meaning of these expressions, it will be necessary to call to mind the ancient canonical penances. According to the ancient canons or rules of the Church, very severe penances were inflicted on those who had committed great sins. These penances lasted in some instances three, seven, or ten years, or even for the whole life; but they were often shortened on account of the good dispositions of the penitent, or at the prayer of the faithful, and especially of those who were suffering for the faith. This shortening or remission of a part of the penance imposed by the Church, is the same thing as an indulgence. When, therefore, we speak of an indulgence of a hundred days or of seven years, we do not mean the shortening of the duration of purgatory by that number of days or years, but the remission of so much of the temporal punishment due to sin, as would have been satisfied by a hundred days' or seven years' canonical penance, according to the ancient discipline of the Church.

Another division of indulgences refers to those which are granted for the benefit of the living, and those which may be also applied for the benefit of the dead. The former are for the use of the faithful on earth; the latter may be gained, either for our own use, or for the good of the souls in purgatory. Till recently there were many indulgences belonging to both of these classes; but the

present Pope has made all indulgences applicable both to the living and the dead. There is this difference between indulgences gained for the living and the dead, that in the former case their effect is produced by way of absolution, and in the latter by way of suffrage. The Church exercises direct authority over the faithful on earth; and when she absolves them from censures, from sin, or from the debt of punishment, the effect is infallible, provided the person so absolved be in proper dispositions. We are certain, therefore, in this case that the fruit of the indulgence will be applied where there is no obstacle, because Christ has promised the Church that "whatever she shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven" (St. Matt. xvi. 19). It is an article of faith that the souls in purgatory are helped by our prayers; but the Church does not exercise the same authority over the faithful departed that she does over those upon earth. She cannot, therefore, directly release the suffering souls by absolving them from their debt of punishment; but she offers to God a satisfaction equal to that debt, and she begs Him to accept it in their behalf. The indulgences thus gained will certainly not be lost, and should God not see fit to accept them in behalf of the particular souls for whom they are offered, He will not fail to allow them to serve for the benefit of others. But though God has not made us a distinct promise to accept our suffrages for the particular soul for whom they are offered, we know that He will do So, unless there be some special reason to the contrary. If, however, we are not so certain that the fruit of an indulgence will be applied to the particular soul in purgatory for whom it is offered, as we are in the case of indulgences for the living, yet we are more certain of the effect produced when the fruit of an indulgence is applied to a soul in purgatory, because we are more certain of the good dispositions of the souls in purgatory, and that there is no obstacle in them to prevent the indulgence from producing its full effect.

What are the conditions for gaining indulgences? In order to gain an indulgence certain conditions are required:

1. The person must be a member of the Church, that is, he must be baptised and free from excommunication.

2. He must have the intention of gaining the indulgence. It is not, however, necessary that he should know what indulgences are attached to the prayers and good works which he performs; but it is enough for him to form the general intention of gaining all the indulgences he can. It is commonly considered that an intention of this kind, made each morning, and not virtually recalled, will suffice for the indulgences of that day.

3. He must be in the state of grace. An indulgence being the remission of the temporal punishment which remains after the guilt has been remitted, necessarily presupposes a state of grace. Nay, so perfect must be this condition in the case of a plenary indulgence, that it requires a freedom from the guilt, not only of mortal, but also of venial sin. For so long as there remains on the soul the least venial sin unforgiven, the temporal punishment due to that sin cannot be remitted, and consequently the full benefit of a plenary indulgence cannot be obtained.

4. It is also necessary to perform all the good works which are prescribed as conditions for gaining the indulgence. There are a great variety of prayers and practices of piety to which partial indulgences are attached. The good works which are usually required in order to gain a plenary indulgence are, confession and communion, and prayers for the general good of the Church, or for some special blessing, according to the intention of the Holy Father. Weekly penitents are not obliged, as a rule, to make a particular confession in order to gain the indulgences which occur during the course of the week, provided, of course, they continue in the grace of Goà

Besides the common form of plenary indulgences, there are others which are granted in the form of a jubilee. Among the ordinances which God commanded" Moses to publish to the Jewish people, we read the following: "Thou shalt sanctify the fiftieth year, and shalt proclaim remission to all the inhabitants of thy land: for it is the year of jubilee" (Leviticus xxv. 10). Every fiftieth year, therefore, was observed as a time of great rejoicing. The

houses and lands which had been sold during the previous years returned to their original owners, all debtors were released from their obligations, and slaves set at liberty. In imitation of the jubilee of the old law, the Church at fixed periods dispenses to her children, with a more liberal hand, the treasures of holy indulgences; and to extend their benefit as widely as possible, she gives more ample powers to her priests in the tribunal of penance, and earnestly invites her children to make a good use of the great favours which she offers them. The indulgence of the jubilee, therefore, is a plenary indulgence, granted on special occasions, and attended with greater solemnity and more ample powers in the minister of the Sacrament of Penance; so that its fruit is more copious, more extended, and more certain than in common indulgences.

Some writers believe that the Christian jubilee was first celebrated by the Apostles themselves; but we have no clear evidence in support of this opinion. Pope Boniface VIII. is frequently spoken of as the first who published a jubilee; but it seems pretty certain that he only modified the form, and fixed the time of recurrence, of what had been previously established. The origin, therefore, of this form of granting indulgences is involved in obscurity. Boniface VIII. fixed the time for the jubilee for every hundredth year. Clement VI., in the year 1350, shortened the period to every fiftieth year, in imitation of the Jewish jubilee. Urban VI. ordered the jubilee to be celebrated every thirty-three years, in honour of the thirtythree years of our Lord's life upon earth. Finally, Paul IÏ., in the year 1470, fixed the time of the jubilee for every twenty-five years, in order to extend its benefits as far as possible to each generation of the faithful. This constitution was carried into effect in the year 1475, under the pontificate of Sixtus IV., and has continued in force ever since. The jubilee of the holy year, as it is called, is first published in Rome, whither devout pilgrims flock from all parts of Christendom to visit the shrines of the Apostles, and to fulfil the conditions which are prescribed for gaining the jubilee. After the expiration of a twelvemonth it is extended to the rest of the Christian world. During

the continuance of the jubilee other plenary indulgences granted for the benefit of the living are, as a rule, suspended; but those granted for the dead or the dying remain in full force.

Besides these more solemn and fixed periods for the jubilee of the holy year, particular jubilees are published by the Pope to thank God for some signal benefit, or to implore His aid in some pressing necessity. Thus our Holy Father Pius IX. published a jubilee to thank God for the definition of the Immaculate Conception; and Pope Gregory XVI. did the same thing some years previously for the peace and welfare of the Church in Spain. It is also customary for the new Pope to publish a jubilee on his accession. The conditions for gaining a jubilee may vary according to the pleasure of the Pope, as, in point of fact, those usually enjoined were modified on the last occasion a jubilee was published. For this reason, therefore, and because the Bishops are accustomed to enumerate the conditions at the time of publication, it will not be necessary to give them here.

CHAP. CXVIII. On the Minister of Penance, and its Effects. HITHERTO the acts of the penitent, contrition, confession, and satisfaction, have been treated of, with some incidental notice of absolution and of other matters connected with the Minister of this sacrament. A great deal might be said about the qualities of a good confessor, and the way in which he should exercise his duties in reference to the different classes of his penitents; but as these instructions are intended for the benefit of penitents, and not for confessors, there is no occasion to dwell on questions of this sort here. All, however, are interested in knowing that the confessor is bound by the strongest of all obligations to observe the strictest secrecy with regard to the knowledge acquired in confession. No matter how much good could be done or evil prevented by revealing the secrets of confession, it is in no case whatever, except by the free consent of the penitent, lawful to do so. This is a rule which

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