Every time we commit sin, we are guilty of offending God and incur debt to the divine justice. An indulgence is the remission of temporal punishments (debt) due to sin. Whatever debt that still remains after the penance we do in this life will be paid by our suffering in Purgatory. It’s pay now or pay later. All the Saints agree that it is far better to suffer penance in this life than to suffer in Purgatory. 

There are two kinds of indulgences, plenary and partial. A plenary indulgence wipes out all debt; which is why we want to receive one shortly before we die. The souls in Purgatory hope to receive a plenary indulgence, which will bring them straight to heaven. The Church allows us to obtain a plenary indulgence every day, which we can apply to ourselves or to a soul in Purgatory. So, what is required to obtain a plenary indulgence? 

1) Go to Confession 20 days before or 20 days after doing the indulgenced work. Basically, go to Confession once a month and you can gain a plenary indulgence every day. 

2) Receive Holy Communion for each indulgenced work. You don’t have to receive Holy Communion on the same day as the work, but only one plenary indulgence per communion. 

3) Pray for the Holy Father’s intentions (1 Our Father and 1 Hail Mary) for each plenary indulgence. 

4) Do what is required for the plenary indulgence. There are a few that you can do on any day of the year: Pray the Rosary with one or more other people; pray the Rosary in a Catholic Church; spend 30 minutes in prayer before the Blessed 

Sacrament; read the Bible for 30 minutes (in a translation approved by the Church) 

5) Have a general intention of gaining indulgences. Add this to your morning offering prayer: “I intend to obtain any and all indulgences I can today.” 

6) When you do the indulgenced work, be free from any attachment to sin, even venial sin. An attachment to sin means, that even though we may have a true detestation for all sin, we are interiorly inclined to a particular sin, some kind of longing and affection for it; perhaps we catch ourselves wishing that it wasn’t a sin. 

Gaining plenary indulgences is pretty easy; it just takes a little planning and discipline. And remember, if you don’t make all six requirements, you still gain a partial indulgence, for which the souls in Purgatory will be eternally grateful!