The Church has three states (CCC 954):

  1. The Church Triumphant:  those who are in heaven and participate in the beatific vision.
  2. The Church Militant:  those still alive and fighting to serve God faithfully.
  3. The Church Suffering:  those who have died and are being purified in purgatory.

Those in Heaven do not need our prayers but can pray for us.  Those still alive need prayers and can pray for those in both the Church Militant and the Church Suffering.  Those in Purgatory are helpless until their time of purgation is complete.  Our prayers can help shorten this painful time.  Note also that those in Hell neither need nor want our prayers; they have definitively chosen separation from God and hence are not even members of the Church.

An indulgence is a remission of the punishment for sin; the Church tells us some practices which can have this effect.  Usually we can earn such remission for ourselves, but in EARLY November, we can earn them and apply them to those who have died and in Purgatory.

This is a wonderful act of charity for the dead in Purgatory!

General Requirements for Earning A Plenary Indulgence

  • Do the special work specified for this indulgence on the specified day (see next section).
  • Say one “Our Father” and one “Hail Mary” for the Holy Father’s intentions (see the Other Considerations section below if you don't know what these are), preferably on the day of the work
  • Worthily receive Holy Communion (ideally on the same day if you can get to Mass)
  • Make a sacramental confession within 7 days or less of  the day of the work (there is some debate about the time frame over which confession must occur; I have seen some guides which suggest within 21 days of the day of the work.  Closer in time is better.)  Going to confession before receiving communion is best, lest you receive Our Lord unworthily (1 Cor 11:29).
  • Be free from all attachment to sin, even venial sin (otherwise, the indulgence is partial, not plenary).  While this seems difficult to achieve, the more you seek God's grace to do it, the higher the chance that it will be achieved.

Special Work to Earn a Plenary Indulgence for the Dead in November

Nov. 2 (All Souls Day):  visiting the church or oratory say one Our Father and the Apostles Creed, in addition to the the general requirements above.  Attend a Mass and you meet most of the general requirements listed above.

November 1-8:  Visit a cemetery during November 1-8 and pray for the dead, at least mentally.  A good simple prayer to start with is the Requiem Aeternam prayer which every Catholic should know:

Requiem aeternam dona ei (eis), Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei (eis). Requiescat (-ant) in pace. Amen. Eternal rest grant unto him/her (them), O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him/her (them). May he/she (they) rest in peace. Amen.

Where the Latin is on the left and the English on the right.  Note that the plural pronouns (what you should use in this case) are in parentheses for each language.

Saying this prayer mentally in your car at St. Michael Cemetery satisfies the work requirement; a little more is better (you could also pray for the Holy Father's intentions here also), but you don't need to make a marathon multi-hour contemplative meditation.

Other Considerations

  • You may not know the Holy Father's specific intentions for this month, but the Church has established six traditional intentions of the Holy Father (some sources may list four or five):
    1. The Exaltation of the Church
    2. The Propagation of the Faith
    3. The Extirpation of Heresy
    4. The Conversion of Sinners
    5. The Concord between Christian Princes
    6. The Further Welfare of the Christian People
    These will suffice as intentions for which to pray for the Holy Father.
  • One confession can be applied to multiple plenary indulgences; but a single communion can only be applied to one plenary indulgence.
  • You can only earn one plenary indulgence a day.  If you are a daily Mass attender, earning all 8 days is relatively easy to achieve, if you stay away from sin.  If daily Mass attendance is too much for your schedule, try to fit in one or two days to attend and then earn the indulgence on those days.
  • If you cannot meet all of these conditions on some days, you have still done a meritorious work which is applied to the dead; it just has a lesser strength than the full plenary indulgence.  Do as much as possible.

Note and Sources

These conditions are laid out in The Enchiridion (handbook) of Indulgences (1968):

Paragraph 67 for the All Souls' November 2 Indulgence

Paragraph 13 for the November 1-8 Cemetery visit.

We have a copy of this handbook in PDF format on our website here and it is a good source of ideas for ways in which to enhance your prayer life.

In 2021 and 2022, there was an expansion of the November 1-8 plenary indulgence to all of November  because of COVID, but this was not formally renewed after 2022.