Reminder: A Plenary Indulgence May be Obtained on Fridays During Lent

A plenary indulgence may be obtained on each Friday of Lent by the faithful, who after worthily receiving Communion, piously recite the following prayer before an image of Christ crucified – provided the conditions for a plenary indulgence are met (see below after prayer). A plenary indulgence remits all temporal punishment due to personal sins.

Prayer Before a Crucifix/Prayer to Christ Crucified.

Behold, O kind and most sweet Jesus, I cast myself upon my knees in thy sight, and with the most fervent desire of my soul, pray and beseech thee that thou wouldst impress upon my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope, and charity, with true contrition for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment; while with deep affection and grief of soul I ponder within myself and mentally contemplate thy five wounds, having before my eyes the words which David the prophet put on thy lips concerning thee: “My hands and my feet they have pierced, they have numbered all my bones" (Ps 21, 17-18). Amen.

In Latin:

En ego, o bone et dulcissime Jesu, ante conspectum tuum genibus me provolvo, ac maximo animi ardore te oro atque obtestor, ut meum in cor vividos fidei, spei et caritatis sensus, atque veram peccatorum meorum paenitentiam, eaque emendandi firmissimam voluntatem velis imprimere; dum magno animi affectu et dolore tua quinque vulnera mecum ipse considero, ac mente contemplor, illud prae oculis habens, quod iam in ore ponebat tuo David Propheta de te, o bone Iesu: "Foderunt manus meas et pedes meos; dinumeraverunt omnia ossa mea." Amen. (Grant 8 § 1, 2º in the Manual of Indulgences.)

Requirements for Obtaining a Plenary Indulgence on Fridays during Lent:

◗ Recite the prayer to Christ crucified in front of a crucifix on a Friday  during Lent (after receiving Communion).
◗ Say one "Our Father" and the "Apostles Creed".
◗ Say one "Our Father" and one "Hail Mary" for the Holy Father’s  intentions (the intentions  designated by the Holy Father each month).
◗ Make a sacramental confession within 20 days.
◗ For a plenary indulgence, be free from all attachment to sin, even  venial sin (or the indulgence is partial, not plenary).

On any other day, a partial indulgence is granted if the faithful recite the prayer to Christ crucified before a crucifix after receiving Communion.

May this Lenten season strengthen you to follow God more completely. May your humanity be more fully united with Christ’s own humanity so that at the end of time you may claim the inheritance won for you through the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.