Year of St. Joseph Info

What is an Indulgence?

Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1471

"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."

"An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin." Indulgences may be applied to the living or the dead.

How to receive a plenary indulgence for the Year of St. Joseph

A plenary indulgence is granted under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion, and prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father) to the faithful who, with a heart free from all attachment to sin, participate in the Year of St. Joseph by any of the following ways:

1. Meditate on the Lord’s Prayer for at least 30 minutes or spend at least one day on a spiritual retreat which includes a meditation on St. Joseph
2. Following the example of St. Joseph, complete a spiritual or corporal work of mercy
3. Recite the rosary as a family or as an engaged couple
4. Entrust your daily activity to the protection of St. Joseph and pray to St. Joseph to intercede for those who are seeking work and for everyone’s work to be more dignified.
5. Recite the Litany of St. Joseph or the Akathist hymn to St. Joseph, or another prayer to St. Joseph particular to another liturgical tradition, for the persecuted Church and for the relief of all persecuted Christians
6. Recite another appropriate prayer or pious act in honor of St. Joseph (e.g. the “To Thee, O Blessed Joseph”) especially on March 19 (Solemnity of St. Joseph), May 1 (Feast of St. Joseph the Worker), the Feast of the Holy Family, the Sunday of St. Joseph (in the Byzantine Tradition), the 19th of each month, and every Wednesday

Given the present circumstances, the gift of a plenary indulgence is especially imparted to the elderly, the sick, the suffering and all who are not able to leave their homes for legitimate reasons if, detesting each of their sins and with the intention of fulfilling, as soon as possible the three usual conditions, either at home or wherever they are detained, offer pious prayers in honor of St. Joseph, the solace of the sick and the patron of a happy death, with the sorrows and inconveniences of their life confidently offered to our merciful God.

Explanatory News Article
Official Decree