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By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
To mark the 150th anniversary of Mary’s appearance
to St. Bernadette Soubirous near Lourdes, France, Pope Benedict XVI has
authorized a plenary indulgence for any Catholic who takes part in a public
or private devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes.
An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment due for sins committed.
A plenary indulgence is the remission of all punishment. An indulgence
can be applied to the souls of the faithful in purgatory, said U.S. Cardinal
J. Francis Stafford, head of the Vatican court dealing with indulgences.
Catholics can receive the indulgence by visiting the grotto where Mary
appeared to Bernadette anytime during the Lourdes jubilee year, which
began on Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and ends on Dec.
8, 2008.
Any Catholic who visits a public sanctuary, shrine or other worthy place
dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes between Feb. 2-Feb. 11 may also receive
the indulgence. Feb. 11 is the day of the first of 18 Marian apparitions
that occurred in 1858.
Cardinal Stafford said that to obtain the special indulgence one must
fulfill the normal requirements set by the Church for all plenary indulgences:
going to confession within a reasonably short period of time, receiving
Communion, and praying for the intentions of the pope, all in a spirit
of total detachment from the attraction of sin.
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