When the unclean spirit is gone out of man … he saith: I will return into my house, whence I came out.” —St. Luke xi. 24.

The Gospel of today tells us how great the anger of the devil is against those who, by means of a good confession, have driven him from their hearts. They must be constantly watchful of the emotions of their hearts, for fear that the devil might induce them to commit the same sin again, which would put them into a worse condition than they were in before they went to confession. With the intention of guarding us from this evil, the Church gives us penances, when we confess our sins. These penances have a double purpose: first, to give satisfaction to divine justice for our sins; and, secondly, to keep us from committing the same sin again. Yet we must be aware, brethren, that there will always remain some suffering for us to go through, either in this life or in purgatory, even if we have performed the penances ever so well, because they do not begin to compare with our sins. Because, however, my dear brethren, the dear Lord wishes us, as soon as possible after our death, to partake of the bliss of His Holy presence, He offers us, through His representatives on earth, a very easy and efficient means to avoid these sufferings after death. This means, my brethren, are the indulgences, which we may gain, so long as we are on this earth. These indulgences are an alleviation, or a complete remission of such penances incurred by the sinner which he would have to perform either in this life or in purgatory. But so that you should better understand the value of indulgences, I will show you:

1. What is understood by indulgences.
2. From whence are they obtained.
3. What is necessary to gain them.

I.

I will not stop to prove to you, my brethren, that the Church has the power to grant indulgences; it would simply be losing precious time, for you all know that Jesus said to the Apostle Peter, and through him to his successors: “And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.” (St. Matt. xvi. 19.) Which power He also conferred at some other time upon all Apostles. We see that the Apostles themselves granted indulgences, and the Church has not only the power to impose upon us penances for our sins, but she can also shorten the time of suffering we have to undergo in purgatory. You know, brethren, that there are two kinds of sins, venial and mortal sins. Mortal sin deserves eternal punishment; it is one of the dogmas of the Church that we shall be damned if we have the misfortune to die in mortal sin, without having obtained pardon for it. Irreverent Christians may say to you, that God is not as wrathful as the priests say He is, but that does not alter the fact. After having duly confessed our sins, there still remains for us to undergo punishment for them, either in this or the next world. Then, when we weigh the burden of our sins with the amount of penance, which is laid upon us in expiation of them, there seems to be no comparison between the two. Something has to be done, therefore, which may aid us in giving satisfaction to Divine justice. It is true, that the troubles of this life — sickness, vexation, slander, loss of worldly possessions, may help us toward expiating our sins, if we are prudent enough to offer up all those troubles to God for that purpose.

Since the foundation of the Church a penance of a certain amount and character has been imposed upon the sinner, according to what was considered necessary for satisfying Divine justice. When, in the early days of the Church, a sinner wished to become reconciled to God, he appeared before his Bishop, barefoot, in ragged clothes, and ashes upon his head, and confessed his sins in public; he then had to pass through the different degrees of penance. After a sinner had confessed and repented his sins, he was obliged to remain kneeling outside the door of the church, because he was not considered worthy to enter the sacred portals, and he begged the faithful, while they passed him, for their prayers in his behalf. When he had passed this first degree, which was often of long duration, he entered upon the next, the degree of the weeper. In this degree their remorse and self-abasement was so heartrending as to make the passer-by burst out in tears; they did not hesitate to confess their sins publicly, so as to gain the favor of the faithful, and their prayers. After this degree, they were allowed to take a place near the door of the church, where they could hear the instructions given to the congregation, but as soon as these were ended, they had to retire and were not allowed to join in the prayers of the faithful. After a further term of penance they were allowed to participate in the sacrifice of Holy Mass up to the time of the Gospel, when they had to leave, still being considered unworthy of being present at the sacred mysteries. But before they left, the whole congregation prayed for them, while they themselves lay prostrate upon the floor. At the end of all this penance, they received solemn absolution, after which they were allowed to take part in all the prayers and in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, but even then they were not allowed to receive communion for a considerable time. During the whole time of penance they had to keep away from all public functions and ceremonies, and had to live in retirement, to live on bread and water several days each week, and to give alms, all of these being means to give satisfaction to Divine justice. For the irreverent mentioning of the name of the Lord, even when done thoughtlessly, they had to live on bread and water for seven days, and if the sin was repeated, for fifteen days. For a blasphemy against God, the Blessed Virgin, or the Saints, they had to remain kneeling before the church, barefoot, with a rope around their neck, and had to fast for seven Fridays on bread and water, during which time they were not allowed to enter the church. For working on Sunday they had to live on bread and water for three days; for unnecessary traveling on Sunday, seven days, and so forth.

You see, then, my brethren, how the Church in those early times acted toward those who wanted to be saved. Today, as you know, she no longer imposes such hard penances, although our sins are no less wicked and offensive to God. See, then, my brethren, how good God is, and how much He desires our salvation. He gives us indulgences, in place of penances, which we do not have the courage and strength to carry out.

II.

But from whence are these indulgences obtained which bring us so much good? Listen well, O brethren, and keep what you learn well in mind, for he who understands this matter thoroughly can not help but praise the Lord and derive the greatest possible benefit for himself. What happiness for us that we are enabled to save for ourselves, by a few prayers, hundreds of years of suffering in the next world? Now, let me tell you that these indulgences are obtained from the overflowing merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Virgin, and of the Saints who have suffered more and did more penance than was necessary for the expiation of sin. This is the inexhaustible treasure which the Church divides among her children. And I tell you, further, that these indulgences are the remission of punishment, which we would have to undergo for our sins, even after they have been pardoned in the Sacrament of Penance. To make you understand this more fully, we must learn the relation between offense and punishment: offense is the wrong which we do to God, when we sin, and for which we deserve punishment. And to cleanse ourselves gradually of these sins, which have been forgiven to us in the Sacrament of Penance, we gain indulgences, because, after confessing our sins, we ought to do more penance than our confessor imposes upon us, if we wish to avoid the pains of purgatory. We are told in Holy Writ, that the saints, though they were sure of forgiveness, received the obligation from God to do penance, as, for instance, David, Mary Magdalen, St. Peter, and many others.

How fortunate are we to possess in the indulgences such an easy means for escaping the torments of purgatory, which seem so terrible and long. Yes, my brethren, a sinner who had the good fortune to obtain a complete plenary indulgence at the moment of death, would appear before God entirely free of sin. He would stand before God as pure and innocent as if he had just been baptized; he would be as ready to be received into heaven as the Holy Martyrs were upon their death. Yes, my brethren, in regard to the blotting out of temporary punishments, there is no difference between baptism, martyrdom, and a plenary indulgence in the full meaning of the word. O precious grace, so little known, and if known so little appreciated by the greatest number of our fellow Christians!

How many souls there are in purgatory today, and who will remain there for years and years, because they did not make use of the benefits of indulgences!

III.

After the doctor knows the illness of which his patient is suffering, he prescribes certain remedies to cure him, and at the same time he states how they are to be applied, for without this precaution the remedies might become more injurious than useful. And so it is with the means which we must employ for the cure of our soul. I know well that there are many persons who will hear all this with proud disdain, and a certain doubtfulness. Well, we must pity them. They are those poor blind persons who imagine that they can see clearly and distinctly, and all the time their eyes are closed by sin. If, in spite of all the graces which God in His goodness gives them, they intend to go to perdition, let them alone. The time will come when they will say to us lamenting: “How happy are you to have used these graces.” Let us seek the light of faith, let us make use of all the means which God in His goodness offers us, so as to make sure of heaven.

You may ask, “What must we do to gain an indulgence?” The first condition is, my brethren, that you should be in the state of grace; secondly, you must do the works and say the prayers authorized by the Holy Father, and have no inclination to any, not even wilful venial sin. This is all that is necessary, and you must admit that our good Mother Church has certainly made it easy for her children to make use of this precious means of salvation. So much more reason, and even obligation for us to make the greatest use of indulgences, and so much less excuse if we refuse this great benefit to our immortal soul.

Therefore, my brethren, as we all have offended God, and perhaps grievously, and as we have not, and of ourselves can not, give perfect satisfaction, let us make use of this easy means of gaining indulgences to render to God what is God’s, and He, seeing our good will, will surely give us sufficient strength to overcome the devil if again he should attempt to attack us, and things will not be worse, as in the example of today’s Gospel, but better, which good grace and fortune I wish you all. Amen.