← [[ei-en-06|The Four General Concessions]] | [[enchiridion-indulgentiarum-en|Manual of Indulgences]] | [[ei-en-08|Other Concessions]] → THE FOUR GENERAL CONCESSIONS THE GRANTS # The Grants # I A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who, while carrying out their duties and enduring the hardships of life, raise their minds in humble trust to God and make, at least mentally, some pious invocation.1 By this first grant, the faithful are guided to fulfill the command of Christ, “Pray always without becoming weary,”2 and at the same time are admonished to carry out their respective duties to preserve and strengthen their union with Christ. Indeed, the mind of the Church in granting this indulgence is best illustrated by the following quotations taken from Sacred Scripture: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”3 “Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.”4 “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from... The anxieties of daily life.... Be vigilant at all times and pray.”5 “They were persevering, however, in the teaching and preaching of the apostles, in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers.”6 “Rejoice in hope, be patient in trials, be constant in prayer.”7 “Whether then you are eating or drinking, or whatever you are doing, do all for the glory of God.”8 “With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones.”9 “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”10 “Persevere in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”11 “Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.”12 And in the acts of Vatican Council II we read: “All the faithful, therefore, whatever their condition of life, their duties or their circumstances, and through all of them, will grow daily in holiness if they accept all these things in faith from the hand of their heavenly Father and if they cooperate with the divine will by making manifest to all, even as they carry out their work here on earth, that love with which God has loved the world.”13 “This life of intimate union with Christ in the Church is nourished by spiritual aids common to all the faithful.... These aids should be so used that lay people, while duly carrying out their responsibilities in the world in the ordinary conditions of life, do not allow any separation of their union with Christ but rather grow in this union by doing their work according to God’s will.... Neither providing for their families nor any other business in the secular world should be thought to be outside the scope of the spiritual life: as the apostle says, ‘Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’14”15 “The split between the faith which they profess and the daily lives of many people is to be counted as among the more serious misconceptions of our day.... No false opposition should be set up between professional and social activities on the one hand and the life of religion on the other.... On the contrary, Christians should rejoice that, following the example of Christ who worked as a craftsman, they are in a position to engage in all their earthly activities and they should bring their human, domestic, professional, scientific and technical activities into a living synthesis with religious values which orient and coordinate everything to the glory of God.”16 # II A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who, led by the spirit of faith, give compassionately of themselves or of their goods to serve their brothers in need.17 By the granting of this indulgence, the faithful are encouraged to perform more frequent works of charity and mercy, following the example and command of Jesus Christ.18 Nevertheless, not all works of charity are enriched with this indulgence, but only works that “serve their brothers in need” —such as those in want of food or clothing for the body or of instruction or comfort for the soul. “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and in prison and you visited me.... Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”19 “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for oneanother.”20 “If one contributes, in generosity; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness; love one another with mutual affection, anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality.”21 “If I give away everything I own... but do not have love, I gain nothing.”22 “So then, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all, but especially to those who belong to the family of the faith.”23 “Live in love, as Christ loved us.”24 “You yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.”25 “Let mutual love continue.”26 “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”27 “Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love, love one another intensely from a pure heart.”28 “Finally, all of you, be of one mind, sympathetic, loving toward one another, compassionate, humble. Do not return evil for evil, or insult for insult; but, on the contrary, a blessing, because to this you were called. That you might inherit a blessing.”29 “Make every effort to supplement... devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.”30 “If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.”31 “Wherever there are those who lack food and drink, clothes, a home, medicine, employment, education or whatever is needed for living a truly human life, those who suffer from hardship or ill health, exile or imprisonment, they should be sought out by Christian charity, supported by solicitous care and provided with practical aid... So that the exercise of charity may be manifestly above criticism, it is necessary to consider in our neighbor the image of God in which he was created, and Our Lord Christ to whom we offer whatever we give to one in need.”32 “Since works of charity and mercy bear a most outstanding witness to the Christian life, apostolic formation should lead to the practice of these too, so that the faithful learn from early childhood to have compassion on their fellow human beings and generously help those in need.”33 “Mindful of the Lord’s words, ‘thus all will know that you are my disciples, if you havelove for one another,’34 Christians can have nothing more at heart than to be of ever more generous service to humanity in the modern world.... The Father wishes us to recognize and extend active love in word and deed to Christ our brother in people everywhere....”35 # III A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who, in a spirit of penance, voluntarily abstain from something that is licit for and pleasing to them.36 This grant is particularly suitable for our times in which, over and above the mild law regarding fast and abstinence, it is altogether opportune that the faithful be encouraged to practice penance.37 By holding their appetites in check, the faithful are moved to regain mastery of their bodies and to conform themselves to the poor and suffering Christ.38 Self-denial, however, will be more precious if it is joined to charity, in accord with the teaching of St. Leo the Great: “We should pay to good works what we refuse to indulgence. Let the poor man feast on what our fasting has denied us.”39 “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”40 “If you do not repent, you will all perish as they did.”41 “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”42 “If only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”43 “Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. No. I drive my body and train it.”44 “Always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.”45 “This saying is trustworthy: If we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him.”46 “[Rejecting] worldly desires [we should] live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age.”47 “But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly.”48 “With special care they should be so trained in priestly obedience, poverty and a spirit of self-denial, that they may accustom themselves to living in conformity with the crucified Christand to giving up willingly even those things which are lawful.”49 “The faithful indeed, by virtue of their royal priesthood, participate in the offering of the Eucharist. They exercise that priesthood, too, by the reception of the sacraments, prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, abnegation, and active charity.”50 “The forms and tasks of life are many but holiness is one—that sanctity which is cultivated by all who act under God’s Spirit and, obeying the Father’s voice and adoring God the Father in spirit and truth, follow Christ, poor, humble and cross-bearing, that they may deserve to be partakers of his glory.”51 “The Church nevertheless appeals to all the faithful together that they obey the Lord’s command to repent not only through the hardships and setbacks bound up with the nature of daily life, but also by acts of bodily mortification.... The Church is intent especially upon expressing the three principal ways, longstanding in its practice, which make it possible to fulfill the divine command to repent. These are prayer, fasting, and works of charity—even though fast and abstinence have had a privileged place. These ways of penance have been shared by all the centuries; yet in our own time there are particular reasons advanced in favor of one way of penance above the others, depending on circumstances. For example, in the richer nations stress is placed on the witness of self-denial so that Christians will not become worldly; another emphasis is the witness of charity toward others, even those in foreign lands, who are suffering poverty and hunger.”52 # IV A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who, in the particular circumstances of daily life, voluntarily give explicit witness to their faith before others. This grant encourages the faithful to profess their faith openly before others, for the glory of God and the building up of the Church. St. Augustine wrote: “Let your Creed be a mirror for you. See yourself in it, if you believe all that you profess, and rejoice daily in your faith.”53 The Christian life of each and every day, therefore, will be like the “Amen” concluding the “I believe” of our profession of baptismal faith.54 “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.”55 “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”56 “You will be my witnesses.”57 “Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breakingbread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people.”58 “The community of believers was of one heart and mind.... With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all.”59 “Your faith is heralded throughout the world.”60 “For, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.”61 “Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.”62 “So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.”63 “But let no one among you be made to suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as an intriguer. But whoever is made to suffer as a Christian should be not ashamed but glorify God because of the name.”64 “Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God.”65 “However, if charity is to grow in the soul like good seed and bear fruit, each individual believer must give the word of God a willing hearing and with the help of his grace do God’s will, take part often in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and in the sacred liturgy. He should apply himself constantly to prayer, self-denial, active fraternal service and the practice of all the virtues.”66 “The Christian faithful are called as individuals to exercise their apostolate in the various circumstances of their lives; but they should remember that human beings are by nature social.... Therefore, the faithful should exercise their apostolate in concert. Let them be as apostles in the community of their families and in parishes and dioceses, which express the communitarian nature of the apostolate, as well as in the free associations they decide to join.”67 “The social nature of human beings, however, requires that they should express these interior religious acts externally, share their religion with others, and witness to it communally.”68 “It is not sufficient, however, that the Christian people be present and established in a particular nation, nor is sufficient that they practice the apostolate of good example. The purpose for which they are established, the purpose for which they are present, is to proclaim Christ to their non-Christian fellow citizens by word and deed and to help them to receive Christ fully.”69 ____________ 1 Cf. SAP, Decr. Pia oblatio quotidiani laboris Indulgentiis ditatur, November 25, 1961 (AAS 53 [1961] 827); Decr. Pia oblatio humani doloris Indulgentiis ditatur, June 4, 1962 (AAS 54 [1962] 475); EI 1968 and 1986, gen. conc. I. 2 Lk 18: 1. 3 Mt 7: 7-8. 4 Mt 26: 41. 5 Lk 21: 34, 36. 6 Acts 2: 42. 7 Rom 12: 12. 8 1 Cor 10: 31. 9 Eph 6: 18. 10 Col 3: 17. 11 Col 4: 2. 12 1 Th 5: 17-18. 13 LG, no. 41. 14 Col 3: 17. 15 AA, no. 4. 16 GS, no. 43. 17 Cf. SPA, Indulgentiae apostolicae, June 27, 1963 (AAS 55 [1963] 657-659); EI 1968 and 1986, gen. conc. II. 18 Cf. Jn 13: 15; Acts 10: 38. 19 Mt 25: 35-36, 40; cf. also Tob 4: 7-8; Is 58: 7. 20 Jn 13: 34-35. 21 Rom 12: 8, 10-11, 13. 22 1 Cor 13: 3. 23 Gal 6: 10. 24 Eph 5: 2. 25 1 Th 4: 9. 26 Heb 13: 1. 27 28 1 Pt 1: 22. Jas 1: 27; cf. Jas 2: 15-16. 29 1 Pt 3: 8-9. 30 2 Pt 1: 5; 7. 31 1 Jn 3: 17-18. 32 AA, no. 8. 33 AA, no. 31c. 34 Jn 13: 35. 35 GS, no. 93. 36 EI 1968 and 1986, gen. conc. III. 37 Cf. Paen. III c. 38 Cf. Mt 8: 20, 16: 24. 39 40 Sermo 13 (alias: 12) De ieiunio decimi mensis, 2 (PL 54, 172). Lk 9: 23; cf. Lk 14: 27. 41 Lk 13: 5; cf. Lk 13: 3. 42 Rom 8: 13. 43 Rom 8: 17. 44 1 Cor 9: 25-27. 45 2 Cor 4: 10. 46 2 Tm 2: 11-12. 47 Tt 2: 12. 48 1 Pt 4: 13. 49 OT, no. 9. 50 LG, no. 10. 51 LG, no. 41. 52 Paen. III c. 53 Sermo 58, 11, 13 (PL 38: 399). 54 Cf. CCC, no. 1064. 55 Mt 10: 32. 56 Lk 11: 28. 57 Acts 1: 8. 58 Acts 2: 46. 59 Acts 4: 32-33. 60 Rom 1: 8. 61 Rom 10: 9-10. 62 1 Tm 6: 12. 63 2 Tm 1: 8. 64 1 Pt 4: 15-16. 65 1 Jn 4: 15. 66 LG, no. 42. 67 AA, no. 18. 68 DH, no. 3. 69 AG, no. 15. --- ![[maps/bibliography#^biblio-ei]] ← [[ei-en-06|The Four General Concessions]] | [[enchiridion-indulgentiarum-en|Manual of Indulgences]] | [[ei-en-08|Other Concessions]] →