Sodality of Our Lady

INDULGENCES AND PRIVILEGES OF THE SODALITY

...WHICH THE SOVEREIGN PONTIFFS HAVE GRANTED TO THE PRIMA-PRIMARIA SODALITY ERECTED IN THE ROMAN COLLEGE OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS UNDER THE TITLE OF OUR LADY OF THE ANNUNCIATION AND SS. PETER AND PAUL, AND TO OTHER SODALITIES THAT HAVE BEEN OR SHALL BE AGGREGATED TO IT.



I - PLENARY INDULGENCES GRANTED ONLY TO SODALISTS

1. On the day of reception into the Sodality if, after Confession, they receive Holy Communion on that day. (Gregory XIII., 5 Dec., 1584; Sixtus V., 5 Jan. and 29 Sept., 1587; Gregory XV., 15 April, 1621; Benedict XIV., 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII 7 March, 1825.)

2. At the hour of death if, after Confession and Holy Communion, or at least with contrition, they invoke devoutly the Most Holy Name of Jesus in their heart, if they cannot with their lips. (Ibidem, and Leo XIII., 23 June 1885)

3. If, after Confession, they receive Holy Communion on any of the following Feasts: Christmas Day, Ascension Day, the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady's Birthday, the Annunciation, the Purification, the Assumption. (Ibidem, and Leo XIII., 23 June, 1885)

4. On All Souls' Day if, after Confession, they receive the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, they can gain a Plenary Indulgence applicable to the souls of Sodalists in Purgatory. (Pius X, 21 July, 1910)

5. Once a week, on any day they choose, provided they have attended a Sodality meeting within the week, and provided, after Confession on that or the preceding day, they approach the Holy Table on the day chosen. (Benedict XIV., 24 April, 1748, and 8 Sept. 1751; Leo XII., 7 March, 1825; Leo XIII., 27 April, 1887; Pius X, 21 July, 1910)

6. If, after Confession, they receive Holy Communion at a General Communion of Sodalists. (Leo XIII, 8 Jan, 1886; Pius X, 21 July, 1910.)

7. On making the Spiritual Exercises, for any number of days, or on making a monthly spiritual recollection for even one day, provided that, after Confession and Holy Communion, they pay a visit to the Blessed Sacrament and there piously offer prayers for the intention of the Holy Father. (Benedict XIV., 29 March, 1753; Summary 1775, No. 28; Gregory XVI., 7 July, 1843; Pius X., 21 July, 1910)

8. The Director of the Sodality, if he visits a sick member of his Sodality and aids him with spiritual advice to bear patiently the discomforts of sickness or to accept death willingly from the hands of Our Lord, and has him recite before some image of Our Saviour crucified, three Our Fathers and Three Hail Marys for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff, can impart to him a Plenary Indulgence on the day on which the sick Sodalist receives Holy Communion. (Benedict XIV., 27 Sept., 1748 and 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII., 7 march, 1825)



II - PLENARY & PARTIAL INDULGENCES GRANTED ONLY TO SODALISTS

9. Sodalists can gain all the Indulgences of the Stations of Rome if, on the Station days, they devoutly visit their Oratory or some public church and there say seven Our Fathers and seven Hail Marys, and - in the case of the Plenary Indulgences - go to Confession and Holy Communion. (Gregory XIII., 5 Dec., 1584; Sixtus V., 5 Jan. and 29 Sept., 1587; Gregory XV., 15 April, 1621; Benedict XIV., 24 April, 1748 and 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII, 7 March, 1825; Pius X., 21 July, 1910.)

10. If, for forty days after the Spiritual Exercises, they piously offer prayers for perseverance, they can gain an Indulgence of 200 days for each day; and , if they go to confession and Holy Communion within the forty days, a Plenary Indulgence. (Gregory XVI., 7 July, 1843; Pius X., 21 July, 1910.)



III - PARTIAL INDULGENCES GRANTED ONLY TO SODALISTS.

11. Seven years and seven quarantines:-

  • Every time they devoutly hear Holy Mass on days that are not of obligation;
  • Every time they carefully examine their conscience in the evening before going to bed;
  • Every time they are present at public or private meetings;
  • Or at the Divine Office recited for the souls of departed Sodalists or other Catholics and conducted by the Sodality and approved by its Director;
  • Every time they visit the poor, or the sick, or the imprisoned;
  • Every time they reconcile enemies;
  • Every time they pray for the sick or the departed;
  • Every time they accompany to ecclesiastical burial the bodies of Sodalists or others of the faithful.

(Benedict XIV., 24 April, 1748, and 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII., 7 march, 1825; Pius X., 21 July, 1910.)

12. Three hundred days:-

  • Every time they devoutly recite the Act of Consecration of St. John Berchmans or of St. Francis de Sales;
  • Or the anthem Hail Holy Queen.

(Pius X., 17 Nov., 1905 and 21 July, 1910.)

13. One hundred days:-

  • Every time they kiss the Medal of Our Lady, which is the usual distinctive mark of the Sodalist, and devoutly say the prayer: Mary, with her loving Son, Bless us, each and every one!

For this the Medal must have been blessed by the Director of the Sodality or his delegate. (Pius X., 21 July, 1910.)

IV - PLENARY INDULGENCES WHICH ALL THE FAITHFUL CAN GAIN IN THE PLACE WHERE A SODALITY IS ERECTED.

14. If, after Confession and Holy Communion, they devoutly visit such place between First Vespers and sunset, on the primary or secondary titular Feast of the Sodality, and there pray for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff. (Gregory XIII., 5 Dec., 1584; Sixtus V., 5 Jan. and 8 Sept., 1587; Gregory XV., 15 April, 1621; Benedict XIV., 27 Sept., 1748, and 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII., 7 March, 1825.)

If the Sodality has no secondary title, one other day each year may be chosen for this purpose by the Director, with the consent, however, of the Ordinary (or, if the Director is a regular priest, of his own Superior). (Benedict XIV., 27 Sept., 1748, and 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII, 7 March, 1825.)

If the Sodality meeting-place varies, or is permanently or temporarily changed, or even if, for the greater convenience of the people and greater solemnity, the primary or second-ary titular Feast - with the Director's consent - happens to be celebrated in another church, nevertheless the same Indulgence avails for a visit to that church. (Benedict XIV., 27 Sept., 1748, and 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII., 7 March, 1825.)

Likewise, if either titular Feast, or even both, cannot be celebrated with sufficient convenience or solemnity on its own day, the Director of the Sodality - with the consent of the Ordinary (or, if the Director is a regular priest, of his own Superior) - can designate another day within the year for the celebration of the Feast and the gaining of the Indulgence granted.

If the day chosen be impeded by a double, one Solemn Mass of the Feast transferred as above can be celebrated. (Sixtus V., 29 Sept., 1587; Gregory XV., 15 April, 1621; Benedict XIV., 27 Sept., 1748, and 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII., 7 March, 1825.)

15. If they are present at the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament held in the place of the Sodality for some time on three successive days, and pray there, and perform the other works enjoined, they can gain the Indulgences granted for the devotion of the Forty Hours. (Benedict XIV., 15 July, 1749, and 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII., 7 March, 1825.)



V - PRIVILEGES

16. The Director of the Sodality can substitute for himself another priest to receive the faithful and to bless the medals. (Leo XIII., 23 June, 1885.)

17. To all Kings, Princes, Dukes and Counts holding supreme authority, and to their relatives, by blood or by marriage, within the limits of the first or second degree, provided they have petitioned to be enrolled in a Sodality, the same Indulgences as above are granted, though they be absent, on the condition, however, that they perform the same works of piety and pay a visit to some church. (Benedict XIV., 15 July, 1749, and 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII., 7 March, 1825.)

18. Except General Communion, the Communion required for gaining a Sodality Indulgence can be transferred by the Sodalists to any day within the octave of the one assigned. (Leo XIII., 27 April, 1887; Pius X., 21 July, 1910.)

19. The prayers recited by the Sodalists together at the weekly meetings, with the intention of directing them to the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff, suffice for gaining the Indulgences granted for these meetings.

20. The Indulgences connected with the weekly meetings avail even if the meetings take place only once a month. (Leo XIII., 26 August, 1893.)

21. All Indulgences that have been or shall be granted to Sodalities of Our lady - except, however, the Plenary Indulgence to be applicable at the hour of death - can be applied also to the souls of the faithful departed. (Benedict XIV., 15 July, 1749, and 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII., 7 March, 1825; Leo XIII., 23 June, 1885; Pius X., 21 July, 1910.)

22. Mass said for a Sodalist departed, in any place and by any Priest, enjoys the privilege of a Privileged Altar. (Benedict XIV., 15 July, 1749, and 8 Sept., Pius X., 21 July, 1910.)

23. A servant of a Sodality, as long as he remains in its service, can gain all the Indulgences granted to the Sodalists, and in the same way as they. (Benedict XIV., 15 July, 1749, and 8 Sept., 1751; Leo XII., 7 March, 1825.)

24. The Priest who is the legitimate Director of any Sodality is in this sense a member of the Sodality of which he is the head., that without being received with any ceremony, he participates, of his own right, in all the Sodality's privileges and Indulgences. (Pius X., 10 May, 1910.)

25. The Director of a Sodality erected primarily for youths, may admit into it grown men and fathers of families. The same holds in similar cases for other Sodalities, even of women. A good reason, however, is requisite. This will more easily exist if on changing his state of life - for example, by marriage - one wishes to continue in the Sodality, and there is no other Sodality of Our Lady suitable to him in that place. (Pius X., 10 May, 1910.)

26. A Sodalist rightly admitted into a Sodality remains always a member of it, unless he abandons it of his own accord, or is dismissed as unworthy. Hence, by fulfilling the conditions required, he always participates in the favours, too, and the Indulgences. (Pius X., 10 May, 1910.)

27. A Sodalist who is absent for a year or more from the place of his Sodality, and settles in another place from which he cannot attend the meetings, is - to gain the Indulgences - obliged to enter a Sodality suitable to his circumstances, in the place of his new residence, unless the Director of this Sodality refuses, or there is some other legitimate impediment, as to which the Director of his former Sodality shall be the judge. (Pius X., 10 May, 1910.)

July 21st, 1910 - Thursday, in place of Wednesday

IN the General Meeting of the Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition, their Eminences, the Cardinal General Inquisitors in matters of faith and morals, having had the above Summary laid before them and having heard the advice of the Reverend Consultors, decreed to petition His Holiness for the approbation of the said Summary.

The same day His Holiness Pius X., by Divine Providence Pope, in the customary audience granted the Reverend Assessor of the Holy Office, having heard the report on the above matter, approved the proposed Summary, according to the vote of their Eminences.




ALOYSIUS GAMBIENE,
Substitute for Indulgences.

DIE 30 NOVEMBRIS, 1910.

Cum suprema Sacra Congregatio Sancti Officii praesens Summarium Anglica lingua exaratum cum originali Latino concordare repererit, illud approbavit typisque mandari permisit.

ALOYSIUS GAMBIENE,
Substitute for Indulgences.




Since the publication of the above Summary the following Indulgence has been granted by the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office (14 Nov., 1912):

Each month, on any day elected by them, Sodalists may gain a plenary indulgence applicable to the souls in purgatory, provided they recite with a contrite and devout heart three Paters, Aves and Glorias each day in honour of the Monthly Patron (allotted in the monthly distribution) and, after Confession, receive Holy Communion in honour of the Patron and pray for the intentions of the Pope.

 
 
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Sodality Publications

Saint Joseph's Workshop, the Catholic Literature Guild of the the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Patrick, makes some of its publications available through lulu.com, which you can access here.

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Contact Details

Mrs. Elizabeth Mahon,
E. de M.,
President,
Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary & St. Patrick,
c/o Church of St. Francis Xavier,
Upper Gardiner Street,
Dublin 1.
eamahon@gmail.com

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