What is indulgence?

Every human being is created by God out of love and is called to be with Him, to enjoy His eternal peace and justice in communion with every other person redeemed by the Passion of the Lord Jesus and with the Angels. This blessed life is not imposed on man but offered. Corporal life is a time during which we can freely choose whether or not to adhere to this plan of the Father for us. With bodily death our choice is fixed eternally and we obtain the consequences of the choice made: eternal life with God (Heaven) or eternal distance from God (Hell).

In the condition in which we are in this life, we are unity of soul and body. The choice of God participates in all of ourselves. The gestures of love and forgiveness – for example – are deliberated by the soul and carried out by the body as well as – unfortunately – the gestures of hatred, violence or rebellion.

When we distance ourselves, rebel or offend God, all of us participate in this evil that we call sin. It harms us, because it distances us from Him who is the only source of good and it does not harm only us, since we are always inserted in a unity that is God himself, but also others, the Church and even creation.

As a remedy for sin God has instituted Baptism. In the following time, based on the gravity of the evil done, He has provided other remedies such as fasting, prayer, works of charity and above all sacramental confession made before a priest honestly acknowledging the evils committed. These remedies, if followed with honesty of heart and profound humility, obtain God's forgiveness. However, even after forgiveness, the consequences of the evil done remain and each of us is called - as much as we can - to atone, restore and repair. In addition to material reparation, there is also a spiritual one. This reparation or expiation is called temporal punishment - as opposed to eternal punishment which is Hell - because it has a limit and once paid it returns the faithful to the condition prior to the disturbance. If at the moment of bodily death, a soul is not in grave sin, but has not remedied all the evil committed, it enters Purgatory, where it atones for what it owes before entering Heaven. If, however, at the moment of death one is in grave sin, precisely because this life has value and the choices we make have value, that soul will be eternally distant from God and no one will be able to do anything to remedy this. More than generating anguish, all this tells us the seriousness of life and the importance of living it with love, respect and not putting off the good that we can do today as well as the forgiveness and reparation that we can make today because we are not given to know about tomorrow.

From the treasure of the merits of the Passion of the Lord, of the Most Holy Mary and of the other Saints, the Church administers many instruments of Grace for the life of man including a special pardon that covers the spiritual restitution due. This gift is called indulgence; when it is total it is called plenary, otherwise partial. There are many ways in which every day, every year, one can access the indulgence. Each one can be applied to oneself or to a soul in Purgatory, as a suffrage. In the Jubilee Year, as mentioned, the opportunities for access to forgiveness and indulgence are increased by the Church, making it easier for the well-disposed faithful to restore lost Grace.

The conditions for indulgence

An indispensable and prior condition for every indulgence is the penitent spirit of the one who humbly asks for this Grace from God, combining the request with an active, industrious will to do everything in his power to remedy the evil done. Every indulgence requires an authentic detachment from sins and obedience to the conditions that the Church sets. In fact, indulgence is not an external act or an automatism, but a Grace that God, a good Father, willingly gives to the child whom he sees truly repentant and desirous of salvation.

To access indulgence, forgiveness of sins is necessary, ordinarily obtained through confession. Once returned to Baptismal Grace, one is asked to approach sacramental Communion and pray for the intentions of the Pope, for example with an Our Father and a Hail Mary. The prayer for the Pope and Communion must be done on the same day in which the indulgence is accessed while the sacramental confession can be done a few days before or after, according to the possibility, without postponing it to an uncertain future. When any of these conditions are not duly fulfilled, the indulgence is partial otherwise it is plenary (total). Together with these general conditions, there is a work that must be accomplished in an established way. We will now focus only on the works related to this Jubilee.

The indulgenced works

Pilgrimages. They can be done alone or together with other faithful. First of all towards Rome, accessing one of the four Major Papal Basilicas, where there are the only Holy Doors: St. Peter in the Vatican, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Walls. The pilgrimage could also be done by going to the Holy Land and visiting the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem or the Nativity in Bethlehem or the Annunciation in Nazareth. Thirdly, it can be carried out towards the Cathedral church or one of the five established diocesan Marian sanctuaries, namely: Cigoli, San Romano, the SS. Annunziata in Capannoli, the Madonna delle Grazie and San Rocco in Santa Croce sull’Arno and Santa Maria delle Vedute in Fucecchio. If one does not go to Rome or the Holy Land, it is necessary that upon arriving at the Jubilee site one devoutly participates in a community celebration: the Holy Mass, the Liturgy of the Word or of the Hours, the Via Crucis, the rosary, the recitation of the hymn called “Akathistos” or a penitential liturgy with confessions.

Visits to the sacred places of the Jubilee. This is something similar to what is mentioned above but without the form of a pilgrimage. Once in those places, one is asked to spend time with the Lord either in Eucharistic adoration (also possible without the solemn Exposition, remaining before the Tabernacle) or in meditation, for a suitable time that each person decides, concluding with the Our Father, the Creed and a Marian invocation, such as the Hail Mary. The Holy See also includes among the indulgenced places other specific basilicas or sanctuaries as well as the places that each other bishop establishes for his territory which, being numerous and outside the diocese, will not be listed here. Those who are truly unable to make a pilgrimage or visit these places (such as, for example, cloistered nuns, prisoners, those in hospitals or nursing homes) can access the same indulgence if they unite spiritually with those who are at that moment carrying out these works, devoutly reciting the Our Father, the Creed and any other prayer, such as the Hail Mary, asking that the Jubilee Year be a new opportunity for humanity to access Salvation and likewise offering to God the sufferings or hardships of their lives.

Works of mercy and penance. The indulgence is also accessible with the devout performance of corporal works of mercy (feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming strangers, assisting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, burying the dead) or spiritual works of mercy (counseling the doubtful, teaching the ignorant, admonishing sinners, consoling the afflicted, forgiving offenses, patiently bearing annoying people, praying to God for the living and the dead). In addition to these, it is possible to visit for an appropriate time brothers who are in need or difficulty (such as the sick, prisoners, elderly people who are alone) almost making a pilgrimage to Christ present in them. Again, when with a devout spirit one participates in popular missions, spiritual exercises or training meetings on the texts of the Second Vatican Council or the Catechism.

A final indulgenced work concerns Friday, which has always been a penitential day for Christians because it recalls the day of the betrayal, passion and death of the Lord. What gives access to the indulgence is the spirit with which one lives the Fridays of the year or of sacrifice, in union with the sufferings of Christ. To this end, many ways can be found to implement this sacrifice; for example: abstaining for the whole day from futile distractions (real or virtual), from the consumption of superfluous things (fasting), placing oneself at service through volunteering or making authentic economic donations in favor of the poor, religious works or even of a social nature, if these coincide with those of faith such as, for example, the protection of life.

How many times and when

Each plenary indulgence can be obtained once a day and applied to oneself or to a soul in Purgatory as a suffrage. In an exceptional way, in this Jubilee it is permitted to be able to obtain the plenary indulgence a second time a day by applying it to a soul in Purgatory, provided that Communion is taken a second time.

The indulgence for the works of mercy and for St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican is accessible from the beginning of the Jubilee to its conclusion, that is, from Christmas Eve 2024 to January 6, 2026. For the other three Major Papal Basilicas of Rome, the time of indulgence is linked to the opening and closing of their respective Holy Doors. Regarding pilgrimages and visits to other places in the world, including diocesan ones, from December 29, 2024 to December 28, 2025.

Other information

On the noticeboard of the Jubilee churches of the diocese you can find the times of community celebrations and the times when a priest is available for confessions. Our Diocese, together with all the others in Tuscany, will make the pilgrimage to Rome on Saturday, October 11, 2025. Ask your parish priest for further information.