God shows Santa Mariana de Jesús Paredes that Indulgences are free public treasures: take the will and pay off your spiritual debts!

Exercise for reflection: imagine that you live in the richest country in the world. In this, the president places large quantities of jewelry, gold and silver on benches in public squares so that those in his population who have debts can pick them up and pay them or even use these resources as they wish. Good isn't it?! Because an incredibly significant number of these people reject this free treasure and are left living in the midst of debt, anguish and hunger... If you think this is very unreal, know that it is the purest reality that happens with spiritual treasures (and infinitely more valuable) that God offers us freely even here on Earth. Even we can be one of these people without knowing it... Read below and discover some profound spiritual riches at your disposal. 

Our faults in life, if confessed to priests with repentance, are forgiven by God, but not paid before His infinite justice - because such guilty acts generated consequences ourselves or others and left us stained before the Holiness of God. Consequently, we still cannot contemplate Him face to face. For example:

A person accelerated his car beyond the limit, lost control and crashed into a stranger's car. No one was hurt, much to the relief of the driver who then appeared very remorseful and apologized to the owner of the other car. The latter sincerely forgives him and advises him not to do that again. However... the consequences remain: the driver will have to pay for the repairs of his own car and the other. It's not enough to just apologize, since you both need the car to work, and it needs to be repaired. Therefore, the debt must be completely resolved so that both can continue their lives in peace with each other.

On the other hand, the arm of God's infinite Mercy created Purgatory for us to expiate after death those payments still due, despite already forgiven, if we have not fully paid them off during our lifetime. But incredibly, God was even much kinder to us and offered us additional means through His Catholic Church to sanctify ourselves more and more every day, as well as to pay our debts in full during our lifetime, if we so wish: the Indulgences. Its definitions are found in the Manual of Indulgences of the Holy See, Norms 1 to 4:

1 - Indulgences are the remissions, before God, of the temporal penalty due for sins already forgiven in terms of guilt, which the faithful duly disposed and under certain and determined conditions, achieves through the Church, which, as dispenser of redemption, authoritatively distributes and applies the treasure of the satisfactions of Christ and the Saints.

2 - The Indulgence is Partial or Plenary, depending on whether it frees, in part or in whole, from the temporal penalty due for sins.

3 - No one can gain Indulgences in favor of other living people.

4 - Any believer can obtain Partial or Plenary Indulgences for himself or apply them to the deceased as a suffrage.

Therefore, this spiritual treasure becomes the spiritual deposit with the infinite merits of Christ, as well as His Mother, for they never sinned. In this way, His good deeds (and sufferings) were not necessary to pay His debts (because they did not have any), and could be applied to the debts of humanity (since Christ and we are one body). The same reasoning is valid for the Saints, because despite having some sins, they offered many works and reparations that immensely overcame their errors - applied to the suffrage of souls of Earth and Purgatory.

And this authority of the Church came directly from Christ who gave the keys to the first Pope of the Church, Saint Peter: “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.” 

Perhaps the lack of publicity about indulgences is due to little awareness of their immeasurable value. God, faced with this picture, offers a vision and inner speech to Santa Mariana de Jesús Paredes e Flores (born in Ecuador in 1618) as she enters into ecstasy. He shows you a comparison of the Indulgences with treasures of the Earth (as he did with his parables) so that the people better understand the value of this spiritual treasure:

"... she saw in the middle of a wide space a table covered with piles ofsilver, gold, rubies, pearls and diamonds, and at the same time she heard a voice saying: "These riches are public property, everyone can come and take as much as they want".

Father François Xavier Shouppe (renowned French priest, Jesuit missionary, living at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th and author of numerous theological works) explains this vision of Santa Mariana to us: 

"God made her understand that these treasures symbolized indulgences.(...) How guilty are we if faced with such abundance we leave ourselves poor and destitute and neglect to help others (deceased - who can no longer do anything for themselves).

Plenary Indulgences 

And this abundance is so great that we can profit a Plenary Indulgence DAILY (once a day is the limit - Rule 21 of the Manual of Indulgences of the Holy See). To do this, one must have a sincere desire to gain indulgence and fulfill someconditions (Norm 23 - Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3):

1 - Perform the Sacrament of Confession (valid for plenary indulgences requested over a period of several days); 

2 - Participate in a Holy Mass and Eucharistic Communion in a state of grace (one communion for each Plenary Indulgence); 

3 - Pray for the Holy Father (Pope) an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory Be (one prayer for each plenary Indulgences); 

4 - Perform one of the four works: pray the Marian Rosary in the family (or in a religious community - concession n. 48) or a Way of the Cross prayed in the Church (Concession n.63) or half an hour of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (Concession n.3) or half an hour of Bible reading/studies/meditation (Concession n.50).

The first three conditions can be carried out a few days before or after the work is carried out, but preferably they are all carried out on the same day.

There are also numerous special days of the year in which the Church has decreed other possibilities relating to condition 4 (keeping conditions 1 to 3 the same) for gaining Plenary Indulgences (such as, for example, on the day of Feast of Divine Mercy or All Souls' Day). You should pay attention to the church's announcements.

But even if the conditions are met, one must have the purpose of no longer committing the same sins, even venial ones (and in hypothesis some mortals), and to put your life in order andtrust in the merits of Christ. Therefore, seek the firm purpose of letting go of sins. This is clear in paragraph 4 of rule 23:

"If the due disposition is lacking and if the prescribed works and the three conditions are not fulfilled, the Indulgence will only be partial. Therefore, only in our Private Judgment before God will we know if He considered that we really fulfilled the conditions adequately or not and whether we receive plenary or partial indulgence at that specific moment in life, at the discretion of His justice. This, however, does not prevent us from seeking plenary indulgences for as many days as we want (and partial indulgences several times a day), as long as we are in the right mood."

We strongly suggest that if you have any questions about Plenary Indulgences, you consult a priest or religious person you trust for further clarification.

What about other Partial Indulgences?

There are several ways to obtain partial indulgences several times a day (norm 21 - paragraph 3). Below we have separated only 12 concessions (out of a total of 70 concessions) to obtain Partial Indulgences that are within the daily life of any Christian, described in the Manual of Indulgences from the Holy See:

1 - Prayer of the Marian Rosary - Concession n.48

When praying (individually or accompanied) the Rosary under any circumstances, a Partial Indulgence is obtained.

2 - Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament - Concession n.3

A visit to the Blessed Sacrament for adoration grants a Partial Indulgence.

3 - Reading the Bible - Concession n.50

Partial Indulgence is granted to the devotee who reads the Holy Scripture with veneration, as a spiritual reading.

4 - Hail Queen Prayer - Concession n.51

Partial Indulgence is granted to the faithful who pray the Hail Queen prayer with pious devotion.

5 - Prayer of Belief - Concession n.16

Partial Indulgence is granted to the believer who prays the prayer of I Believe in God the Father with pious devotion.

6 - Sign of the Cross - Concession n.55

To the devotee who makes the Sign of the Cross, saying the words: "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen", Partial Indulgence is granted.

7 - Visit to the cemetery - Concession n.13

A visit to the cemetery followed by prayers (even in spirit) for the deceased grants Partial Indulgences to the souls in purgatory.

8 - Spiritual communion - Concession n.15

Performing spiritual communion accompanied by pious prayers for spiritual communion (such as those performed in remotely transmitted masses) is granted Partial Indulgence.

9 - Christian Doctrine - Concession n.20

The teaching or learning of Christian doctrine by the believer grants Partial Indulgence.

10 - Use of objects of piety - Concession n.34

The devout use of blessed objects of piety by priests or deacons, such as a crucifix or cross, rosary, scapular and medal, is granted a Partial Indulgence.

11 - Mental prayer - Concession n.38

To the faithful who prays mentally with pious devotion, Partial Indulgence is granted.

12 - Participation in sacred preaching - Concession n.41

He who attentively and devoutly attends the sacred preaching of the word of God is granted Partial Indulgence

There are also several concessions related to prayers that can be made and that grant Partial Indulgence, read them all in the Manual of Indulgences of the Holy See!

General Concessions for Partial Indulgence:

Additionally, there are also general concessions that make it possible to approach several works in the same genre to obtain Partial Indulgences, which are:

I - Partial Indulgence is granted to the faithful Christian who, in fulfilling his duties and enduring the adversities of life, elevates to God the your spirit in humble confidence and make, at least mentally, some pious invocation. With these attitudes, the believer follows Christ's order: "You must always pray and not give up".

II - Partial Indulgence is granted to the faithful who, guided by the spirit of faith, with a merciful heart, compassionately give of themselves or of their assets to serve their brothers in need. With these attitudes, the believer follows Christ's example, carrying out works of charity or mercy more frequently.

III - Partial Indulgence is granted to the faithful Christian who, in a spirit of penance, voluntarily abstains from something that is lawful and pleasing to him. With this attitude, the faithful are forced to repress their bad behaviors, learning to subject their body and to conform to the poor and patient Christ.

Brothers! So let us not leave aside our spiritual treasures that God has given to us through His Holy Catholic Church to achieve our salvation. Jesus even said through a parable how much the Kingdom of Heaven itself is the greatest spiritual treasure of all, incomparably greater than the sum of all earthly treasures:

Kingdom of heaven is also like treasure hidden in a field. A man finds it, but hides it again. And, full of joy, he goes and sells everything he has to buy that field (Gospel of Saint Matthew 13:44)

_{References: Manual de Indulgências: normas, concessões e orações (Editora Família Católica - 3ª Edição); Purgatory: Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints; Presbíteros.org, Salve Regina  Pour Une Formation Chretienne, Rosary Center and Confraternity,  Cortes Católicos, Padre Leonardo, Padre Gabriel Vila Verde, Famille Missionarie de Note-Dame, Arquidiocese de São Paulo, Canção Nova Play, Instituto Hesed}