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Get Out of Jail Free Cards

I’m off to a good start this Lent. If I understand the fine print correctly, I may have qualified for two plenary indulgences today. I attended the evening Mass at St. Patrick’s and stayed for the Stations of the Cross (#63 in the Enchiridion of Indulgences) and the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament (new indulgence for the Year of the Eucharist). I also fulfilled the “usual conditions” by going to Confession on Tuesday, taking Communion then and again today, and praying a Rosary for the Pope’s intentions tonight.

Of course, that still leaves the tricky fourth hurdle of “a spirit of total detachment from any inclination to sin” to overcome. I’m not quite sure how to interpret that clause, so I’ll have to leave it in God’s hands to judge. At the very least I gained a partial indulgence, and that’s better than nothing, right? Plus it’s a beautiful tradition carried out in one of San Francisco’s most beautiful churches, if you live in the Bay Area I cannot recommend it strongly enough: every Friday after 5:15 Mass through the end of Lent.

posted by The Jabberwock @ 9:56 PM