Enchiridion · Grant 29 §1, 2°
Church visit for the departed on All Souls’ Day
Visit a church or oratory on All Souls’ Day and pray the Our Father and the Creed.
Time required No fixed minimum; prayer visit about 2–10 minutes.
- When
- November 2; an authorized alternative day only with the Ordinary’s consent
- Where
- A church or oratory
- Who
- All eligible faithful
- Application
- The departed only
The prescribed work
- Make the devout church or oratory visit and recite the Our Father and the Creed there.
- The Ordinary may authorize All Saints’ Day or the preceding or following Sunday instead; individuals do not choose a substitute on their own.
- This indulgence may be applied only to souls in purgatory.
The work and its conditions
A plenary indulgence also requires complete detachment from every sin, sacramental confession, Holy Communion, and prayer for the Pope’s intentions, subject to the grant’s stated exceptions. The ordinary limit is one plenary indulgence per day.
Conditions common to every indulgence
The person gaining an indulgence must be baptized, not excommunicated, and in the state of grace at least when the prescribed works are completed. There must be at least a general intention to gain indulgences, and the prescribed work must be performed at the time and in the manner required by the grant.
Read the full conditions and norms. The cited grant and its specific provisions govern.
Time required
Read each branch with its own conditions. An editorial estimate is not a prescribed minimum.
Devout visit with Our Father and Creed
Editorial estimate
About 2–10 minutes for the visit’s prayers
No fixed minute minimum is prescribed. The range is an editorial allowance for the specified prayers and a brief devout visit; travel, processions and a group pilgrimage’s overall itinerary are separate. Date limits and once-a-year or once-per-event limits are frequency restrictions, not time spent praying.
What the time estimate excludes
- Ordinary travel to and from the venue, and waiting outside the prescribed work
- Preparation and the ordinary conditions for a plenary indulgence, unless they are themselves part of the prescribed work
Occasion and source notes
November 2 is the ordinary date. The Ordinary may authorize All Saints’ Day or the preceding or following Sunday. Under Norm 14, the qualifying church or oratory visit may be made from noon on the preceding day until midnight closing the authorized day; the preceding date is not an all-day window.
Prayer texts and resources
Follow the prayer count and formula specified in the requirements. The two Creed readers are alternatives.
Source and exact reference
- Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, fourth edition (1999)Grant 29 §1, 2°
- Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, fourth edition (1999)Norms 13–14; church or oratory visits attached to a specified day may begin at noon on the preceding day
Prayer texts and grants have separate source histories. Consult the grant source for the prescribed work, occasion, and conditions.