Stella Maris, Art. III.4 and 5
People of the sea: visit an Apostolate chapel — November 2
Make the prescribed devout visit and prayers for the departed on November 2.
Time required No fixed minimum; about 2–5 minutes for the prescribed devout visit and prayers.
- When
- November 2
- Where
- A chapel or oratory at a Maritime Apostolate (Stella Maris) centre
- Who
- People of the sea under Art. II §1: seafarers; those whose work normally takes place aboard ships or on oil platforms; people retired from those seafaring, shipboard or offshore jobs; nautical students; port workers; their spouses, minor children and household members; and regular collaborators in the Maritime Apostolate
- Application
- The departed only
The prescribed work
- Visit a chapel or oratory of a Maritime Apostolate centre with religious devotion on November 2.
- Devoutly recite the Our Father and Creed there, and pray for the Pope’s intentions.
- Apply this plenary indulgence only to the departed; the motu proprio grants it once for this occasion.
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 and prescribed prayers
Editorial estimate
About 2–5 minutes (editorial estimate)
The source prescribes no numeric minimum. This estimate covers the devout visit and named prayers at an ordinary devotional pace; it does not measure the required disposition or sacramental conditions.
What the time estimate excludes
- Ordinary travel to and from the venue and waiting outside the prescribed work.
- Sacramental confession, Holy Communion and other preparation outside the identified work.
Occasion and source notes
The specified date is shown. Norm 14 permits a preceding-noon visit where the actual qualifying venue is a church or oratory; that window is not automatically projected for every chapel.
The 1997 motu proprio has a lasting-effect clause and is expressly preserved by Leo XIV’s 6 November 2025 chirograph. The Latin lists the Our Father and Creed and prayer for the Pope’s intentions; the official English presents the named prayers as offered for those intentions. The ordinary plenary conditions remain applicable.
Prayer texts and resources
Follow the prayer count and formula specified in the requirements. The two Creed readers are alternatives.
Source and exact reference
- John Paul II: Stella Maris — authoritative Latin31 January 1997, Art. II §1 definitions; Art. III.3–5 indulgences; concluding lasting-effect clause
- John Paul II: Stella Maris — official English translationArt. II §1 and Art. III.3–5
- Leo XIV: chirograph establishing the coordinating Apostleship of the Sea6 November 2025, published 13 November; penultimate paragraph expressly preserves the 1997 Stella Maris provisions
- Enchiridion indulgentiarum, fourth editionGrant 33 §1.5, footnote 66 explicitly refers seafarers and maritime people to Stella Maris; Norms 13–14 and 20
Prayer texts and grants have separate source histories. Consult the grant source for the prescribed work, occasion, and conditions.