Stella Maris, Art. III.5, referring to III.3
Seafarers on a ship without an oratory — August 2
On a ship without an oratory, pray before a sacred image on August 2.
Time required No fixed minimum; about 2–5 minutes for the prescribed prayers.
- When
- August 2
- Where
- Aboard a ship without an oratory, before a sacred image
- Who
- Seafarers: those currently aboard merchant or fishing vessels and anyone who has undertaken a voyage by ship, as defined in Stella Maris Art. II §1(a)
- Application
- Self or the departed
The prescribed work
- Be aboard a ship which has no oratory.
- On August 2, devoutly recite the Our Father and Creed before a sacred image, and pray for the Pope’s intentions.
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.
Prayer before a sacred image on a ship without an oratory
Editorial estimate
About 2–5 minutes (editorial estimate)
The source prescribes no numeric minimum. This estimate covers the named prayers before the sacred image 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
This is the sacred-image substitute on a ship without an oratory. No preceding-noon church-visit window is inferred for this substitute.
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. Article III.5 refers back to the earlier indulgences, but does not explain how the titular-feast occasion would be identified on a vessel with no oratory. This record projects only the expressly named calendar date; no ship-patron feast is invented.
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.