Christian Mothers: 17 January 1968 reform grant, confirmed in current national directions
Christian Mothers: works serving the Confraternity’s purpose
Qualifying good works include helping the Christian education and welfare of members’ children.
Time required Complete the particular qualifying good work; duration varies.
- When
- Whenever a qualifying good work is performed.
- Where
- Wherever the qualifying work is performed.
- Who
- Catholic women duly received into a canonically erected Confraternity of Christian Mothers affiliated to the Archconfraternity, including valid independent members affiliated directly to Pittsburgh. Marriage and having children are not prerequisites; participation alone is not enrollment.
- Application
- Self or the departed
The prescribed work
- Be duly admitted through the chapter director or his lawful representative, or through the Archconfraternity’s independent-member procedure.
- Perform a good work according to the Confraternity’s purposes and rules, or on its behalf.
- Act in the state of grace with a pious intention and the dispositions required for a partial indulgence.
The work and its conditions
The general requirements include at least a general intention, the state of grace by the completion of the work, and a contrite heart. Complete the work as prescribed.
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.
A good work serving the Confraternity’s statutory purposes
Duration varies
Time depends on the actual qualifying work
No fixed minimum is prescribed. Works supporting members, children or Christian education differ in length; the work and required dispositions must actually be present.
Timing sources
- Archconfraternity of Christian Mothers: membership and indulgencesCurrent national directions: formal reception, Catholic membership, plenary occasions and four partial works.
- National Director Fr Joseph Tuscan: membership and indulgence memorandum31 July 2023, pp.1 and 3–4; current official site republishes the memo. Confirms full membership irrespective of marriage or children, abolishes associate status, and specifies indulgenced works.
- St John the Baptist Parish: Confraternity welcome packetPDF pp.7–8 reproduce the 17 January 1968 post-reform grant and partial works. Its older associate-member distinction is superseded by the current national director’s memorandum.
- Christian Mothers: revised 2025 StatutesPrinted p.6, Article II: current plenary and partial grants; pp.7–8, Article III: current eligibility and actual registration.
- Christian Mothers: Manual for Directors and OfficersPrinted pp.26–27: reproduced 17 January 1968 plenary grant and accompanying partial-grant list; later membership distinctions are superseded by the 2023 memo and revised 2025 statutes.
What the time estimate excludes
- Ordinary travel and waiting; a pilgrimage itself remains part of the work where required.
Source and exact reference
- Archconfraternity of Christian Mothers: membership and indulgencesCurrent national directions: formal reception, Catholic membership, plenary occasions and four partial works.
- National Director Fr Joseph Tuscan: membership and indulgence memorandum31 July 2023, pp.1 and 3–4; current official site republishes the memo. Confirms full membership irrespective of marriage or children, abolishes associate status, and specifies indulgenced works.
- St John the Baptist Parish: Confraternity welcome packetPDF pp.7–8 reproduce the 17 January 1968 post-reform grant and partial works. Its older associate-member distinction is superseded by the current national director’s memorandum.
- Christian Mothers: revised 2025 StatutesPrinted p.6, Article II: current plenary and partial grants; pp.7–8, Article III: current eligibility and actual registration.
- Christian Mothers: Manual for Directors and OfficersPrinted pp.26–27: reproduced 17 January 1968 plenary grant and accompanying partial-grant list; later membership distinctions are superseded by the 2023 memo and revised 2025 statutes.
Prayer texts and grants have separate source histories. Consult the grant source for the prescribed work, occasion, and conditions.