Apostolic Penitentiary, 31 January 1968; current Salesian 2026 liturgical calendar
Salesian religious: institute and vocational occasions
On an eligible institute, house or personal occasion, make or renew the promise to fulfil faithfully the duties of the Salesian vocation.
Time required Renewal of the promise on an eligible occasion; no fixed duration
- When
- The named institute feasts and eligible chapter, house or personal occasions
- Where
- Within the named institute, with house occasions restricted to the particular house
- Who
- Members of the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (Salesians of Don Bosco, SDB)
- Application
- Self or the departed
The prescribed work
- Make or renew, at least privately, the promise to fulfil faithfully the duties of one’s vocation, and fulfil the ordinary plenary conditions.
- For the whole institute: Immaculate Conception, Mary Help of Christians, Saint Joseph (19 March), Saint John Bosco, Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Mary Domenica Mazzarello, Saint Dominic Savio, and the occasion of the General Chapter.
- For members of a particular house: its principal patron’s feast; the feast of a saint or blessed whose body or major relic is kept there; and the end of the regular canonical visitation.
- The annual commemoration of deceased Salesian members is also an institute occasion. The 2026 proper omits its usual 1 February observance because it falls on a Sunday; consult the applicable annual calendar.
- For the individual member: entry into the novitiate, first profession, perpetual profession, the 25th, 50th, 60th or 75th anniversary of first profession, or the solemn reception of the crucifix before departure for foreign missions.
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.
Salesian vocational promise
Duration varies
Make or renew the promise; use the actual event’s rite where applicable
No fixed number of minutes or single formula is prescribed. The stated feast, house or individual event is required; a private promise alone on another day is not this grant.
Timing sources
- Salesian Central Office: Addenda et varianda in Officio et Missa 2026p.8, Indulgentiae plenariae propriae Salesianorum et Filiarum Mariae Aux.; pp.3–5 for current dates
- Acts of the Superior Council of the Salesian Society, February 1968, no.251pp.19–20, original Latin 31 January 1968 perpetual rescript for SDB; English summary pp.15–16
What the time estimate excludes
- Ordinary travel to and from the venue, and waiting outside the prescribed work
- Preparation and separately fulfilled sacramental conditions
Occasion and source notes
Observe the actual proper/local feast and any legitimate transfer. Occasion-specific routes apply only to the corresponding institute, house or member. Annunciation, St Joseph and Immaculate Conception use standard Roman transfer rules where listed. The applicable local or proper calendar, lawful external solemnity and any specific indult govern the actual observance.
Source and exact reference
- Salesian Central Office: Addenda et varianda in Officio et Missa 2026p.8, Indulgentiae plenariae propriae Salesianorum et Filiarum Mariae Aux.; pp.3–5 for current dates
- Acts of the Superior Council of the Salesian Society, February 1968, no.251pp.19–20, original Latin 31 January 1968 perpetual rescript for SDB; English summary pp.15–16
Prayer texts and grants have separate source histories. Consult the grant source for the prescribed work, occasion, and conditions.