I. Various decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences declare
that more Plenary Indulgences than one may be gained by the same
person on the same day, provided that the conditions prescribed by
the Apostolical Indults be complied with. A decree of 29th February,
1864, supplies further important information on this subject. It lays
down that the Indulgences alluded to above are not only the current
Indulgences of Feasts, but also the Indulgences which any of the
faithful may gain, once a week, or once a month, on a day fixed by
himself. When the visitation of a church or a chapel is among the
conditions prescribed in order to gain a Plenary Indulgence, the
number of visits paid to the church must be the same as that of the
indulgences to be gained.
The decree runs as follows:
DECRETUM.--_Congregationis S. Benedicti in Gallia._ In
generalibus Comitiis Sacrae hujus Indulgentiarum Congregationis
habitis die 29 Februarii, 1864, sequentia dubia per Joannem
Baptistam Nicolas Monachum Congregationis Gallicae Sancti
Benedicti proposita fuere.
1. Cum ex diversis Decretis S. Congregationis Indulgentiarum
jam liceat plures Plenarias Indulgentias eadem die lucrari,
solutis scilicet conditionibus, quaeritur, an dictum Decretum
respiciat solas Indulgentias in una die occurrentes propter
festivitatem, vel potius etiam illas, quas unusquisque ob suam
devotionem tali per hebdomadam aut mensem diei adfixerit?
2. Qui Decreto ipso uti voluerit, an teneatur Ecclesiam
vel publicum Oratorium visitare (quando nempe requiritur
talis visitatio) totidem vicibus, quod sunt Indulgentiae
lucrifaciendae?
Et quatenus Affirmative,
3. An Sufficiat, ut in una, eademque Ecclesia tot preces, seu
visitationes repetantur, quot sunt Indulgentiae lucrandae quin
de Ecclesia post quamlibet visitationem quis egrediatur, et
denuo in eam ingrediatur?
Hisce itaque ab Eminentissimis Patribus mature discussis,
Votisque Consultorum perpensis, respondendum esse statuerunt Ad
Primum, _affirmative_; ad Secundum, _affirmative_; ad Tertium
_negative_.
Datum Romae ex Secretaria S. Congregationis Indulgentiarum die
29 Februarii 1864.