I am some of my fellow parishioners have been a little puzzled by how an "indulgence" is different from an ordinary sacramental. We wondered that since our sins are supposed to be gone after confession anyway, how making a pilgrimage to a "door of grace and mercy"and going to Mass and confession was different from just going to mass and confession without going through the door?
Father Jerome (formally abbot of Subiaco) was kind enough to point me to the following article, which lays it out beautifully. I think it would be tremendously helpful if you could reprint it for the rest of us laity.
http://arc.stparchive.com/Archive/ARC/ARC11291974p32.php
This was previously printed in Arkansas Catholic (The Guardian). In the archives search for “indulgences” and open up the issue of Nov. 29, 1974.
