Portiuncula Indulgence Today

Portiuncula Indulgence is today!

The following is an excerpt from Major Life of St. Francis by St. Bonaventure.

" The Portiuncula was an old church dedicated to the Virgin Mother of
God which was abandoned . Francis had great devotion to the Queen of
the world and when he saw that the church was deserted, he began to
live there constantly in order to repair it. He heard that the Angels
often visited it, so that it was called Saint Mary of the Angels, and
he decided to stay there permanently out of reverence for the angels
and love for the Mother of Christ.

He loved this spot more than
any other in the world. It was here he began his religious life in a
very small way; it is here he came to a happy end. When he was dying,
he commended this spot above all others to the friars, because it was
most dear to the Blessed Virgin.

This was the place where Saint
Francis founded his Order by divine inspiration and it was divine
providence which led him to repair three churches before he founded the
Order and began to preach the Gospel.

This meant that he
progressed from material things to more spiritual achievements, from
lesser to greater, in due order, and it gave a prophetic indication of
what he would accomplish later.

As he was living there by the
church of Our Lady, Francis prayed to her who had conceived the Word,
full of grace and truth, begging her insistently and with tears to
become his advocate. Then he was granted the true spirit of the Gospel
by the intercession of the Mother of mercy and he brought it to
fruition.

He embraced the Mother of Our Lord Jesus with
indescribable love because, as he said, it was she who made the Lord of
majesty our brother, and through her we found mercy. After Christ, he
put all his trust in her and took her as his patroness for himself and
his friars."

The Indulgence:

"The Portiuncula indulgence is
the first plenary indulgence that was ever granted in the Church. There
were indeed indulgences at all times, but they were only partial, and
only a partial remission of the temporal punishments could be obtained
by them. But, as already remarked, he who gains the Portiuncula
indulgence is freed from all temporal punishments and becomes as pure
as after holy baptism. This was also the reason why Pope Honorius was
astonished when St. Francis petitioned for the confirmation of this
indulgence, for such an indulgence, up to that time, bad been entirely
unknown. It was only after he had come to the conviction that Jesus
Christ himself wished it, that he granted the petition of the saint and
confirmed the indulgence" (Source)

August 2nd is the feast of Portiuncula. A plenary indulgence is available to anyone who will

1. Receive sacramental confession (8 days before of after)

2. Receive the Holy Eucharist at Holy Mass on August 2nd

3.
Enter a parish church and, with a contrite heart, pray the Our Father,
Apostles Creed, and a pray of his/her own choosing for the intentions
of the Pope.

HT: A Catholic Life