The Apostolic Penitentiary of the Vatican issues a Decree through which it grants special indulgences on the occasion of the Year of Saint Joseph, convened by Pope Francis to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the universal Church.

Until December 8, 2021, the faithful, by participating in the Year of Saint Joseph, will be able to obtain the Indulgence through various methods listed by the Penitentiary in the Decree.

How to obtain indulgences in the Year of Saint Joseph

Thus, according to the cited document: plenary indulgence is granted to those who “meditate for at least 30 minutes on the Our Father prayer, or participate in a spiritual retreat of at least one day that includes meditation on Saint Joseph”; to those who, following the example of Saint Joseph, “perform a corporal or spiritual work of mercy, can also achieve the gift of the plenary Indulgence”; and pray the Holy Rosary “in families and among fiancés.”

Likewise, anyone who entrusts “their daily work to the protection of Saint Joseph” and “every believer who invokes with their prayers the intercession of the worker of Nazareth, so that those seeking work find it and everyone’s work becomes more dignified” can obtain the plenary indulgence.

Furthermore, “the faithful who pray the litany of Saint Joseph (for the Latin tradition), or the Akathist to Saint Joseph, in its entirety or at least a part of it (for the Byzantine tradition), or some other prayer to Saint Joseph, typical of other liturgical traditions, in favor of the Church persecuted inwardly and outwardly and for the relief of all Christians suffering in any form of persecution,” states the Decree.

On the other hand, “to reaffirm the universality of the Church’s patronage by Saint Joseph, in addition to the occasions mentioned,” the Apostolic Penitentiary “grants a plenary indulgence to the faithful who pray any legitimately approved prayer or act of piety in honor of Saint Joseph, for example ‘To you, blessed Joseph,’ especially on March 19 and May 1, feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the Sunday of Saint Joseph (according to the Byzantine tradition), the 19th of each month, and every Wednesday, a day dedicated to the memory of the Saint according to the Latin tradition.”

Elderly, sick, and dying

Given the current health emergency context, the text considers that the gift of the plenary indulgence “extends particularly to the elderly, the sick, the dying, and all those who, for legitimate reasons, cannot leave their homes, who, with a generous spirit free of any sin and with the intention to fulfill, as soon as possible, the three usual conditions, in their own home or wherever the impediment keeps them, recite an act of piety in honor of Saint Joseph, comforter of the sick and patron of a good death, offering with confidence to God the pains and difficulties of their lives.”

Finally, the Penitentiary “earnestly requests” that all priests with the appropriate faculties offer themselves with a willing and generous spirit to the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance and frequently administer Holy Communion to the sick.

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DECREE

Special indulgence gifts are granted on the occasion of the Year of Saint Joseph, convened by Pope Francis to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Saint Joseph’s proclamation as patron of the universal Church.

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the decree Quemadmodum Deus, by which Blessed Pius IX, moved by the grave and sorrowful circumstances in which a Church besieged by hostility found itself, declared Saint Joseph Patron of the Catholic Church.

To perpetuate the dedication of the entire Church to the powerful patronage of the Custodian of Jesus, Pope Francis has established that, from today, the anniversary of the proclamation decree as well as the day dedicated to the Virgin Inmaculate and wife of the chaste Joseph, until December 8, 2021, a special Year of Saint Joseph is celebrated, in which each faithful, following his example