This may be old news, but I'm a week behind in my email (what else is new?)
From Zent: New Plenary Indulgence to Mark Year of the Eucharist.
John Paul II has approved a special plenary indulgence to mark the Year of the Eucharist.
The decree reminds the faithful that to obtain a plenary indulgence it is necessary to observe the "usual conditions": "sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion, and prayer in keeping with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, with the soul completely removed from attachment to any form of sin."
In the Year of the Eucharist -- which began October 2004 and will end October 2005, when the world Synod of Bishops will be held on the Eucharist -- the plenary indulgence may be obtained in two ways.
In the first place, according to the decree, "each time the faithful participate attentively and piously in a sacred function or a devotional exercise undertaken in honor of the Blessed Sacrament, solemnly exposed or conserved in the tabernacle."
In the second place, it is granted "to the clergy, to members of institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, and to other faithful who are by law obliged to recite the Liturgy of the Hours, as well as to those who customarily recite the Divine Office out of pure devotion, each and every time they recite -- at the end of the day, in company or private -- vespers and night prayers before the Lord present in the tabernacle."
Geez, they're just giving indulgences away! Whatever happened to the good old days when you had to pay good money if you wanted to get out of purgatory!
Seriously, I do think this indulgence would be a good way to encourage the praying of the Divine Office among the laity. If getting out of the final purgation isn't a good enough enticement, I don't know what is.
