indulgence attached to the Papal benediction, even when the benediction is given by the bishop.”
In the case of a local indulgence, or of one attached to a particular church, it is not required that communion should be received in that church, unless such condition is stated in the brief. Finally, by a decree, Sept. 18, 1862, the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX., granted “to all the faithful who are prevented, habitually, by chronic illness, or permanent physical inability of any kind, from leaving their dwellings—excepting those who live in religious communities—the privilege of gaining each and all of the plenary indulgences hitherto granted, or which maybe hereafter granted, by the Sovereign Pontiff, on condition that, being truly penitent, and having confessed their sins and fulfilled the other conditions prescribed,” they perform faithfully, instead of the holy communion, some pious work, according to the direction of their respective confessors.
III. It should be well understood that, by the visit to be made to a church or public oratory, is understood a visit made to some sacred place, through motives of faith and religion, with the intention of honoring God, either directly or by acts of devotion to some one of his saints. Hence it is not necessary, in order to gain a plenary indulgence, that a visit should be made to a church, unless it be so stated in the indult granting the indulgence. But if the indult determines some particular church, as, for example, the parish church, then the visit must be
