Can I receive a plenary indulgence for reading the Bible?
The short answer
Yes. Reading Scripture with veneration as spiritual reading earns a partial indulgence, and a plenary one if it lasts at least half an hour — provided the usual conditions are met: confession, Communion, prayer for the pope's intentions, and freedom from all attachment to sin.
The grant
The Handbook of Indulgences grants a partial indulgence for reading Scripture with veneration as spiritual reading, and a plenary one when it lasts at least half an hour.
The conditions
A plenary indulgence requires the work plus sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayer for the pope's intentions, with all attachment to sin, even venial, absent. Otherwise the indulgence is only partial.
Continue exploring
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- How many plenary or partial indulgences can one receive per day?Q&A
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