An indulgence is usually understood as a papal letter of forgiveness of sins for money in the Catholic Church.
It is most often spoken of as a profitable business, the “trade in righteousness,” which caused mass discontent and became one of the reasons for the Reformation.
But in reality everything was far from so simple. Documented forgiveness of sinners indeed often became a tool for enrichment. However, this is only one aspect of theological issues - and by no means only Catholic ones.
Definition of the concept
Indulgentia is primarily a theological concept. But in the practice of the church it received documentary registration, and after the spread of the printing press, the first and main meaning of the word was finally established as the name of the corresponding paper issued by the clergy.
Origin of the word
The name of the papal letter of absolution in the Catholic Church comes from the Latin verb indulgeo, which means “I endure, I allow.”
That is, the original meaning of the word and the concept itself was in concessions to human weaknesses, correction and indulgence in human sins, and not in the “act of buying and selling.”
The meaning of the concept in history
The foundations of the concept began to be laid in the first centuries of Christianity, and already by the XIII-XIV centuries. it received its final design. At the end of the Middle Ages, atonement for sins increasingly became a profitable activity - a “diploma of forgiveness” was actively bought and sold. Its definition has changed in history, has become a common noun, and today means permission for lawless or immoral acts as such.
Theological rationale
The Catholic Church here proceeds from the idea of liberation from temporary punishment for sins. Church doctrine states that even after repentance, a person’s spiritual nature is damaged and deteriorated, which, in turn, creates new ground for sinfulness and destroys the life of a believer. This is considered especially relevant in the case of the so-called mortal sins, leading to the destruction of the soul.
However, a Christian has a chance to be saved from temporary punishment for sinful acts.
To do this, you need to go through the following steps:
- Go through the sacrament of confession with a priest.
- Take communion.
- Perform a number of good deeds (prayer, fasting, giving alms or other charity, pilgrimage to holy places).
- Show overcoming your temptation to this sin.
Later, in Catholicism, the idea of the so-called treasury of super-good deeds took shape. Its essence is that the merits of saints and righteous people create a certain sum of good deeds of humanity before God, a kind of reserve, thanks to which the church is able to issue indulgences to believers.
Orthodox Life
Indulgences as an opportunity to avoid the “revenge” of God, indulgences as a way to “pay for sins,” indulgences as a mitigation of cruel church punishments, terrible abuses of indulgences as the beginning of the period of reformation, indulgences as an incentive to participate in the crusades, indulgences as a political weapon of the pope.
Indulgence 1517
According to Catholic teaching, the means of getting rid of eternal torment in purgatory is indulgence , which translated from Latin means “relaxation,” “mercy,” “condescension.” According to the modern Catholic Catechism, “An indulgence is the remission before God of temporary punishment for sins, the guilt for which has already been atoned for in the Sacrament of Confession. Remission is received by a Christian who has the proper disposition, under certain circumstances, through the action of the Church, which, as the administrator of the fruits of redemption, distributes satisfaction from the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints and authoritatively bestows them. Indulgence primarily means permission from the penance imposed by the church. The roots of this church custom lie in Roman civil law.
Initially, repentance was public and had to be proven by “good deeds”
Initially, church punishments consisted of public, mostly year-long, repentance, through which the person who sinned and was expelled from the community had to prove the sincerity and firmness of his repentance. “Already at the Council of Nicaea (325), bishops received the right to shorten the time appointed for repentance to those excommunicated whose sincere repentance was proven”[1].
Proof of repentance could be good deeds, fasting, prayer, almsgiving, traveling to St. places, etc., committed voluntarily or previously imposed for minor offenses revealed in secret confession to the priest. These “good deeds” were attributed very great importance, to the detriment of the doctrine of God’s grace.
According to pagan-Germanic concepts, it was necessary to “satisfy” the injured party and thereby avoid revenge
There was only one step left to take to recognize “good deeds” as satisfaction for the sin committed; this is what happened in the Western Church, under the influence of German legal concepts. According to pagan-Germanic concepts, it was possible “to atone for harm done to someone, even murder, with retribution”[2], i.e. a voluntary act that would be equivalent to the dignity of the victim or the gravity of the crime. The injured party thus received satisfaction and renounced its right of revenge.
This approach began to be used in relation to God
This civil legal custom, transferred to religious relations, gave rise to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe satisfaction of God as the injured party. “Ancient German legislation, remaining true to its civil law nature, allowed not only the transfer of punishment to another person, but even its replacement with a monetary penalty” [3] , at a certain tariff.
The Church, itself suffering from external formalism and unable to change the crude popular view, found in it support in order to achieve at least external recognition of its disciplinary power.
The barbaric cruelty of church punishments common in England and other countries required their mitigation through some kind of replacement
The barbaric cruelty of church punishments common in England and other countries clearly demonstrated the need for their mitigation through some kind of replacement. “At the end of the 7th century. From England, so-called confession books came into circulation, which were recommended to priests as a guide during confession. They contained a table of reliefs or replacements of church punishments; for example, fasting - by singing psalms or giving alms, as well as monetary donations to the church and clergy.”[4]. A replacement of persons during repentance also appeared; a rich man could complete his seven-year period of repentance in three days by hiring the appropriate number of people to fast for him.
The view that forgiveness of sins can be bought with money dates back to seemed blasphemous
Against such an innovation, a cry of indignation arose throughout the Western Church: the view that “forgiveness of sins can be bought with money seemed back in the century. so blasphemous that many provincial councils ordered the burning of confession books.”[5]
But increasing church formalism and later the ever-increasing self-interest of the clergy turned abuse into the prevailing custom
Donations to churches and monasteries to atone for sins became commonplace. Episcopal and papal charters generously endowed the privileges of the church, which freed anyone who donated to their establishment or support from a third or fourth part of the punishment, sometimes even granting complete cleansing from all sins.
Satan sells indulgences. Illustration of the Jena Codex. Czech Republic. XV century.
In the century, under Pope Alexander II indulgentia appears for the first time
To encourage participation in the Crusades, the Council of Clermont (1095-1096) declared to the crusaders and those who supported the crusade with monetary assistance, full or partial forgiveness of God's punishment, both for them personally and for their close relatives, living and deceased. This method of encouragement survived the Crusades.
Gradually, those who had money could receive forgiveness of even future sins
The habit of taking the forgiveness of sins lightly appeared: it began to be given, for example, for visiting a famous church on certain days, for listening to a sermon; it even went so far that “for a certain pious deed one could obtain forgiveness of future sins and pardon for sinners suffering in purgatory”[6].
Over time, the right of absolution and complete forgiveness passed into the hands of one pope
Partly flagrant abuses in the administration of indulgences, partly hierarchical interests prompted Pope Innocent III (1215) to limit the bishops' right to absolution, and full forgiveness passed, little by little, into the hands of one pope. But for this reason, Rome itself more shamelessly practiced this method of remission of sins, so that little by little it turned into a tax on Christians; so, for example, at the Nuremberg Diet (1466) absolution was offered in order to raise money for the war with the Turks.
Scholastic philosophy hastened to theoretically substantiate the church's right to indulgences
It was argued that the enormous merits of Christ, the Mother of God and the saints before God formed an inexhaustible treasury of good deeds, which was placed at the disposal of the Church, for the distribution of her grace to the worthy. Clement VI , in the middle of the 14th century, approved this teaching, and recognized the Apostle Peter and his governors, the Roman bishops, as the guardians of the accumulated treasure .
Horrible abuses in this matter became one of the main reasons for the German and Swiss reformation
In this way the abuse became even more widespread. The shamelessness with which Leo X in 1514 and 1516, under the pretext of war with the Turks, in fact, to build the Church of St. Peter in Rome and cover the costs of his court, gave indulgences and imposed indemnity on almost all of Europe, was one one of the main reasons for the German and Swiss reformation.
The famous theses nailed by Luther in 1517 to the doors of the palace church were directed only against the abuse of indulgences
In Luther's dispute against the trade in indulgences, which was carried out mainly by the Dominicans, the scholastic theory was subjected to comprehensive discussion. The famous theses, nailed by Luther on October 31, 1517 to the doors of the palace church in Wittenberg, were directed not against indulgences, but against their abuse, i.e. against what Luther then considered only abuse.
Certificate of Confession. 1521
Indulgences for the Crusades
The revealed indulgences in the proper sense, granted to the faithful, began only little by little in the 11th century, “became more common in the 12th century and later”[7]. Sometimes it was difficult to determine in each individual case whether we were already dealing with a true and direct indulgence, or with one of the forms of mitigation of penance, since the practice of penitentiaries continued to exist, moreover, around this time the tradition of monastic asceticism in the form of self-flagellation spread.
Flagellation as a means of repentance and ascetic exercise
The first, according to Burchardas, owed its appearance to Bede the Venerable (735), consisted in the fact that “the penitent frantically beat himself in the chest, fell to the ground, stood for a long time on his knees with outstretched arms” [8]. Regarding the second, it can be noted that flagellation, as a means of repentance and an ascetic exercise, received special development among Italian hermits of the 10th–11th centuries; it is believed that the first performer of this practice was “Saint Paradulf, who lived in the Frankish kingdom around 737.”[9]. The Saint of the Catholic Church, Dominic the Chained (1060), according to the testimony of Peter Damiani (1072), cited by one researcher, taught that “three thousand blows, while singing ten psalms, correspond to the annual canonical penance; a hundred-year penance can be replaced by fifteen thousand blows while singing the entire psalter”[10]. Regarding the penitential discipline of the Latin penitentiaries, it must be said that they allow substitutions and ransoms, but, as the Catholic scholar Schmitz says, ransoms are “a special property of the Anglo-Saxon and German local Churches; in the penitentiaries of the Roman... Church there are instructions that instruct priests to pay careful attention to the personal qualities of the penitent and impose appropriate punishments, but there is no trace of a detailed statement of the general rules of ransom; on the contrary, in the Roman penitentiaries the definition is even constantly repeated that the one who takes on the sins of others or fasts for a fee in place of another, he must be excluded from church communion and is not worthy to be called a Christian.”[11]
In addition to taking part in the Crusades, indulgences were also granted for participation in the struggle of the Church against heretics
So Pope Innocent III in 1209 declared “a complete indulgence to those who will take part in the crusade against the Albigensians”[12].
But still, indulgences regarding the consecration of temples were used more often
The granting of the said indulgences reached the point of abuse to such an extent that on this occasion at the “greatest council of the Middle Ages” [13], convened a year before the death of Innocent III in the Lateran, the following decree was issued: - “Because through the granting of unnecessary indulgences, which the church prelates are not ashamed to waste , the authority of the keys of the Church is despised and penitential zeal is weakened, we decree that when consecrating churches, the time of indulgence received should not exceed forty days. We also order that the number of days granted to indulgences be regulated by regulations on indulgences, which are issued each time for each specific case, in accordance with the custom observed in this matter, having full authority of the Roman Pontiff.”[14]
Indulgences became a weapon through which the popes fought political opponents
Thus, Innocent III, preaching a crusade against Frederick II, “promised forgiveness even for grave sins, such as parricide” [15]. The pope's indulgences aroused enthusiasm in the West in the fight against the enemies of Christianity, while the indulgences benefited the Church for serving the public interests. Thus, “Alcuin of Trier gave an indulgence to those who would make a donation for the construction of a bridge across the Moselle”[16]. Clement IV (1265–1268) granted hundred-day indulgences three times a year to members of the Confalone brotherhood, whose main concern was “the liberation of Christians captured by the Saracens.”[17] Since the middle of the 13th century, indulgences in favor of visitors and benefactors of churches have been particularly abundant. In Rome, even “a special congregation of bishops was established, whose sole responsibility was to draw up letters of indulgence”[18].
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[1]Conciliar Mind. M., 203. P. 200.
[2] Shestov L. On the scales of Job (soul-to-soul journey). Paris, 1975. P. 34.
[3] Ruban Y. Humanism, the Reformation and 95 theses of the Augustinian monk Martin Luther // Luther M. Dispute on clarifying the effectiveness of indulgences (95 theses). St. Petersburg, 1996. P. 35.
[4]Ordernk Vitaly, monk, Thirty books of church history, divided into three parts // Stasyukhevich M. History of the Middle Ages in its writers and the research of the latest scientists. T.Z.SPb., 1887. P. 46.
[5] Pavlov A.S., prof., Critical experiments on the history of the ancient Greek-Russian polemic against the Latins. St. Petersburg, 1878. P. 45.
[6] Pavlov A.S., prof., Critical experiments on the history of the ancient Greek-Russian polemic against the Latins. St. Petersburg, 1878. P. 47.
[7]Robertson D.S. Duke I.I. History of the Christian Church from the Apostolic Age to the present day. T. 2. Pg., 1916. P. 45.
[8] Belyaev N. Roman Catholic teaching about satisfaction with God on the part of man. Kazan, 1876. P. 456.
[9] Belyaev N. Roman Catholic teaching about satisfaction with God on the part of man. Kazan, 1876. P. 458.
[10] Belyaev N. Roman Catholic teaching about satisfaction with God on the part of man. Kazan, 1876. P. 460.
[11]Almazov A. Secret confession in the Orthodox Eastern Church. Experience of external history. T. 1. Odessa, 1894. P. 345.
[12]Robertson D.S. Duke I.I. History of the Christian Church from the Apostolic Age to the present day. T. 2. Pg., 1916. P. 56.
[13]Ordernk Vitaly, monk, Thirty books of church history, divided into three parts // Stasyukhevich M. History of the Middle Ages in its writers and the research of the latest scientists. T.Z.SPb., 1887. P. 46.
[14] Abramson M.L., Kirillova A.A. Kolesnitsky N.F. History of the Middle Ages: a textbook for students of historical faculties of pedagogy. institutions. M., 1980. P. 87.
[15]Robertson D.S. Duke I.I. History of the Christian Church from the Apostolic Age to the present day. T. 2. Pg., 1916. P. 90.
[16]Walter of Chatillon. “I am sick among the sick” // Monuments of medieval Latin literature of the 10th-12th centuries. M., 1972. P. 78.
[17]Walter of Chatillon. “I am sick among the sick” // Monuments of medieval Latin literature of the 10th-12th centuries. M., 1972. P. 76.
[18]Robertson D.S. Duke I.I. History of the Christian Church from the Apostolic Age to the present day. T. 2. Pg., 1916. P. 110.
History of indulgence
The foundations of the doctrine began to be laid in early Christianity. In the first centuries of our era, there was an acute problem of apostates - people who, due to threats or persecution, demonstrated outward renunciation of faith or formal loyalty to the state pagan cult. There were many such believers; in order to be allowed to participate in church life again, they had to undergo severe procedures of purification and repentance. The issue of mitigating punishment has become urgent in order to make it easier for those who have stumbled to return to the fold of the church. This practice was later formalized through confession books - a kind of instructions to priests regarding indulgences in the absolution of sins.
Emergence and development
However, the concept received full form already in medieval Europe with the further development of theological thought. The birth of the term itself dates back to the 11th century. The doctrine gains integrity and consistency; in the 14th century, the dogma about the treasury of super-good deeds was officially adopted, and the Pope began to have the sole right to completely forgive sins.
Further fate
During the Renaissance, with the development of commodity-money relations, the spirit of profit penetrated into the church environment - they began to actively trade in absolution. There is evidence of when permits for various kinds of acts were almost stocked up for future use. Therefore, in 1521, the Roman Curia issued an order to prohibit any material contributions or monetary payments when providing certificates of forgiveness of sins.
Current situation
In 1967, Pope Paul VI adopted the Indulgentarium Doctrina. This document revised the ancient practice of absolution and regulated its order in our days. In 1999, minor changes were made to it.
The importance of repentance in Orthodoxy
From early times, Christianity instilled in believers the importance of repentance, recognition of their mistakes, sinful deeds, and awareness of the consequences of their actions. A person who has turned to Christ and faith must understand that the misdeeds he committed earlier will not go away, will remain in memory and will influence the way of life.
What, in the understanding of Orthodoxy, should be considered a sin:
- A wrong action that leads to negative consequences that change a person’s life.
- Actions that caused harm to another person, causing his death or severe emotional distress.
- A wrong decision that led to certain consequences that affected the way of life of other people.
Sin is a wound that is in the soul, and not on the body, and this wound constantly bleeds and rots. If you do not cauterize the wound, it will continue to rot, and the inside of the person will rot along with it. In the literal sense, this is not an offense, a criminal offense, but an offense that a person has committed or plans to commit.
Christ said in his teachings that a person who plans a murder, who has conceived it, is already a criminal, a sinner, since his thoughts are unclean, and not his deeds.
This is difficult to convey to the understanding of people who are not close to the Lord and faith, but a sinner should be considered a person who has not yet done anything, but is thinking about it. Thus, a person who saw a woman and instantly desired her, but hid his desires, should be considered an adulterer. And a thief is a person who planned the theft. Naturally, awareness of sinful acts and understanding of them is easier for ordinary people. You can repent of the wrongdoings that have been committed by hiding your sinful thoughts. In this case, there is no need to wait for forgiveness.
A person must change himself, change not only his life, but also his perception of the world and the people around him.
- This is extremely important, because confession of sins is not yet repentance; awareness of actions, thoughts and the chronology of events is what is needed for repentance.
- Christ said that a person can do nothing, but still be a sinner. Anyone who plans a bad crime will certainly commit it sooner or later. Because the demon, the very personification of evil, already “sits” in him.
There are those same 7 deadly sins, which are considered the main ones, however, the thoughts that a person “scrolls” in his head can also be sinful if they do not contain virtues.
Application in religion
The phenomenon took place not only among Catholics - although it was precisely thanks to the influence of Rome that it spread in the Greek Church after the capture of Byzantium by the Turks. Constantinople fell, and many learned Greeks began to receive education abroad. Western trends are actively penetrating the East.
In Orthodoxy
The charter of forgiveness of sins is called synchocharta in Greek. It entered the practice of the Orthodox Church in the generally accepted sense of the word - namely, as a document that was bought for money and did not require the passage of sacraments and other cleansing rites.
And if in the West they came to such a vicious practice gradually, then in the Eastern churches it was borrowed in ready-made form. In 1727, the issuance of synchochartas received official recognition from the Patriarch of Constantinople. Subsequently, as a “Latin” phenomenon, direct trade in them was prohibited, but not extradition as such. The last known examples date back to the mid-twentieth century.
In Catholicism
As you can see, the indulgence towards repentant sinners, which initially did not have clear rules, acquired a systemic character and took shape in a doctrine. However, later it began to turn into a business that was far from the ideals of the Christian faith. The Church fought against him, but not always successfully. Extortion and corruption among the clergy became one of the main reasons for the beginning of the Reformation and the emergence of Protestantism - a direction of Christianity where the role of clergy as intermediaries between the believer and God was reduced to a minimum.
Repentance according to church canons
Confession and repentance are two different things. Confession and its sacrament imply a story about one’s deeds, which is carried out alone with the priest. A person can repent and atone for his sins himself. To do this, he needs to realize his actions. This happens in the following way:
- A person experiences certain emotions that are considered wrong: envy, anger, desire.
- Realizes their sinfulness, feeling a reproach of conscience, which is considered a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
- He asks the Lord for forgiveness for his thoughts and actions, promising not to make such mistakes/misconducts again.
This is considered repentance. In confession, a person must talk about how he acted in a difficult situation, and whether he was able to cope with temptation or not, whether he succumbed to it and how he felt.
Parting words
With miraculous prayers for forgiveness and intercession addressed to the Lord and Mother of God, you heal the soul like medicine. Therefore, pray daily if you feel guilty before someone and are internally ready to receive healing by wholeheartedly repenting of your actions.
Although the power of sincere prayer works wonders, do not expect quick results, sin happens quickly. To gain forgiveness for unintentional harm, one will have to pray for a long time, and for a deliberate sinful act - even longer.
How to earn remission of sin
You can beg the Lord for forgiveness, but this will take several years, a lot of work, which will have to be supported by the right actions. This is not a simple apology that can be made to a person, it is a global awareness of the actions that a person has committed.
If a person talks with his confessor about what he did wrong, it will become clearer to him why he should ask forgiveness from the Lord and how to do it correctly.
The fact that the Lord has forgiven a person will become known to him by receiving a blessing. Life will change, and the burden that weighed on the sinner will disappear from the soul. There will be no sinful thoughts left in your head, and life will consist of virtue, prayers and holidays spent with your family and loved ones.
A person will receive everything he asks for if God favors him, so say the clergy. Asking the Lord to forgive sins is a complex, conscious act that can take several years. This can be done in several ways, but the main task of the believer is to realize his actions, to understand what and when he made a mistake. This will help you make amends for your misdeeds and avoid their repetition.
How to atone for your guilt before the Almighty
It is also not forbidden to address pleas for forgiveness to saints or great martyrs. Before you say a prayer, you should find the right mood - clear your mind of unnecessary thoughts that distract from the main task.
Repentance for deeds that burden the soul (unintentional or intentional) must be sincere, then daily prayers to the Lord will bring purification along with enlightenment of consciousness.
Great words of prayers of repentance addressed to the Lord, Our Lady and other saints can change a person’s inner world for the better:
- a repentant Christian becomes kinder to the people around him;
- the secrets of the hidden nature of good and also evil are revealed to him;
- a believer himself does not commit sinful acts and does not allow others to do so.
According to church canons, in order to gain the Lord's mercy and forgiveness of all one's sins, in addition to reading sacred texts at home, one must attend church. The Orthodox are required to regularly confess to the priest, who is destined to play the role of mediator between God and the laity.
After the ritual of listing your unsightly deeds and your sincere repentance, the priest, by the will of the Lord, will forgive the sins you have committed, and you will feel great relief. By participating in the sacrament of communion, the final ritual of confession, you will be cleansed of sinful acts in order to be resurrected into holiness.
Rules for daily prayers
According to a brief prayer rule compiled by Seraphim of Sarov, the creation of daily prayers (morning and evening) begins with reading the following prayers - Our Father (3 times), Virgin Mary, Rejoice (3 times), and the Creed (1 time).
This is followed by repentant prayer texts, and the prayer service ends with the reading of the main psalm - Our Father.
You need to ask for forgiveness not only for the wrong action you have already committed, but also for sinful thoughts about it. After all, the Almighty and the army of his holy helpers see not only our outer shell, but also the most hidden corners of the inner world of every believer.
Therefore, the Holy Gospel prescribes to repent of committed sinful actions and thoughts every day, and not to postpone repentance until the dying minutes. Even short appeals asking for mercy to a sinner reach the heavenly palaces, especially those pronounced within the walls of God's temple.
I want to share with you the text of the daily prayer of repentance, which I read at night after all the evening prayers. Wonderful words remove the burden of all voluntary or involuntary sins committed during the day, and the high intensity of sincere repentance allows you to fall asleep with a feeling of God's mercy through forgiveness.
For your own sins you need not just ask for forgiveness, but pray for your fall from grace for a long time, depending on the severity of the sin. Jesus sacrificed himself for the remission of our sins, he was crucified for his mercy towards us, which is why His forgiveness has such great power and works miracles.
