The penitent must perform certain acts besides prayer—
good works and pilgrimages— to receive an indulgence.
Even after forgiveness through confession, you're told
more is needed to restore the soul; hence, the indulgence.
This can sound confusing, even a little bit medieval, especially
when taking into account modern meanings of indulgence.
Even more confusing are those Catholic prayers called ejaculations:
utterances to direct the petitioner's mind to God, not as indulgence—
Eternal rest grant unto us, o Lord. Mother of Mercy, pray for us.
Queen of peace, pray for us. Do you ever feel prayer can be indulgent,
that it deflects attention away from the present, in favor of an
afterlife? Is there any shrine that isn't even a bit indulgent?
Another hospital has been bombed, another school, another
shelter. Mother of orphans, pray for us even as we indulge
in the privilege of leisure, a good cry, a walk by the sea.
Works of mercy and charity, acts of indulgence—
what's the purgatory of the soul, if this life already cycles between
trial and suffering? O my heart, desirous of grace and indulgence.
Purveyors of fine poetry since 2003.
