Veni Creator Spiritus and other indulgenced hymns
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,186
    I didn't know until very recently that reciting/singing Veni Creator Spiritus grants the individual a plenary indulgence on January 1st as well as Pentecost (partial indulgences for all other days). (Here's the CPDL page o' free scores.)

    Are there any other hymns that give indulgences to their singers? It seems that including such hymns somewhere in the music rotation truly would be a pastorally sensitive thing to do.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Thank you for this! We just found out postcommunion song for the day.
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    Fr. Z had a link to http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-year-plenary-indulgences.html

    which states:

    The Te Deum on the lst day of the year to give thanks to God for benefits received during the past year.
    The Veni Creator on 1 January to implore divine help during the coming year.
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    Whoops! Forgot the intor to that quote:

    A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful under the usual conditions who devoutly assist at the singing or recition of:
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,206
    Don't forget the important part about gaining indulgences . . . they must be obtained "under the usual conditions", which is the hard part. . . for me anyways.
  • David Sullivan
    Posts: 355
    Looking through the Handbook of Indulgences, there are several indulgenced prayers that are also chants (mostly partial indulgences):
    Adoro te devote
    Regina caeli (replacing the Angelus in Easter tide)
    Anima Christi
    Nicene Creed (!)
    Litanies: Holy Name, Sacred Heart, Precious Blood, Blessed Virgin Mary, St Joseph,
    Litany of the Saints
    Magnificat
    Oremus pro Pontifice
    O Sacrum convivium
    Requiem aeternum
    Salve regina
    Sub tuum praesidium
    Tantum ergo (plenary at Mass on Holy Thursday & on Corpus Christi)
    Te Deum (plenary when recited publicly on the last day of the year)
    Veni Creator (plenary when recited publicly on the first day of January and on Pentecost)
    Plus the Psalms De profundis and Miserere

    It can't hurt to use these when appropriate, and let schola and congregation know about the indulgences. Of course, the usual conditions apply for the plenary indulgences.
  • Liz
    Posts: 6
    This is all new to me even though I've been a catholic all my life and a church musician many of those years.

    Another selling point to include chant in the Mass!
  • priorstf
    Posts: 460
    Careful Padre Pio - mixing terms like "indulgences" and "selling point" has a bit of bad history! Maybe selling the chant and tossing in the indulgences for free is a great workaround.

    But it will be eye opening for a congregation to see the indulgences noted in the bulletins when we sing these hymns. It's interesting to note that many of these are included in the Jubilate Deo booklet, though they lack the annotation of indulgence. Jubilate Deo is yet a greater gift to the Church than I'd suspected.
  • Michael O'Connor
    Posts: 1,637
    We included the indulgenced prayers after Vespers in the program at a recent schola appearance. Virtually everyone stayed to pray them. There's hope that the Catholic Church might reappear in our lifetimes.
Add a Comment