plenary indulgence and detachment from sin

[Aloysius]

okay, so I fulfilled all the requirements for plenary indulgence and fully believe I received one.. but I want to ask if my interpretation of detachment from sin was legitimate for receiving it.

basically, this seems to be the hardest thing to define. I mean, it would seem that to say you are detached from all sin even venial would probably indicate attachment to the sin of pride! then the whole plenary indulgence would be impossible!

so I took detachment from sin to mean that you had a full purpose not to sin, and that you had taken all the necessary precautions that would remove from your life anything that would make you sin. basically, you could feasibly say that you did not will to be attached to any sin and that you didn't have anything in your life that kept you attached to sin.

with that defintiion, I felt I could claim detachment from sin well enough. I removed everything from my life that would cause me to sin, I fully willed and resolved against sin, I refused to think about sin. does that qualify me to have received the plenary indulgence?

[cappie]

yes :

[Theoketos]

To clarify Father Response, it actually is rather difficult, but not impossible.

In fact, it happens so rarely because the faithful need to have necessary disposition for obtaining a plenary indulgence. There is a common story repeated many times that at the opening of the Holy Year in 1575, Pope Gregory XIII, standing next to St. Philip Neri, was watching the crowds go through the holy door, and expressed his joy at the number of plenary indulgences being received. St. Philip relayed a vision that was given to him that showed him out of all the penitents, only an old begger woman of Rome had gained the indulgence; the others had only obtained partial indulgences. This was an outrageous thing to say at the time considering how big indulgences were.

Although I can not find my orginal source for what I said above here is a reputable source that confirms it.

THE TOUGHEST REQUIREMENT

The greatest hurdle is the last. Making a good confession is not particularly difficult, and going to Communion and praying for the Pope's intentions are easier still. It's being free from all attachment to sin that's hard and it's quite possible that even evi-dently good people, who seek plenary indulgences regularly, never, in their whole lives, obtain one, because they are unwilling to relinquish their favorite little sins.

[b]
There is an account of St. Philip Neri, who died in 1595, preaching a jubilee indulgence in a crowed church. A revelation was given to him that only two people in the church were actually getting it, an old char-woman and the saint himself. Not exactly encouraging, huh? But don't worry. If you aren't perfectly disposed and can't get the plenary indulgence. you'll at least come away with a partial.[/b]

....

[url="http://www.catholic.org/clife/prayers/indulgc.php"]http://www.catholic.org/clife/prayers/indulgc.php[/url]

So the big thing is ridding yourself of even the smallest desire of the littlest of sins. I know that I have never been able to do this, but it is possible for me and all faithful to do so. Though we will remain sinners.

There is a flip side in that if one over analizes this they can easily become scrupulous. So do not do that either.