By praying the Rosary before Mass each individual fulfills the requirement for a partial indulgence and if they go to confession a few days before or after, a plenary (complete) indulgence.
To gain a plenary indulgence the faithful must complete the following:
- Be in a state of grace (free from mortal sin)
- Be free from attachment to venial sin.
- Go to confession several days before or after praying the Rosary.
- Receive Holy Communion on the day you pray the Rosary.
- Say a prayer for the Pope.
- Pray the rosary in a church or family group, or religious Community.
- Pray the five decades during one session
- Pray vocally, announcing the Mysteries of the Rosary and then meditating on them.
Indulgences are sometimes confusing but here is a good explanation of the concept “indulgence”.
In the bible, sin is viewed as having two basic consequences: guilt and punishment. Guilt is washed away when a person seeks forgiveness, however the need for punishment remains. To completely clear away sin the person must perform an action that will work towards healing the wounds his sin has caused. For example, if a child takes a piece of candy from the store he must apologize to the store manager (to cleanse his guilt) and also pay for the candy (to satisfy the punishment).
The bible also views punishment as having two basic categories: eternal (forever) or temporal (for a short time). For example, when the Jews disobeyed God during their time in the desert the Lord became angry with them and wanted to destroy them (an eternal punishment). Moses pleaded with God who agreed to allow the Jews to live. He forgave their sins (their guilt) but the need for punishment remained. No one in that generation would be allowed to enter the promised land (a temporal punishment).
So… after a person repents and his guilt has been forgiven, an indulgence cleanses the temporal punishment required because of sin. A plenary (complete) indulgence means the temporal punishment is totally cleansed. A partial indulgence means that some of the temporal punishment is cleansed.
Both a plenary and partial indulgence may be applied to the dead.
