Datum Romae apud Sanctum-Petrum die 21 decembris anno 1863, Pontificatus Nostri anno decimoctavo.
PIUS PP. IX.
II.
DECREES OF THE SACRED CONGREGATION OF INDULGENCES.
I. Various decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences declare that more Plenary Indulgences than one may be gained by the same person on the same day, provided that the conditions prescribed by the Apostolical Indults be complied with. A decree of 29th February, 1864, supplies further important information on this subject. It lays down that the Indulgences alluded to above are not only the current Indulgences of Feasts, but also the Indulgences which any of the faithful may gain, once a week, or once a month, on a day fixed by himself. When the visitation of a church or a chapel is among the conditions prescribed in order to gain a Plenary Indulgence, the number of visits paid to the church must be the same as that of the indulgences to be gained.
The decree runs as follows:
Decretum.—Congregationis S. Benedicti in Gallia. In generalibus Comitiis Sacrae hujus Indulgentiarum Congregationis habitis die 29 Februarii, 1864, sequentia dubia per Joannem Baptistam Nicolas Monachum Congregationis Gallicae Sancti Benedicti proposita fuere.
1. Cum ex diversis Decretis S. Congregationis Indulgentiarum jam liceat plures Plenarias Indulgentias eadem die lucrari, solutis scilicet conditionibus, quaeritur, an dictum Decretum respiciat solas Indulgentias in una die occurrentes propter festivitatem, vel potius etiam illas, quas unusquisque ob suam devotionem tali per hebdomadam aut mensem diei adfixerit?
2. Qui Decreto ipso uti voluerit, an teneatur Ecclesiam vel publicum Oratorium visitare (quando nempe requiritur talis visitatio) totidem vicibus, quod sunt Indulgentiae lucrifaciendae?
Et quatenus Affirmative,
3. An Sufficiat, ut in una, eademque Ecclesia tot preces, seu visitationes repetantur, quot sunt Indulgentiae lucrandae quin de Ecclesia post quamlibet visitationem quis egrediatur, et denuo in eam ingrediatur?