The Crèche Indulgence: Visit a Franciscan Nativity Scene for a Plenary Indulgence

The idea came from the Conference of the Franciscan Family (CFF), the body which gathers together representatives of different congregations stemming from the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi. The Conference met in October 2023 in order to properly celebrate the 800^th anniversary of the approval of the Franciscan Rule, which occurred in 1223.

Making the most of this opportunity, the large Franciscan family turned to the Holy See: “In order to promote the spiritual renewal of the faithful and increase the life of grace, we ask that the faithful receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions from 8 December 2023, the solemnity of Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to 2 February 2024, feast of the Presentation in the Temple of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by visiting the churches run by Franciscan families throughout the world and stopping in prayer in front of the Nativity scenes set up there.”

The indulgence was granted by the Supreme Pontiff, as the Conference of the Franciscan Family confirmed in November. The date was not chosen by chance: it was on Christmas in 1223 that St. Francis, on his return from a journey to the Holy Land, first asked to reconstruct the birth of Jesus, in a town that reminded him of Bethlehem.

That town was Greccio, a little village in Italy’s Rieti province, nestled among the rocks at an altitude of 700 meters. The Vatican’s crèche this year will reproduce this living crèche of the Christmas of 1223, as it was painted by Giotto.

The Plenary Indulgence

Remember that, in Christian doctrine, an indulgence refers to the remission granted by ecclesiastic authority, outside of the sacrament of confession, of temporal punishment due for sins and for which the sin is already wiped away. This remission is efficacious before God because it draws from the treasures of the Church, which include the infinite merits of Jesus Christ and those of all the saints.

The indulgence can be plenary or partial, reserved to the living or applicable to the souls in Purgatory.

The remission of sins committed after baptism—unlike what happens in this first sacrament of the Christian life—is slow, laborious, and often imperfect, only obtained by sacrifice and prayer. Owing to the infinite perfection of Him who is offended by sin, there could be no question of true and strict compensation before God.

That is why the whole church takes part in the expiation of penitents, to help them in their pleas by interceding for them.

In order to gain a plenary indulgence, one must, in addition to performing the work prescribed by the indulgence, go to confession within eight days before or after, receive Communion in the same period of time, strive to be detached from all voluntary affection for venial sin, and pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff with an Our Father and Hail Mary or another prayer.

The intentions of the Supreme Pontiff are fixed by his office. They are invariable: the exaltation of the Holy Church, the propagation of the Faith, the extirpation of heresy, the conversion of sinners, concord between Christian princes, and the further welfare of the Christian people.