Plenary indulgence: visit a cemetery and pray for the dead

The Bible tells us that "it is therefore a holy and healthy thought to pray for the dead so that they can be dissolved from sins" (2 Maccabees 12:46) and especially in November, the Catholic Church urges us to spend time in prayer for those who preceded us. Prayer for the souls of Purgatory is a requirement of Christian charity and helps us remember our mortality.

The Church offers a special plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls of Purgatory, on the day of souls (November 2), but it also encourages us in a special way to continue keeping the Holy Souls in our prayers throughout the first week of November.

Why should we visit a cemetery to pray for the dead?
The Church offers an indulgence for a visit to the cemetery which is available as a partial indulgence all year round, but from November 1st to November 8th, this indulgence is plenary. Like the Day of Souls indulgence, it is applicable only to the souls of Purgatory. As a plenary indulgence, she remits all punishments due to sin, which means that by simply fulfilling the requirements of the indulgence, you can gain entry into Heaven for a soul who is currently suffering in Purgatory.

This indulgence for a visit to a cemetery encourages us to spend even the shortest of moments in prayer for the dead in a place that reminds us that one day we too will need the prayers of the other members of the Communion of Saints, both still alive and those who entered eternal glory. For most of us, the indulgence for a visit to the cemetery takes only a few minutes, yet it produces immense spiritual benefit for the Holy Souls in Purgatory - and also for us, since those souls whose suffering we raise will pray for us when they enter heaven.

What must be done to obtain an indulgence?
To obtain the plenary indulgence between November 1 and November 8, we must receive sacramental Communion and Confession (and have no attachment to sin, not even venial). Communion must be received every day that we wish to obtain indulgence, but we must go to Confession only once during the period. A good prayer to recite to gain indulgence is Eternal Rest, although any formal or informal prayer for the dead will suffice. And, as with all plenary indulgences, we must pray for the intentions of the Holy Father (a Our Father and an Ave Maria) every day that we perform the work of indulgence.

Listing in Enchiridion of Indulgences (1968)
13. Coemeterii visitatio

Kind of indulgence
Plenary from November 1st to November 8th; partial the rest of the year

restrizioni
It only applies to the souls of Purgatory

The work of indulgence
An indulgence, applicable only to the Souls of Purgatory, is granted to the faithful, who devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, even if only mentally, for the dead. The indulgence is plenary every day from 1 to 8 November; on other days of the year it is partial.