Clement VI, to the Archbishop of Tarragona and his suffragans. The Only Begotten Son of God deigned to descend from the bosom of the Father into the womb of the Mother, in whom and from whom He united the substance of our mortality to His divinity in the ineffable union of His assumed human nature. He remained what He was and took on what He was not, so that He might have that which would redeem fallen humanity and satisfy God the Father on their behalf. For when the fullness of time came [Gal. 4:4], God sent His Son, born under the law, born of a woman, to redeem those who were under the law so that they might receive the adoption of sons. He Himself [1 Cor. 1:30] became for us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption from God. Not by the blood of goats or calves, but by His own [Heb. 9:12] blood, He entered once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. For He [1 Pet. 1:18] redeemed us not with corruptible things like gold and silver, but with His own precious blood, the blood of the spotless and unblemished Lamb, who was innocently sacrificed for us on the altar of the cross, not shedding just a few drops of blood—which would have sufficed for the redemption of all humanity—but rather poured out a copious flood of blood, so that from the sole of His foot [Isa. 1:6] to the crown of His head, there was no soundness in Him.
Therefore, so that this immense outpouring of mercy would not be rendered superfluous, empty, or in vain, He acquired for the militant Church a treasure, which the merciful Father desired to store up for His children, so that this treasure would be infinite for humanity, and those who make use of it become participants in the friendship of God. This treasure, indeed, was not hidden in a napkin [Luke 19:20], nor buried in a field [Matt. 13:44], but was entrusted to the faithful by blessed Peter, the key-bearer of heaven, and his successors, his vicars on earth, to be wisely dispensed for just and reasonable causes—sometimes for the total, sometimes for the partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins, both generally and specifically (as they recognized was expedient with God), to be mercifully applied to those who are truly penitent and confessed. To the augmentation of this treasure, the merits of the Blessed Mother of God and all the elect, from the first righteous person to the last, are known to contribute; there is no need to fear that this treasure could ever be exhausted or diminished, both because of the infinite merits of Christ (as stated above) and because, the more people are drawn to righteousness by its application, the more the accumulation of their merits increases.
Pope Boniface VIII, of happy memory, our predecessor, piously considered this (as we undoubtedly believe), and upon careful meditation, reflected on how gloriously Peter and Paul, the princes of the earth, by whom the Gospel of Christ shone in Rome and through whom the Church of religion began, who became the progenitors of the Christian people through the Gospel, the shepherds of the Lord's flock, the lights of faith, the pillars of the Church, who, above all other apostles, excel in a peculiar prerogative in the virtue of faith in the same Savior, to one of whom, namely the prince of the apostles, He entrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven as a good steward, and to the other, as a suitable teacher, He entrusted the magisterium of ecclesiastical doctrine, should be held in special veneration by humans, and should be venerated with due honor and reverence, and that their memory should be more frequently recalled by all Christ’s faithful, so that by invoking their patronage, they might more favorably obtain it, desired to open the inexhaustible treasure to arouse and reward the devotion of the faithful. He decreed, with the counsel of his brothers, that all who would reverently come to the basilicas of the said apostles in the City in the year of the Lord 1300 [December 25, 1299], and in every hundredth year thereafter, and if Romans, visit them at least thirty times, or if pilgrims or foreigners, at least fifteen days consecutively or intermittently, at least once a day, provided they are truly penitent and confessed, should obtain the fullest remission of all their sins.
Now we, considering that the fiftieth year in the Mosaic Law [Lev. 25] (which the Lord did not come to abolish but to fulfill spiritually [Matt. 5:17]) was celebrated as a jubilee of remission and joy, a sacred number of days in which remission was made by law, and that the number fifty is singularly honored in the Old Testament by the giving of the Law, and in the New by the visible sending of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, through whom remission of sins is granted, and that many great divine mysteries of Scripture are adapted to this number, and hearing the cry of our special people, namely, the Romans, humbly supplicating us, and beseeching us by solemn envoys, sent for this purpose to pray for the entire Christian people and saying, 'Lord, open to them Your treasure, the fountain of living water!', desiring to listen to them more benignly, not so that, as with that hardened Israelite people, their murmuring may cease, but so that the devotion of this chosen people and all the faithful may increase, their faith shine, their hope thrive, and their charity burn more fervently, and wishing as many as possible to be participants in this indulgence, since few compared to many can reach the hundredth year due to the shortness of human life, we have decided, with the counsel of our brothers, to reduce the said grant of indulgence from the aforementioned causes and others to the fiftieth year, decreeing with the counsel of our brothers and by the fullness of apostolic authority, that all the faithful who, truly penitent and confessed, visit the said basilicas of Peter and Paul and the Lateran church (which Constantine, of illustrious memory, after being reborn by baptism and cleansed from the leprosy by blessed Sylvester, as God revealed to him through those same apostles, is said to have built in honor of the Savior, and which the same blessed Sylvester is recorded to have consecrated with a new form of sanctification and chrismation, and in whose church the image of the aforesaid Savior was first visibly seen by the whole Roman people, devoutly venerating it, which we have judged to be venerated for these and other certain and reasonable causes, so that the church may also be adorned with the privilege of the said indulgence, and that the devout from the same Savior, who is proclaimed marvelous in the aforesaid apostles, may deserve to receive the largesse of indulgence by their merits and prayers) in the manner aforesaid, from the year 1350, the next year after the Nativity of the same [December 25, 1349], and from then on every fifty years in perpetuity, shall obtain the fullest remission of all their sins, provided that whoever wishes to obtain this indulgence, if Romans, visit the basilicas and church for at least thirty days, or if pilgrims or foreigners, for at least fifteen days in like manner.
We add that even those who, for the sake of obtaining this indulgence, set out for the said basilicas and church, but are lawfully impeded from reaching the City in that year, or who die on the way or—before completing the prescribed number of days—in the said City, if they are truly penitent (as mentioned before) and confessed, shall obtain the same indulgence.
Moreover, we ratify and approve by apostolic authority all and singular indulgences granted by us or our predecessors, the Roman pontiffs, to the aforementioned or other basilicas and churches of the said City, and also renew and confirm them with the protection of this present writing.
Therefore, let no human being at all dare to infringe this page of our reduction, constitution, etc. But if anyone presumes to attempt this, let them know that they will incur the indignation of Almighty God and the said apostles Peter and Paul.
Given at Avignon, on the 6th day before the Kalends of February, in the first year of our pontificate [January 27, 1343].
Wherefore, by apostolic writings, we command your fraternity that each of you in your respective cities and dioceses publish and explain to your subjects, clergy, and people these our letters clearly, so that, with the Lord’s help, they may prepare themselves to merit such indulgence.
Furthermore, because these present letters cannot conveniently be presented to each of you, perhaps due to the dangers of the roads or other legitimate impediments, we will that a transcript of these letters, written in the public hand and sealed with your seal, be sent by you, brother Archbishop, to your suffragan brothers, to whom we wish full faith to be given as to the original letters. Given at Avignon, on the 15th day before the Kalends of September, in the 8th year [August 18, 1349].
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