Corpus Christi Indulgence

I think indulgences are great. They codify the good works and special prayers and remembrances which can act as special reparation for the temporal punishment we all deserve for our sins. And more than that, we can apply this reparation to those who have died, both those we know and those we've never met.

There are many specific grants in the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, the Handbook of Indulgences, and some of then are attached to specific days. In the dioceses of the United States, the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) is transferred to this Sunday. The grant in the Handbook attached to this feast is the recitation of the Tantum Ergo.

A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who devoutly recite the above verses [the Tantum Ergo]. The indulgence will be a plenary one ... on the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ during its liturgical rites. [EI 59]

Keep this in mind come Sunday (or if you happen to be reading in a country where the feast is not transferred, Thursday). Remember, the standard requirements for obtaining a plenary indulgence: sacramental confession, eucharistic communion, a prayer for the pope's intentions, and the exclusion of all attachment to sin.

Incidentally the Pope's intentions for the month of June are

Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for June is: "That international attention towards the poorer countries may give rise to more concrete help, in particular to relieve them of the crushing burden of foreign debt"

His mission intention is: "That the particular Churches operating in regions marked by violence may be sustained by the love and concrete closeness of all the Catholics in the world".