This being November, month of All Souls, my students (religion class, Catholic girls' high school) asked about purgatory. I told them about my daughter Clare's prom date. He was to pick her up at 7 PM; her softball game ran late and she got home at 6:45; he arrived at the house with bouquet at 7:05; she came down the stairs at 7:10, looking spectacular. She did shower, hair, make-up and the whole nine yards in 20 minutes! No prom date ever looked so beautiful with so little time to prepare! I ask my students how they would feel about going to a prom in such a situation without showering or preparing: dirty, smelly, hair oily and messy and just throwing on the dress. The girls cringe! So, I explain, when we die and encounter the unspeakable beauty and holiness of God and heaven, we will beg for a chance to "clean ourselves up" of our impurities. That preparation is purgatory. The girls sort of get it.

That same Clare just notified me that Pope Benedict has made available Plenary Indulgence for a visit to a cemetery on the days from Nov. 1 to Nov. 8. The conditions are below:

"On all the days from November I though November 8 inclusive, a plenary indulgence, applicable only to the Poor Souls, is granted to those who visit a cemetery and pray even if only mentally for the departed. Conditions for both indulgences: 1. Only one plenary indulgence can be granted per day. 2. It is necessary to be in the state of grace, at least by completion of the work. 3. Freedom from attachment to sin, even venial sin, is necessary; otherwise the indulgence is only partial. (By this is meant attachment to a particular sin, not sin in general.) 4. Holy Communion must be received each time the indulgence is sought. 5. Prayers must he recited for the intentions of the Holy Father on each day tire indulgence is sought. (No particular prayers are prescribed. One Our Father and one Hail Mary suffice, or other suitable prayers. 6. A sacramental concession must he made within a week of completion of the prescribed work. (One confession made during the week, made with the intention of gaining all the indulgences, suffices.)"