Indulgence Letter of Pope Clement VII for the Collegiate Church of Our Lady of Lirey

While we devoutly examine the precious signs of merits by which the Queen of heaven, the glorious Virgin Mother of God, shines forth from her glorious thrones like the morning star, while we also ponder the mysteries within our hearts that she herself, as the mother of mercy, the friend of piety, the comforter of the human race, stands as a diligent intercessor and vigilant intercessor for the salvation of the faithful who are burdened with the burden of sins, intercedes with the King whom she bore; we consider it a worthy duty to continue to support the churches dedicated to the honor of her name with the gracious expenses of remissions and gifts of indulgences.

Since, therefore, as we have received, a considerable multitude of people flock to the church of Blessed Mary of Lirey, in the diocese of Trento, in which, as is asserted, the figure or representation of the shroud of our Lord Jesus Christ is venerably preserved, for the sake of devotion and also for the sake of this kind of representation, we desire that the church itself be frequented with appropriate honors, and that the faithful of Christ may flock to it more willingly for the sake of devotion, and may more readily lend their hands to the construction of the same church, so that from these they may see themselves there more abundantly refreshed by the gift of heavenly grace, trusting in the mercy of Almighty God and the authority of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, to all truly penitent and confessors who on the feasts of the Nativity, Circumcision, Epiphany, Resurrection, Ascension and Corpus Christi of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Pentecost, as well as on the Nativity, Annunciation, Purification and Assumption of the aforementioned blessed Virgin Mary, and the Nativity of the blessed John the Baptist, the said apostles Peter and Paul, and the festivities of the dedication of the church itself, and on the feast of All Saints and during the octaves of the Nativity, Epiphany, Resurrection, Ascension and Corpus Christi of the Lord, and of the Nativity and Assumption of the blessed Mary herself, and of the Nativity of blessed John, and of the aforementioned apostles, and during the six days immediately following the said feast of Pentecost, they devoutly visited the aforementioned church annually and lent their hands to its construction, namely one year and forty days for each of the festivals and festivities, but on the octaves and six days of the aforementioned days on which they visited the church itself and lent their hands to its construction, as is preferred, we mercifully remit fifty days from the penances imposed upon them.

Moreover, so that all and sundry that may be offered or given by the same faithful for the purpose of obtaining the grace of this kind of indulgence may be fully converted to the uses for which they were offered or given, we strictly forbid, under the threat of divine judgment, that anyone, of whatever status, condition or dignity, may appropriate or usurp for himself in any way anything of what is offered or given.

But if anyone presumes to attempt this, he cannot obtain the benefit of absolution from the guilt of such presumption by anyone, except with the Apostolic See, and by satisfaction due by him for those things which he has appropriated for himself, really present and paid, unless he is at the point of death.

Given at Avignon, the Kalends of June, in year 12. Expedited three days before the Ides of June, in the year 12.