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Pope Leo X., in his Bull of July 10, 1516, and Pope Clement XI., in his Bull De salute Dominici gregis, of Sept. 22, 1714, granted many Indulgences to all who carry about them, or who say, the Chaplet, called after St. Bridget because she first conceived the idea of it and promulgated the usage of it. These Indulgences were confirmed by Pope Benedict XIV., in his Brief of Jan. 15, 1743, wherein he added others, of all which a summary will now be given.

This Chaplet is said in honour of the sixty-three years which the most holy Mary lived upon this earth, being made up of six divisions, each division consisting of one Pater noster, ten Ave Maria, and one Credo;; after these is said one more Pater noster, and three more Ave Maria: thus in all there will be seven Pater noster, to mark the number of her Seven Dolours and Seven Joys; the three Ave Maria being added to make up the full number of sixty-three years. (See the Archivium of the Segretaria of the S. Congr. of Indulgences, tom. vi. p. 144.) It will be seen in the following summary that the Indulgences may be gained by saying the fifteen decades, or five decades only, as mentioned in the Rosary above.

It is requisite, in order to gain these Indulgences, that the Chaplet, being made, as has been said, of six decades, &c., should be blessed by the superiors of the monastic houses or other priests of the order of St. Saviour, sometimes called