Indulgences

The term "offer it up" is often received with a sense of befuddlement in regards to prayer.  It essentially is referring to spiritually aligning one's own personal sufferings to that of Christ's.  It can be a powerful way to pray and very efficacious for others.

Fundamentally, indulgences admit that we’re not in this alone, but that we’re members of one Body who help and support each other on this journey to salvation. Indulgences acknowledge that we are, indeed, our brothers’ keeper, and that the voices of our brothers and sisters cry out for lavish mercy.
Indulgences draw on the power of “the infinite value, which can never be exhausted, which Christ’s merits have before God” (CCC 1476) — the power that alone can redeem sin and its consequences. We are invited to participate in that power each time we pray, each time we turn to God for mercy and forgiveness and each time we ask for an indulgence, which applies to ourselves and others of the fruits of Christ’s redemption.

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