Treasury of merit

Hey kiddo! Have you ever heard of a treasury of merit? No? Well, let me break it down for you.

So, imagine you have a piggy bank. Every time you do something good, like help your mom with the groceries or share your toys with your friends, you put a coin in your piggy bank. These coins represent your good deeds and you can use them later to buy yourself something nice, like a toy or a candy.

Now, in the old days, people used to believe that there was a treasury of merit in heaven. This treasury was like a big piggy bank where all the good deeds of saints and holy people were stored. It was said that, if you were not so good yourself, you could borrow some coins from this treasury to help you get into heaven.

But, how did you borrow coins from the treasury of merit? Well, the Catholic Church came up with something called indulgences. These were like permission slips that excused you from the punishment for your sins. So, let's say you did something bad and you were supposed to spend five years in purgatory (a kind of waiting room between life on Earth and heaven), an indulgence could help you reduce that time to, let's say, one year.

Now, the church said that you could earn indulgences by doing good things, like going on a pilgrimage, praying a lot, or giving money to the church. These good deeds would earn you coins in your own piggy bank, which you could then exchange for indulgences. But, if you didn't have enough coins, you could borrow some from the treasury of merit.

So, there you go! The treasury of merit was like a big piggy bank in heaven where all the good deeds of holy people were stored. And indulgences were like permission slips that could help you reduce the punishment for your sins.