VATICAN CITY Saturday evening, in front of the Holy Door in the atrium of St. Peter s Basilica, Pope Francis will give the archpriests of the major

Transcription

1 HOLY YEAR OF MERCY

2 VATICAN CITY Saturday evening, in front of the Holy Door in the atrium of St. Peter s Basilica, Pope Francis will give the archpriests of the major basilicas of Rome copies of his bull of indiction, or formal proclamation, of the Holy Year of Mercy. An aide will read portions of it at the door before participants process into St. Peter s for evening prayer. The site chosen for the brief rite was not made casually; the door symbolizes a passage or transition into a special year of evangelization and prayer. Pope Francis will be back at the door Dec. 8 to formally open it and the Year of Mercy. Popes typically announce a jubilee every 25 years, although extraordinary Holy Years have been proclaimed for special anniversaries for example, a Holy Year was celebrated in 1983 to commemorate the 1,950th anniversary of Christ s death and resurrection. The Holy Door is opened to evoke the concept of forgiveness, which is the main focus of a Holy Year. According to Mondo Vaticano, a mini-encyclopedia published by the Vatican, the designation of a Holy Door may trace back to the ancient Christian practice of public penitence when sinners were given public penances to perform before receiving absolution. The penitents were not allowed to enter a church before completing the penance, but they were solemnly welcomed back in when their penance was fulfilled. Still today, Holy Year pilgrims enter the basilica through the Holy Door as a sign of their repentance and re-commitment to a life of faith. Both the opening and closing of the Holy Door take place with formal ceremonies to mark the period of time set aside for men and women to sanctify their souls, the book says. The ritual for opening the Holy Door at St. Peter s Basilica goes back to 1499 when Pope Alexander VI opened the door on Christmas Eve to inaugurate the Holy Year This was when the door was wooden. The bronze door panels that stand at St. Peter s today, made by Vico Consorti, were consecrated and first opened Dec. 24, 1949, by Pius XII in proclamation of the 1950 Jubilee, a scene represented in the bottom right panel. For centuries, the doors were opened with a silver hammer, not a key, because the doors of justice and mercy give way only to the force of prayer and penance, the encyclopedia says. Opening the Holy Year 2000, St. John Paul used neither a hammer, nor a key, but strongly pushed the door open. The theme of human sin and God s mercy is illustrated in 15 of the 16 bronze panels that make up the current door, with episodes from both the Old and

3 New Testament, including the Fall of Adam and Eve, the Annunciation, and the Merciful Father (and Prodigal Son). Between the panels on the door at St. Peter s are little shields with the coats of arms of all the popes that opened it during the ordinary Holy Years, the last being St. John Paul. Pope Francis coat of arms will be etched onto one of the empty shields that remain for future jubilee years after he opens and closes the door. Pope Francis will give the bull of indiction also to the archpriests of the Rome basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls and St. Mary Major, which also have Holy Doors that are opened during jubilee years. The only other Holy Doors in the world are at Quebec City s Basilica of Notre- Dame de Quebec; the shrine of St. John Vianney in Ars, France; and at the Cathedral of St. James the Great in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The Holy Door at St. Peter s Basilica. (CNS/Paul Haring) In the Diocese of Scranton, Bishop Joseph C. Bambera will open the doors of the Cathedral of Saint Peter signifying the beginning of the Jubilee of Mercy on Sunday, December 13, 2015 at 10:00 a.m.

4 Pope Francis Prayer for the Jubilee of Mercy Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father, and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him. Show us your face and we will be saved. Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money; the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things; made Peter weep after his betrayal, and assured Paradise to the repentant thief. Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman: If you knew the gift of God! You are the visible face of the invisible Father, of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy: let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified. You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error: let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God. Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing, so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord, and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed, and restore sight to the blind. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy, you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

5 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015 Solemnity of the Immaulate Conception Opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter s Basilica. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2016 Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus, Christ, King of the Universe Closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter s The Conclusion of the Jubilee of Mercy.