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Jubilee of Mercy: what it is, dates and all the ways
Guide to the Jubilee 2015-2016 of Rome: meaning, when it starts, duration and all the itineraries chosen by Pope Francis with our free downloadable maps
A brief guide - clear, useful and easy to use - to the Jubilee 2015 of Rome to find your way around among the diffrent ways of faith, to understand what the Jubilee is about, the starting and finishing dates and all useful information to fully live and understand the meaning of the Jubilee of Mercy.
Holy Door of St. Peter's
WHAT IS THE JUBILEE: MEANING
The Jubilee is a temporary window opened by the church to allow anyone wanting to erase our sins and the resulting expected punishments.
To sum up, it is a moment of plenary indulgence.
To "activate" this cancellation pilgrims must necessarily:
- Cross the threshold of at least one Holy Door
- Confess
- Make Communion
- Pray according to the Pope's intentions
Whether the first three points are precise and objective situations, one wonders about the fourth point. Our opinion is that prayer must be a reflection of forgiveness and love that erases all bad thoughts about other people. This, in fact, will be the Jubilee of Mercy.
WHY JUBILEE OF MERCY
And here we are then to the milestone of the whole project of Pope Francis who, with this Jubilee, intends to bring back to light the main mission of the Church: Mercy. Mercy, of which the Church must be a healthy carrier and that the faithful should carry with them at every moment of their lives. If so, wouldn't we live in a better world?
The priority objective of the Vatican is to awake awareness and so of a new path of evangelization.
The Jubilee of Mercy must be experienced as a moment of reflection and forgiveness
JUBILEE OF ROME: START AND END DATES AND DURATION
Next 8th December 2015 will be openened the Jubilee of Mercy and, as per tradition, Pope Francis will open the Holy Door of the Basilica of St. Peter. We are talking about a world-class event that will bring to Rome overz 25 milion pilgrims from all over the world.
The Jubilee will end on 20th November 2016 after well 11 months during which will take place events, masses, general and extraordinary Papal audiences, Eucharistic celebrations and prayer vigils.
St. Peter's Square will be the arrival point for all pilgrims getting to Rome for the Jubilee
JUBILEE 2015: LOGO AND MOTTO
On the right you will see the official logo of the Jubilee where you can observe the Son carrying the dismayed man on his shoulders.
The motto, also highlighted in the logo, is "Merciful like de Father" (Misericordes sicut pater) and it represents an exhortatio to live one's own life merciful like the "Father":
don't judge nor condemn
but forgive
giving love and forgiveness.
Official logo of the Jubilee of Mercy
JUBILEE 2015: ALL WAYS OF FAITH
The Vatican, in agreement with Rome's City Council, has provided the ways of faith for all the pilgrims arriving to the capital during the Jubilee. Pope Francis wished to stress that these will be paths of self-sacrifice and devotion that must be covered on foot. These paths wind among streets and historic squares of Rome but also among many hidden treasures rarely visited by tourist flows. This Jubilee will be a great opportunity to discover new places, sites and monuments of worship and of rare beauty, little known and often forgotten.
The Jubilee will be a great opportunity to discover new places, sites and monuments of worship and of rare beauty, little known and often forgotten
Itineraries will start from the Basilica of Saint John in the Lateran or from the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and, besides the four papal basilicas, they will also pass by minor churches and basilicas like San Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini, Santa Maria in Vallicella and the Church of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini.
Basilica of Saint John in the Lateran: most ways of faith will leave from this Basilica
All ways have as first arrival point Castel Sant'Angelo, keeping the old tradition of crossing the Bridge of Sant'Angelo, and the last stop is the Basilica of St. Peter.
The Bridge of Sant'Angelo is a mandatory passage for all pilgrims of the Jubilee on their way to Castel Sant'Angelo
In order to help pilgrims find their way among the many, and often tangled, streets and squares of the Capital, we have made special maps with all the main points of interest and useful information. You will find them inside the following articles. We invite you to download them for free and print them to have some paper support when you are wandering around the streets of the city:
The Papal Way starts at the Basilica of Saint John and ends, after about 6 km, at St. Peter
The Pilgrim's Way and its main points of interest: 5.9 km to be covered exclusively on foot
The Marian Way is the only one leaving from the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. It's slightly over 5 km
The Jubilee of Mercy will be a great time for reflection and cooperation but also, as required by Pope Francis, of forgiveness and love. Moments of chaos and disorientation among the streets of Rome will be unavoidable, especially for the pilgrims that will follow the paths of faith. In our own small way we have tried to provide you with all the tools to deal with this Event in the best of ways. If you have any questions or suggestions do not hesitate to contact us by writing a comment at the bottom of this article, via e-mail or on our social pages.
ENJOY THE JUBILEE!
Useful information
- HOW TO GET THERE
