For centuries, the Catholic Church has held a Jubilee Year every twenty-five years, inviting the faithful to prayer and pilgrimage. The Holy Year of 2025 will be solemnly opened at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican by Pope Francis on December 24, 2024 (Christmas Eve) and will conclude on January 6, 2026 (the Solemnity of the Epiphany).

St. Aloysius Church in Leonardtown is pleased to announce that we have been designated as a “Jubilee Parish” – an Archdiocesan pilgrimage site – by Cardinal Wilton Gregory. Every day during this Holy Year, the faithful can obtain a Jubilee Indulgence by visiting our parish:

All the faithful, who are truly repentant and free from any affection for sin (cf. Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, IV ed., norm. 20, § 1), who are moved by a spirit of charity and who, during the Holy Year, purified through the sacrament of penance and refreshed by Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence, with remission and forgiveness of all their sins, which can be applied in suffrage to the souls in Purgatory in the following ways:

The faithful, pilgrims of hope, will be able to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence granted by the Holy Father if they undertake a pious pilgrimage to any sacred Jubilee site by devoutly participating in Holy Mass… or any of the following: a celebration of the Word of God; the Liturgy of the Hours (office of readings, lauds, vespers); the Via Crucis [i.e., Stations of the Cross]; the Marian Rosary; the recitation of the Akathist hymn; a penitential celebration, which ends with the individual confessions of the penitents, as established in the Rite of Penance… (Decree on the Granting of Indulgence during the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025 called by His Holiness Pope Francis, 13.05.2024)

In other words, you can obtain an indulgence each time you participate in Holy Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, Stations of the Cross, the Rosary, or a Penance Service at St. Aloysius Church during the Jubilee Year.

Indulgences are an often forgotten and misunderstood part of our Catholic faith. Look for explanation on the Catholic teaching regarding indulgences in an upcoming article.

Resources for the Holy Year of 2025 can be found at https://adw.org/the-year-of-the-jubilee-2025-pilgrims-of-hope/