Great Jubilee Indulgence

 

Pilgrimage

1. Rome:

Pious pilgrimage to one of the four patriarchal basilicas (Saint Peter’s, Most Holy Saviour at the Lateran, Saint Mary Major and Saint Paul on the Ostian Way, also known as Outside the Walls) or one of four additional places in Rome (the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, the Basilica of Saint Lawrence in Campo Verano, the Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love, and the Christian Catacombs).

  1. take part devoutly in Holy Mass or another liturgical celebration such as Lauds or Vespers, or, 
  2. make some pious exercise (e.g., the Stations of the Cross, the Rosary, the recitation of the Akathistos Hymn in honor of the Mother of God), or, 
  3. as a group or individually, spend some time in Eucharistic adoration and pious mediations, ending with the "Our Father", the profession of faith in any approved form, and prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

2. Holy Land:

Visit the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, or the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem or the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.

  1. take part devoutly in Holy Mass or another liturgical celebration such as Lauds or Vespers, or, 
  2. make some pious exercise (e.g., the Stations of the Cross, the Rosary, the recitation of the Akathistos Hymn in honor of the Mother of God), or, 
  3. as a group or individually, spend some time in Eucharistic adoration and pious mediations, ending with the "Our Father", the profession of faith in any approved form, and prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

3. Dioceses (and other ecclesiastical territories):

Make a sacred pilgrimage to the Cathedral Church or to other Churches or places designated by the Ordinary (the bishop, apostolic administrator or other):

  1. assist devoutly at a liturgical celebration, or,
  2. other pious exercise, such as those mentioned above for the City of Rome, or,
  3. as a group or individually, the Cathedral Church or a Shrine designated by the Ordinary, and there spend some time in pious meditation, ending with the "Our Father", the profession of faith in any approved form, and prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Charity and Penitence

Charity:

Visit for a suitable time their brothers and sisters in need or in difficulty (the sick, the imprisoned, the elderly living alone, the handicapped, etc.), as if making a pilgrimage to Christ present in them (cf. Mt 25:34-36)

Fulfill the usual spiritual and sacramental conditions and saying the usual prayers to gain plenary indulgence.

 

Penitence:

Actions which express in a practical and generous way the penitential spirit which is, as it were, the heart of the Jubilee.
  1. abstaining for at least one whole day from unnecessary consumption (e.g., from smoking or alcohol, or other goods of one's choice), or,
  2. fasting, or,
  3. practicing abstinence ( from meat or other food according to the norms of the bishops conference) and donating a proportionate sum of money to the poor (such as one would save by the abstinence), or,
  4. supporting by a significant contribution works of a religious or social nature (especially for the benefit of abandoned children, young people in trouble, the elderly in need, foreigners in various countries seeking better living conditions), or, 
  5. devoting a suitable portion of personal free time to activities benefiting the community, or,
  6. other similar forms of personal sacrifice.

Commutations

By Confessor:

Confessors (i.e. any priest with faculties to hear confessor) can commute, on behalf of those legitimately impeded, both the work prescribed and the conditions required. This can be done inside or outside of confession. The general norm of commutation is that it be into some moral equivalent of the prescribed work or conditions, but which are within the capacity of the one benefiting from the commutation.

 

Cloistered Religious, the Infirm and Homebound:

Cloistered men and women religious, the infirm, and those who are unable to leave their house, can carry out, in lieu of a visit to a certain church:

  1. a visit to a chapel of their house (convent, monastery, hospital, prison etc.), or, 
  2. if this is impossible, spiritually unite themselves with those carrying out a prescribed work, offering their prayers, sufferings and discomforts to God

Thus, even a person who is unable to leave their bed or their room can gain the Jubilee Indulgence by spiritually uniting themselves to those who are carrying our a work, such as a pilgrimage to the Holy Places, offering as their own work their prayers and infirmities.  

General Conditions for a Plenary Indulgence

The following conditions must be fulfilled whenever we seek to gain a Plenary Indulgence (complete remission of the temporal punishment due to sin). These general conditions are in addition to the specific conditions of the indulgenced work (e.g. a pilgrimage).

  1. Be Baptized and not excommunicated from the Catholic Church
  2. A subject of the one granting the indulgence. (Since it is the Pope granting the Jubilee Indulgence all Catholics of any Rite meet this condition.)
  3. Be in the State of Grace, at least at the end of doing the indulgenced work.
  4. Have at least a General Intention to gain the indulgence. (This can be fulfilled by making a general intention at the beginning of the day to gain the indulgences for which one is eligible that day, or, by making a specific intention at the time of doing the indulgenced work.)
  5. Do the Prescribed Work. (This is the pilgrimage, charity, penitence, etc., and any conditions associated the specific indulgenced work.)
  6. Sacramental Confession, several days before or after the indulgenced work. In a Jan. 2000 document on Indulgences the Apostolic Penitentiary stated that the allowable time should be considered to be "about 20 days." One confession suffices for several plenary indulgences. 
  7. Communion, several days before or after (to "about 20 days"), but is most fittingly received on the day that the work is done. A unique Communion is necessary for each plenary indulgence.
  8. Prayers for the Intentions of the Pope (such as an Our Father and Hail Mary, though no particular prayer is prescribed). These prayers may be made several days before or after, but are most fittingly made on the day the work is done.
  9. Detachment from all sin, even venial sin. Incomplete detachment from sin would result in the receipt of only a partial indulgence for that work. It is this disposition to renounce all attachment to our sins which opens our heart to the receipt of the full remission of the temporal guilt of sin, which God  desires to grant us through the Church.

Summarized from:
Pope John Paul II, Jubilee Bull Incarnationis mysterium, 29 November 1998
Apostolic Penitentiary, The Gift of the Indulgence, 29 January 2000

 

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