Welcome to the Jubilee Year: A Guide to Plenary Indulgences
As the requests for a clear explanation on how to gain a plenary indulgence during the Jubilee Year keep pouring in, I am here to provide a concise guide divided into three parts: What is the Jubilee Year? What are indulgences? And how can they be earned?
What is the Jubilee Year?
Also known as the Holy Year, the Jubilee Year is a special time of grace where the Church grants spiritual blessings to the faithful who fulfill certain conditions. It is not just about fulfilling a requirement or going on a pilgrimage; it is a time for renewing our relationship with God and our neighbors.
Pope Francis describes it as an opportunity to deepen our faith, build solidarity, and seek reconciliation. It is a time to grow in love for God through prayer, adoration, reciting the Rosary, the Chaplet and Novena of Divine Mercy, and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is also a time to mend broken relationships, seek forgiveness, and practice justice and charity, just as Zacchaeus did when he returned what he had wrongfully taken.
Where does the Jubilee tradition come from?
The word jubilee originates from the Hebrew word yobel, which was the ram’s horn used to announce feasts. In the Old Testament, the Jews celebrated a sabbatical year every seven years and a jubilee every 50 years, where debts were forgiven, slaves were freed, and the land rested.
In the New Testament, the Jubilee takes on a spiritual significance, emphasizing forgiveness and divine mercy. It calls us to show mercy to others, just as God shows mercy to us.
What is a plenary indulgence, and how can it be earned?
Celebrating a Jubilee opens the gates of heaven to receive spiritual blessings, including the coveted plenary indulgence – the complete forgiveness of temporal punishments for sins already forgiven in confession.
To earn a plenary indulgence, one must:
- Confess sins with the intention of turning away from them.
- Receive Eucharistic Communion.
- Pray for the Pope’s intentions.
- Perform a Jubilee work, such as a pilgrimage or an act of mercy.
- Detach oneself from sin, even from affection for venial sin.
However, fulfilling these conditions is meaningless if we do not commit to true conversion. The Jubilee is a time for profound change, not just a ritual.
A Brief History
The first modern Holy Year was celebrated in 1425 under Pope Martin V, who introduced the commemorative medal and the opening of the Holy Door at St. John Lateran. Subsequent Holy Years have been celebrated every 25 years, with Extraordinary Jubilees like the Year 2000 and the Jubilee of Mercy in 2015.
A Call to All
With the Jubilee of 2025 approaching, we have a fresh opportunity to renew our faith, experience God’s mercy, and share it with others. Just as Jesus gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, the Church, through the Pope, offers us a treasure trove of spiritual blessings for those who seek them earnestly.
Let us embrace this time as a celebration of the soul, a chance for new beginnings and transformations. May this Jubilee Year not pass without allowing God to work in and through you.
