Jubilee Year Dec 24, 2024 through Dec 28, 2025

EPARCHY OF SAINT MARON OF BROOKLYN
Office of the Bishop

109 Remsen Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201-4212
Tel: (718)-237-9913 Fax: (718) 243-0444
chancery@stmaron.org www.stmaron.org

August 15, 2024
Feast of the Assumption Prot. No. 259/1/24
Cir.No. 24.74
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has called for a Jubilee Year December 24, 2024, through December 28, 2025. He has asked us to be "pilgrims of hope" during this year and to deepen our personal encounter with Christ. Therefore, with a whole-hearted affirmation, I have decided to embrace the Jubilee Year with the following Eparchial requests of clergy, religious and laity:

  1. We Pastors should increase our efforts to offer the Sacrament of Penance, and invite other priests with us to hear confessions in the parish. This revives our hope in the God who loves and forgives.

  2. Deacons, Subdeacons, their spouses and I will redouble our efforts to assist the poor and needy in our own parishes, in our surrounding communities by connecting with the local Saint Vincent de Paul Societies and in the Middle East by connecting to Caritas Lebanon, Saint Vincent de Paul, or other charitable efforts.

  3. We Pastors will make a special effort to reach out to any parishioner that has left the Parish and invite them to return home.

  4. Anyone whom we (clergy, religious or laity of the Eparchy) have offended or hurt by any actions or decisions, we stand ready to make amends.

  5. Every Maronite is asked to re-evaluate his or her way of life so as to make for better relationships with others. In particular, this means especially for those closest to us.

  6. Six parishes, including the Cathedral, will be designated as places of pilgrimages:

    • Saint Anthony of the Desert Church in Fall River, MA
    • Our Lady of Victory in Pittsburgh, PA
    • Our Lady of Lebanon in Washington, DC
    • Saint Joseph Church in Atlanta, GA
    • Our Lady of Lebanon Church in Miami, FL
    • Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in Brooklyn, NY

  7. This Jubilee Year we will promote a special Pilgrimage to Washington, DC for the Annual March for Life in January, as well as on August 15" for the Feast of Assumption at the National Shrine in North Jackson, Ohio.

The purpose of the Jubilee Year is to bring more of the hope of God's love into our world. This hope begins with me, with each one of us. Therefore, with God's grace I ask together that we find ways to deeper our union with God and one another. Thus, in turn, after having set our hopes on God, we will live with more confidence in his loving mercy. Attached are some special graces associated with Jubilee Year.

May the prayer and love of Our Lady of Hope be with us.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
+Gregory John Mansour

GJM/ac
Attachment

Decree on the Granting of Indulgence during the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025

On May 13, 2024, the Apostolic Penitentiary issued a decree on the plenary indulgence which may be obtained during the upcoming Jubilee Year by making a pilgrimage, piously visiting a sacred place, or performing a work of mercy and penance. This indulgence is subject to the usual conditions - sacramental confession, reception of Holy Communion, prayer for the intentions of the Pope, and total detachment to all sin, including venial sin - and the full decree is available at https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/tribunals/apost_penit/documents/rc_penitenzieria-ap_20240513_norme-indulgenza-giubileo2025_en.html.

Pilgrimages

An indulgence may be received by those who travel to any sacred Jubilee site and participate in a Mass, a Liturgy of the Word, one of the major hours from the Liturgy of the Hours (Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, or Evening Prayer), devotional prayers such as the Way of the Cross, the Rosary, the Akathist hymn, or a penance service that ends with sacramental confession. Additionally, an indulgence may be obtained by a pilgrimage to one of the four Papal Major Basilicas in Rome, one of three Basilicas in the Holy Land, a cathedral, or another church or sacred place that has been designated by the local Ordinary.

Pious Visits

In addition to pilgrimages, the Jubilee indulgence may also be obtained by piously visiting a Jubilee site and engaging in Eucharistic adoration and meditation for a suitable period of time, concluding with an Our Father, a Profession of Faith, and invocations to Mary. In addition to those places of pilgrimage noted above, several Jubilee sites have been designated in Rome, Assisi, and Padua. Additionally, an indulgence may be obtained by making a pious visit to any minor basilica, cathedral or co-cathedral church, Marian shrine, or other churches or places of prayer designated by the Diocesan Bishop, Eparch, or Conference of Bishops. Those who are unable to take part

in pilgrimages or pious visits for serious reasons, such as cloistered religious, the elderly, the sick and those who care for them, or the imprisoned, may obtain the indulgence by uniting themselves in spirit with those making pilgrimages or pious visits, reciting an Our Father, a Profession of Faith, and other prayers in harmony with the purpose of the Jubilee year, and offering up their sufferings and hardships to the Lord.

Works of Mercy and Penance

The performance of works of mercy and penance provide the most diverse opportunities to obtain the Jubilee indulgence, including participation in popular missions, spiritual exercises, formational activities on the documents of Vatican II or the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or the performance of corporal or spiritual works of mercy. Additionally, while a plenary indulgence may normally be obtained only once a day, during the Jubilee a second plenary indulgence can be received on behalf of the souls in Purgatory, by those faithful who carry out an act of charity and receive Holy Communion a second time in the context of Mass. Diocesan bishops, eparchs, and those equivalent to them in law are permitted to give the Papal Blessing with its indulgence at the main Jubilee celebration in cathedral and Jubilee churches.

Resources for the Jubilee Year 2025

The Jubilee Year observance consists of many celebrations for age and social groups, and professional and vocational fields. The Vatican and USCCB websites will add resources over the course of the year, as they become available. The Jubilee Prayer, Hymn, and logo can be found on the Vatican website.