FAQ

A Jubilee Year is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon within the Catholic Church. Historically it happens every 25 years and is a time for spiritual renewal and conversion.

From the USCCB:
As the Universal Church looks toward the Jubilee Year 2025 (the 2,025th anniversary of the Incarnation of our Lord), the USCCB is thrilled to support the Holy Father in this "event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church."

Pope Francis stated in his February 2022 letter announcing the Jubilee 2025: "We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire..."

December 24, 2025 - January 6, 2026

Most will certainly be making a pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee Year and enter through one of the designated Holy Doors in the basilicas of St. Peter, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, & St. Paul Outside the Walls. For pilgrims that are not able to travel to Rome, Bishops around the world have been invited by Pope Francis to designate special places during the Jubilee Year for prayer and pilgrimage in their own dioceses for the faithful. These places will offer opportunities for the sacrament of reconciliation, indulgences, and other events throughout Jubilee intended to strengthen and revive faith and hope.

Bishop Vasquez has designated St. Mary's Catholic Center as a pilgrimage site for the Jubilee year along with all other campus ministries and other parishes throughout the Diocese. For a full list of pilgrimage sites in the Diocese of Austin, please visit: Diocese of Austin - Jubilee 2025

In visiting a pilgrimage site, pilgrims are able to receive a plenary indulgence for the Jubilee year by performing at least one of the following: 

• Make a pilgrimage to Rome

• Make a pious pilgrimage to your Cathedral or other church designated by the Bishop

• Practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy such as visiting prisoners, spending time with the lonely and elderly, aiding the sick, bury the dead

• Fast from futile distractions such as social media, television, gambling, etc., putting into practice the penitential nature of Friday

• Donate to the poor and outreach to the marginalized who feel seperated from the Church. Support religious and social works in defense of life, the migrant, the poor, and the abandoned.

• Volunteer in service to your community

• Participate in missions or formation activities

• For those who cannot leave their homes - including cloistered religious, the elderly, sick, prisoners, and those whose work in continuous service to those mentioned above can spiritual join a pilgrimage or recite a pious prayer and receive an indulgence

Likewise, the faithful can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if, individually or in a group, they devoutly visit any

Jubilee site and there, for a suitable period of time, engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to Mary, the Mother of God, so that in this Holy Year everyone "will come to know the closeness of Mary, the most affectionate of mothers, who never abandons her children" (Spes non confundit, 24).

Adoration, sometimes called Eucharistic Adoration, is the time we spend in prayer in front of Jesus Christ

present in the Blessed Sacrament. This can be done any time the red candle (called the sanctuary candle) near the tabernacle is lit as this indicates the Blessed Sacrament is present. There are often special times that a parish will set aside for exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. This means that the consecrated host will be placed in a monstrance (gold stand meant to showcase the consecrated host), and we are able to see our Lord in the Eucharist. Even if the Blessed Sacrament is not exposed in a monstrance, Christ remains present among us in the tabernacle and we can still adore him.

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament takes place in the Hannigan Chapel, located between the historic white-steepled Church and student center.

Adoration is your time to spend with our Lord. During this time, you can pray traditional Catholic prayers, read Scripture, or simply spend time meditating and speaking silently with God. Consider the following:

• Pray the rosary or another chaplet

• Pray the appropriate Hour from the Liturgy of the Hours

• Choose a scripture passage from the Gospels and pray with that passage, using Ignatian Meditation or Lectio Divina

• Find a Psalm to pray slowly, repeating the words that strike your heart

• Simply spend time with Jesus present in front of the Blessed Sacrament in silence

A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove the temporal punishment due to sin. A plenary indulgence cleanses the soul as if the person had just been baptized. Further, according to the Apostolic Penitentiary, a plenary indulgence obtained during the Jubilee Year can also be applied to souls in purgatory.

To receive a plenary indulgence the faithful must meet the following conditions:

With a sincere intention to gain the indulgence, there are four foundational conditions that must be met for all jubilee plenary indulgences:

1. Detachment from all sin, even venial sin

2. The Sacrament of Confession*

3. Holy Communion*

4. Prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father

*The conditions of Confession and Holy Communion should be met at your parish up to 15 days prior or

15 days after your journey to the pilgrimage site.

The Holy Year is marked by the offering of God’s abundant forgiveness through the granting of a plenary indulgence, a remission of the temporal punishment a person is due for their sins. The following, with the four foundation conditions for an indulgence, are the different ways to receive an indulgence:

• Visit and Pray at a Pilgrimage Site

• Perform a work of mercy or penance

• Recitation of specific prayers (If you are homebound and cannot participate in pilgrimage)

You may also travel to Rome and pass through Holy Doors to receive an indulgence. Read more from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in this article: Vatican norms for Jubilee indulgence include pilgrimage, penance, service.

St. Mary’s will not have a holy door but the church will be open for prayer and pilgrimage. Church & campus building operation hours are from 7am-11pm during academic semesters. Outside of academic semesters, the church & campus buildings are open from 8am-10pm.

There is a pamphlet for self guided tours in the back of the Church.

For those wishing to take a 45 minute guided tour of the Church with a group of persons please contact Haley at hperot@aggiecatholic.org.

March 5, 2025 - Ash Wednesday

• Masses: 7 AM, 12 PM, 5:30 PM, 7:30 PM English, 7:30 PM Spanish (all Masses will be held in the new church with the Spanish Mass being held in the historic church).

• Ash Services: 10:20 AM, 12:45 PM, 5:45 PM, 7:00 PM (all services will be held in the Rudder Theater located on the campus of Texas A&M University across from the MSC & Kyle Field).

April 2, 2025

• Mass of Reconciliation - 5:30 PM

• Lenten Penance Service - 7:00 PM

Triduum Celebrations

• Holy Thursday - April 17

• Good Friday - April 18

• Easter Sunday - April 20

Eucharistic Procession 

• TBD in October 2025

Jubilee Brochure - Diocese of Austin

Decree on Granting Indulgences for the Jubilee Year