Meaning of Jubilee, where it comes from, historical traditions and how many years it is held, description of the rite of opening of the Holy Door by the Pope and the cardinals in charge of this delicate task.
How the jubilee takes place
The Jubilee draws its origins from the Jewish tradition according to which a year of rest was granted to the land after fifty of agricultural exploitation, with the specific purpose of making subsequent crops more robust.
In the same period, restitution of the lands that had been confiscated was also granted, in addition to the release of those who were in the condition of slavery.
With the sound emitted by a ram's horn it was customary to signal to the people the beginning of the jubilee period, and it is precisely from the Hebrew name "yobel" of this instrument, characteristic of the time, that the term Jubilee intended in the Christian sense derives.
In the Catholic Church, the Jubilee is also called the Holy Year and constitutes the period during which the Pope bestows plenary indulgence on the faithful who come to Rome to complete some particular religious practices according to the provisions of the same pontiff.
The first Jubilee was announced in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII who determined the date of the periodic holiday to be celebrated every 100 years, an interval subsequently reduced to 50 years, even if the Jubilees actually had different dates according to the contingent needs.
Today Jubilees are held every 25 years and the duration of each is approximately one calendar year.
The Jubilee of 2000 took on particular importance because with it the two millennia since the coming of Jesus on Earth were celebrated, it was also the first Jubilee to fall near the transition from the old to the new millennium.
The initiatives taken during the jubilee year see their beginning coinciding with the eve of Holy Christmas, the day on which the Holy Doors located in the four most important basilicas of Rome are opened, which are San Pietro in Vaticano, San Giovanni in Laterano, Santa Maria Maggiore and San Paolo Fuori le Mura.
On this occasion, the Pope, who is transported sitting on the papal chair to the walled door of San Pietro, beats three times with a silver hammer accompanying this rite with a short Latin song that says "Open the doors of justice for me".
After the Pope, it is up to a cardinal to knock on the same door twice, after which the door is opened.
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The Pope first enters the church by passing the now open holy door and holding a cross in his right hand, while holding up a burning candle in his left hand.
An identical ceremony is performed by cardinals located in the other three basilicas.
The conclusion of the Holy Year occurs with the masonry of the holy doors which remain closed until the next Jubilee.
