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99-599: In Western Christianity , the tradition dates to 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII convoked a holy year, following which ordinary jubilees have generally been celebrated every 25 or 50 years, with extraordinary jubilees in addition depending on need. Catholic jubilees, particularly in the Latin Church , generally involve a pilgrimage to a sacred site, normally the city of Rome . The Catholic Church declared an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy for 2015–2016. The next jubilee year will be celebrated in 2025 . In Jewish tradition,

198-518: A day for a specified time—in the case of the inhabitants of the city for 30 days, in the case of strangers for 15 days. The word "jubilee" does not occur in the bull. The pope speaks rather of a celebration which is to occur every 100 years, but writers both Roman and foreign described this year as annus jubileus , and the name "jubilee" (though others, such as the "holy year" or "the golden year", have been used, as well) has been applied to such celebrations ever since. Among those who are recorded as among

297-499: A forerunner of the Protestant Reformation due to her criticism of popes, bishops and other members of the clergy who did not live in accordance with the teachings of their religion. However, she never criticized that teaching or the church as such. Centuries of Selfies (2020) describes how Bridget damaged King Magnus and Queen Blanche by accusing them of "erotic deviations, extravagance and murderous plots",

396-488: A hundred years before. On February 22, 1300, Boniface published the bull " Antiquorum habet fida relatio ", in which, appealing vaguely to the precedent of past ages, he declared "...the most full, pardon of all their sins", to those who fulfill certain conditions. These are, first, that being truly penitent they confess their sins, and secondly, that they visit the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome , at least once

495-433: A joint community, but they lived in separate cloisters. They were required to live in poor convents and they were also required to give all of their surplus income to the poor. However, they were allowed to have as many books as they pleased. In 1350, a Jubilee Year , Bridget braved a plague-stricken Europe to make a pilgrimage to Rome accompanied by her daughter, Catherine, and a small party of priests and disciples. This

594-485: A jubilee or Holy Year is a year of forgiveness of sins and also the punishment due to sin. It is a year of reconciliation between adversaries, of conversion and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, "...and consequently of solidarity, hope, justice, commitment to serve God with joy and in peace with our brothers and sisters". A jubilee can be ordinary if it falls after the set period of years or extraordinary if it

693-646: A life of prayer and caring for the poor and the sick. It was at this time that she developed the idea of establishing the religious community which was to become the religious order of the Most Holy Saviour, or the Bridgettines , whose principal house at Vadstena was later richly endowed by King Magnus IV of Sweden and his queen. One distinctive feature of the houses of the Order was that they were double monasteries , with men and women both forming

792-527: A long time to know how many blows Jesus Christ suffered during the Passion. Jesus was said to have responded to these prayers by appearing to her and stating that "I received 5480 blows upon My Body. If you wish to honor them in some way, recite fifteen Our Fathers and fifteen Hail Marys with the following Prayers, which I Myself shall teach you, for an entire year. When the year is finished, you will have honored each of My Wounds." The prayers became known as

891-575: A practice which, with certain modifications, still exists to the present day. The precise conditions for gaining each jubilee indulgence are determined by the Roman pontiff, and they are usually announced in a special Bull, distinct from that which it is customary to issue on the preceding feast of the Ascension giving notice of the forthcoming celebration. The main conditions, however, which do not usually vary, are five: confession , Communion , prayer for

990-730: A slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt , referred to as a "sin nature", to something as drastic as total depravity or automatic guilt of all humans through collective guilt. Most Western Christians use a version of the Nicene Creed that states that the Holy Spirit " proceeds from the Father and the Son ", where the original text as adopted by the First Council of Constantinople had "proceeds from

1089-524: A three-year preparation period leading up to the opening of the Great Jubilee in December 1999. The first year, 1997, was to be dedicated to meditation on Jesus, the second to the Holy Spirit , and the third to God the Father . This Jubilee was especially marked by a simplification of the rites and the requirements for achieving the indulgence, as well as a huge effort to involve other Christians in

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1188-651: Is applied to distinguish all these denominations collectively from Eastern Christianity. The establishment of the distinct Latin Church, a particular church sui iuris of the Catholic Church , coincided with the consolidation of the Holy See in Rome , which claimed primacy since Antiquity. The Latin Church is distinct from the Eastern Catholic Churches , also in full communion with

1287-580: Is not nearly as absolute as in Antiquity or the Middle Ages, due to the spread of Christian missionaries , migrations , and globalisation . As such, the adjectives "Western Christianity" and "Eastern Christianity" are typically used to refer to historical origins and differences in theology and liturgy rather than present geographical locations. While the Latin Church maintains the use of

1386-604: Is one of two subdivisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism , together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic Church , Independent Catholicism and Restorationism . The large majority of the world's 2.3 billion Christians are Western Christians (about 2 billion: 1.2 billion Latin Catholic and 1.17 billion Protestant). One major component,

1485-581: Is proclaimed for some outstanding event. In the face of great suffering caused by wars and diseases such as the plague, thousands of pilgrims came to Rome at Christmas in 1299. Cardinal Giacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi , the contemporary and counsellor of Pope Boniface VIII , and author of a treatise on the first Christian jubilee, noted that the proclamation of the jubilee owed its origin to the statements of certain aged pilgrims who persuaded Boniface that great indulgences had been granted to all pilgrims in Rome about

1584-457: Is the intention of the Holy See to grant in the most ample manner possible. When first conceded, such an indulgence, and also the privilege annexed of choosing a confessor who had power to absolve from reserved cases, was a much rarer spiritual boon than it has since become. So preeminent was the favor then regarded that the custom arose of suspending all other indulgences during the jubilee year,

1683-518: The Americas , much of the Philippines , Southern Africa , pockets of West Africa , and throughout Australia and New Zealand . Thus, when used for historical periods after the 16th century, the term "Western Christianity" does not refer to a particular geographical area but is used as a collective term for all these. Today, the geographical distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity

1782-592: The Council of Chalcedon (451), and then from Eastern Orthodoxy with the East-West Schism of 1054. With the last-named form of Eastern Christianity, reunion agreements were signed at the Second Council of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439), but these proved ineffective. Historian Paul Legutko of Stanford University said the Catholic Church is "at the center of the development of

1881-666: The Julian calendar and Gregorian calendar respectively. However, before the Council of Nicea, various dates including Jewish Passover were observed. Nicea "Romanized" the date for Easter and anathematized a "Judaized" (i.e. Passover date for) Easter. The date of observance of Easter has only differed in modern times since the promulgation of the Gregorian calendar in 1582; and further, the Western Church did not universally adopt

1980-620: The Latin liturgical rites , Protestant denominations and Independent Catholicism use various liturgical practices. The earliest concept of Europe as a cultural sphere (instead of simply a geographic term) appeared during the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century, which included territories that practiced Western Christianity at the time. For much of its history, the Christian church has been culturally divided between

2079-559: The Middle Ages , adherents of the Latin Church, irrespective of ethnicity, commonly referred to themselves as "Latins" to distinguish themselves from Eastern Christians ("Greeks"). Western Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization . With the expansion of European colonialism from the Early Modern era , the Latin Church, in time along with its Protestant secessions, spread throughout

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2178-599: The Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana , the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe , Caravaca de la Cruz , Urda , Valencia , and Ávila . In August 2020, Pope Francis approved the extension of the Jubilee Year of Loreto to 2021. The jubilee year marks the 100th anniversary of the official proclamation of Our Lady of Loreto as the patroness of pilots and air passengers. It began December 8, 2019 and

2277-535: The Nativity of Jesus in art . Shortly before her death, she described a vision which included the infant Jesus lying on (not in) clean swaddling clothes on the ground, and emitting light himself, and she described the Virgin as blonde-haired and kneeling in prayer exactly as she was moments before the spontaneous birth, with her womb shrunken and her virginity intact. Many depictions followed this scene, they included

2376-732: The Pope in Rome , and from the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Churches , which are not in communion with Rome. These other churches are part of Eastern Christianity . The terms "Western" and "Eastern" in this regard originated with geographical divisions mirroring the cultural divide between the Hellenistic East and Latin West and the political divide between the Western and Eastern Roman empires . During

2475-809: The Roman province of Africa . There is evidence of a Latin translation of the Bible as early as the 2nd century (see also Vetus Latina ). With the decline of the Roman Empire , distinctions appeared also in organization, since the bishops in the West were not dependent on the Emperor in Constantinople and did not come under the influence of the Caesaropapism in the Eastern Church . While

2574-840: The Vadstena Abbey , also known as the Blue Church, contains relics of the saint, and her body is venerated by Lutheran and Catholic believers. Bridget is remembered by the Church of England , which holds a commemoration on 23 July and on the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar on 7 October. Although he was initially interested in Bridget's Revelations , Martin Luther would later conclude that her visions were mere ravings. Some 19th-century writers presented her as

2673-494: The quinquagesimal period, while in 1470 Pope Paul II decreed that the jubilee should be celebrated every 25 years, and this has been the normal rule ever since. Paul also permitted foreigners to visit some specified church in their own country, and contribute towards the expense of the Holy Wars, as a substitute for the pilgrimage to Rome. The jubilees of 1450 and 1475 were attended by vast crowds of pilgrims, and that of 1450

2772-605: The see of Constantinople became dominant throughout the Emperor's lands, the West looked exclusively to the see of Rome , which in the East was seen as that of one of the five patriarchs of the Pentarchy , "the proposed government of universal Christendom by five patriarchal sees under the auspices of a single universal empire. Formulated in the legislation of the emperor Justinian I (527–565), especially in his Novella 131,

2871-544: The "Fifteen O's" because in the original Latin, each prayer began with the words O Jesu , O Rex , or O Domine Jesu Christe . Some have questioned whether Saint Bridget is in fact their author; Eamon Duffy reports that the prayers probably originated in England, in the devotional circles that surrounded Richard Rolle or the English Brigittines. Whatever their origin, the prayers were widely circulated in

2970-512: The Americas (especially South America), Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific. Protestantism, including Anglicanism, came to North America, Australia-Pacific and some African locales. Today, the geographical distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is much less absolute, due to the great migrations of Europeans across the globe, as well as the work of missionaries worldwide over

3069-904: The Catholic Church accounting for over half and various Protestant denominations making up another 40%. Hussite movements of 15th century Bohemia preceded the main Protestant uprising by 100 years and evolved into several small Protestant churches, such as the Moravian Church . Waldensians survived also, but blended into the Reformed tradition . Relevant figures: Relevant figures: Relevant figures: Relevant figures: Relevant figures: Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden , OSsS ( c.  1303 – 23 July 1373), born Birgitta Birgersdotter and also known as Birgitta of Vadstena ( Swedish : heliga Birgitta ),

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3168-473: The Church during the hegemonic rule of Napoleon prevented Pope Pius VII from proclaiming the Jubilee of 1800, but more than a half a million pilgrims made the journey to Rome for the Jubilee of 1825. Pope Pius VIII declared a further two-week jubilee in 1829, celebrated in Rome from 28 June to 12 July, and over two locally determined weeks outside Rome. Pope Gregory XVI instituted a three-week jubilee over

3267-669: The Eastern Orthodox Church, has traditionally held a distinction between God's essence, or that which He is, with God's energies, or that which He does. They hold that while God is unknowable in His essence, He can be known (i.e. experienced) in His energies. This is an extension of Eastern Christianity's apophatic theology , while Western Christians tend to prefer a view of divine simplicity , and claim that God's essence can be known by its attributes. Today, Western Christianity makes up close to 90% of Christians worldwide with

3366-527: The Father" without the addition of either "and the Son" or "alone". This Western version also has the additional phrase "God from God" ( Latin : Deum de Deo ), which was in the Creed as adopted by the First Council of Nicaea , but which was dropped by the First Council of Constantinople. The date of Easter usually differs between Eastern and Western Christianity, because the calculations are based on

3465-624: The Gregorian calendar at once, so that for some time the dates of Easter differed between the Eastern Church and the Roman Catholic Church, but not necessarily as between the Eastern Church and the Western Protestant churches. For example, the Church of England continued to observe Easter on the same date as the Eastern Church until 1753. Even the dates of other Christian holidays often differ between Eastern and Western Christianity. Eastern Christianity, and particularly

3564-630: The Holy Year called by Pope Benedict XIII . A famous preacher during the Jubilee of 1750, proclaimed by Pope Benedict XIV , was Leonard of Port Maurice , who set up 14 Stations of the Cross inside the ruins of the Colosseum . Pope Clement XIV announced the Jubilee of 1775, but died three months before Christmas and the Holy Door was opened by the new pope, Pius VI . The difficulties faced by

3663-413: The Latin Church, developed under the bishop of Rome . Out of the Latin Church emerged a wide variety of independent Protestant denominations , including Lutheranism and Anglicanism , starting from the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, as did Independent Catholicism in the 19th century. Thus, the term "Western Christianity" does not describe a single communion or religious denomination but

3762-554: The Latin-speaking West, whose centre was Rome , and the Greek-speaking East, whose centre was Constantinople . Cultural differences and political rivalry created tensions between the two churches, leading to disagreement over doctrine and ecclesiology and ultimately to schism . Like Eastern Christianity , Western Christianity traces its roots directly to the apostles and other early preachers of

3861-670: The Marian title of Queen of Angels . The Vatican and the Lutheran Church jointly conceived a modern devotion to St Bridget which had remained a relevant factor of disagreement between the two churches till then. In 1954, the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office ruled that the alleged promises (though not the prayers themselves) are unreliable, and it directed local ordinaries not to permit

3960-469: The Pope, complete renunciation of all attachment to sin, and visits to the four basilicas during a certain specified period. (The first four are common to all plenary indulgences.) The statement made by some, that the jubilee indulgence, being a culpa et a paena , did not of old presuppose either confession or repentance, is absolutely without foundation, and is contradicted by every extant official document of

4059-399: The Roman Catholic Church. Besides the ordinary jubilee indulgence, to be gained only by pilgrims who pay a visit to Rome, or through special concession by certain cloistered religious confined within their monasteries, it has long been customary to extend this indulgence the following year to the faithful throughout the world, though in 2000, the indulgence was extended to the whole world during

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4158-509: The Roman Catholic belief in the 21 promises and nicknamed St Bridget Die tolle Brigit (The foolish Bridget). In the following decades, Protestantism sought to eradicate the devotion to similar angelic and spiritual entities claiming they were a 'popish' and 'pagan' legacy. Lutheranism and Calvinism were characterized by a lower degree of Marian devotion than that pertaining to the Roman Catholic Church, particularly with reference to

4257-582: The Vatican City. With the encyclical Fulgens corona , he declared the first Marian year or "Little Holy Year" for 1954. Pope John Paul II proclaimed a Marian year in 1987, again four years after the 1983 Jubilee. Pope John Paul II announced a Great Jubilee for the year 2000 with his apostolic letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente ( As the Third Millennium Approaches ) of November 10, 1994. In this writing, he called for

4356-484: The Virgin kneeling to pray to her child, to be joined by Saint Joseph , technically known as the "Adoration of the Child", became one of the most common depictions in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, largely replacing the reclining Virgin in the West. A few earlier depictions of the Virgin which show her with an ox and a donkey (scenes which are not described in the gospels) were produced as early as 1300, before Bridget

4455-468: The Walls. In the Great Jubilee, the pope chose to open all the doors personally, while designating cardinals to close all the doors except that of St. Peter's. Catholic parishes all over the world share a similar rite dedicating a door for the purposes of the jubilee year to accommodate its parishioners who do not intend to visit Rome for the occasion. Local parishes' doors include the same indulgence given to

4554-524: The age of 13 she married Ulf Gudmarsson of the family of Ulvåsa , a noble and lawspeaker of Östergötland , to whom she bore eight children, four daughters and four sons. Six of her children survived infancy, which was rare at that time. Her eldest daughter was Märta Ulfsdotter . Her second daughter is now honored as St. Catherine of Sweden . Her youngest daughter was Cecilia Ulvsdotter . Bridget became known for her works of charity , particularly toward Östergötland's unwed mothers and their children. When she

4653-435: The basilica doors. The Jubilee in perpetuum refers to the possibility, granted by the Holy See, to periodically and continuously celebrate a Jubilee Year in specific locations recognized as centers of spiritual renewal and of particular importance to the Catholic faith. This privilege has been granted to nine places that can celebrate their Jubilee in perpetuity. These places are: Jerusalem , Rome, Santiago de Compostela ,

4752-416: The body of Thomas Becket took place in the year 1220, 50 years after his martyrdom. The sermon on that occasion was preached by Cardinal Stephen Langton , who told his hearers that this coincidence was meant by Providence to recall "the mystical virtue of the number fifty, which, as every reader of the sacred page is aware, is the number of remission." In the Chronicle of Alberic of Three Fountains , under

4851-415: The bull " Unigenitus ", and set the time frame for every 50 years. In 1350, a jubilee was held, and although the pope did not return to Rome, Cardinal Gaetani Ceccano was dispatched to represent him. On this occasion, daily visits to the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran were enjoined, besides those to the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul outside the Walls. In virtue of an ordinance of Pope Urban VI , it

4950-399: The celebration. Protestants and the Eastern Orthodox Church were invited to celebrate the jubilee together with Catholics as a sign of ecumenism . Furthermore, special jubilees were invoked for various groups within the Church, such as children, athletes, politicians, and actors. World Youth Day , celebrated in Rome in August, brought over two million young people together. The jubilee

5049-420: The circulation of pamphlets which contain the promises. The ecumenical process of reconciliation culminated on 8 October 1991 during the sexcentennial of St Bridget's canonization, when Pope John Paul II and two Lutheran bishops met and prayed in front of the burial place of St Peter Apostle, in Rome. It was the first time in which a joint prayer was said by members of the two communities. The Brigitta Chapel

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5148-406: The construction of the monastery" now known as the Blue Church, insisting that an "abbess, signifying the Virgin Mary, should preside over both nuns and monks." Bridget went to confession every day, and she had a constant smiling, glowing face. Although she never returned to Sweden, her years in Rome were far from happy, she was hounded by debts and opposition to her work against Church abuses. She

5247-416: The doors in the four major basilicas would be opened simultaneously, and that he himself would open the Holy Door of Saint Peter's. The celebrations around this were "founded on ancient rites and full of symbolic meaning" and the total number attending the initial jubilee events was, according to Johann Burchard , an estimated 200,000 people. This act definitively ushered in several customs. The ninth jubilee

5346-481: The earlier General Roman Calendar of 1954 , the General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII , or the General Roman Calendar of 1960 . The Third Order of Saint Francis includes her feast day on its Calendar of saints on the same day as the general Church, honoring her as a member of the order. The Bjärka-Säby Monastery contains a portrait of Bridget of Sweden which is venerated by Christians who are members of several denominations . An hour away from this monastery,

5445-409: The final walling up of the " holy door " in each of the four great basilicas which the pilgrims are required to visit. The doors are opened by the pope at the beginning of the jubilee and then sealed up again afterwards. Previously, the rite included the use of a silver hammer (for removing the concrete at the opening) and a silver trowel (for sealing it again after the jubilee). The pope would pound on

5544-399: The four basilicas were added the Sanctuary of Divine Love in Rome, and each diocese was permitted to name a location within the diocese where the indulgence could be gained. For instance, the Diocese of Rome added the chapel in the airport at Fiumicino as a possible pilgrimage site. Most dioceses simply named the local cathedral as the pilgrimage site. Multiple visits were not required. On

5643-410: The holy year through the papal bull of indiction, Misericordiae Vultus ( The Face of Mercy ), on April 11, 2015. A jubilee year will be celebrated in 2025 , which will also be the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (325 AD). Pope Francis has asked for 2024 to be seen as a year of prayerful preparation. The most distinctive feature in the ceremonial of the jubilee is the unwalling and

5742-442: The indulgence again, though he had not decreed a jubilee year previously. One of the most severe occurrences of plague during the Second plague pandemic was exacerbated by the many pilgrims making their way to and from Rome; in the city itself 600–800 of the faithful died daily. Another jubilee was proclaimed by Pope Martin V in 1423 (33 years after the last proclaimed jubilee in 1390), but Pope Nicholas V , in 1450, reverted to

5841-414: The jubilee itself, special facilities are usually accorded for absolution from reserved cases, though on the other hand, the great indulgence is only to be gained by the performance of conditions much more onerous than those required for an ordinary plenary indulgence. Such extraordinary jubilees are commonly granted by a newly elected pontiff at his accession or on occasions of some unexpected celebration, as

5940-418: The jubilee year itself. For this, fresh conditions are appointed, usually including a certain number of visits to local churches and sometimes fasting or other works of charity. Further, the popes have constantly exercised their prerogative of conceding to all the faithful indulgences ad instar jubilaei (after the model of a jubilee) which are commonly known as "extraordinary jubilees". On these occasions, as at

6039-425: The jubilee year was a time of joy, the year of remission or universal pardon. Leviticus 25:10 reads "Thou shalt sanctify the fiftieth year, and shalt proclaim remission to all the inhabitants of thy land: for it is the year of jubilee." The same concept forms the fundamental idea of the Christian jubilee. The number 50 was specially associated in the early 13th century with the idea of remission. The translation of

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6138-420: The knight Birger Persson of the family of Finsta , governor and lawspeaker of Uppland , and one of the richest landowners of the country, and his wife Ingeborg Bengtsdotter, a member of the so-called Lawspeaker branch of the Folkunga family. Through her mother, Ingeborg, Birgitta was related to the Swedish kings of her era. She was born in 1303. The exact date of her birth is not recorded. In 1316, at

6237-405: The last full day of the jubilee, pilgrims were permitted to enter the holy door at St. Peter's until late into the night, so that no one would be denied the opportunity to gain the indulgence. The requirements of confession, communion, prayer for the pope, and freedom from all attachment to sin remained in place, as for all plenary indulgences. Western Christianity Western Christianity

6336-463: The late Middle Ages, and they became regular features in Books of Hours and other devotional literature. They were translated into various languages; an early English language version of them was printed in a primer by William Caxton . The prayers themselves reflect the late medieval tradition of meditation on the passion of Christ, and are structured around the seven last words of Christ . They borrow from patristic and Scriptural sources as well as

6435-663: The late Middle Ages. They promise, among other things, the release from Purgatory of fifteen of the devotee's family members, and that they would keep fifteen living family members in a state of grace . The extravagance of the promises which were made in these rubrics—one widely circulated version promised that the devotee would receive "his heart's desire, if it be for the salvation of his soul" —attracted critics early and late. In 1538, William Marshall enjoined his readers to "henseforth ... forget suche prayers as seynt Brigittes & other lyke, whyche greate promyses and perdons haue falsly auaunced." Martin Luther strongly rejected

6534-407: The orthodoxy of her revelations in 1436. At the age of ten, Bridget had a vision of Jesus hanging upon the cross. When she asked who had treated him like this, he answered: They who despise me, and spurn my love for them. The Passion of Christ became the center of her spiritual life from that moment on. The revelations which she had received since her childhood now became more frequent, and

6633-535: The past five centuries. Original sin , also called ancestral sin , is a Christian belief in a state of sin in which humanity has existed since the fall of man , stemming from Adam and Eve 's rebellion in the Garden of Eden , namely the sin of disobedience in consuming the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil . Theologians have characterized this condition in many ways, seeing it as ranging from something as insignificant as

6732-443: The period from 23 December 1832 to 13 January 1833 in celebration of the start of his pontificate. The Holy Year could not be celebrated in 1850 because of the unsettled situation in the Roman Republic and the temporary exile of Pope Pius IX . However, he was able to announce a jubilee for 1875, but it was celebrated without any external solemnity, with only the clergy present for the inauguration. The holy doors were not opened, and

6831-515: The pilgrims of that first jubilee are Cimabue , Giotto , Charles, Count of Valois , the chronicler Giovanni Villani , and Dante Alighieri , who mentions it in the Divine Comedy in Canto XXXI of "Paradiso". Boniface VIII had intended that the jubilee should be celebrated only once in 100 years. Before the middle of the 14th century, Bridget of Sweden and the poet Petrarch (among others) urged Pope Clement VI , then residing at Avignon , to change this. In 1343, Clement VI assented and issued

6930-415: The pilgrims who came were generally in Rome to do homage to the pope, who had not accepted the Italian annexation of Rome by the troops of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy , rather than to obtain an indulgence. The Jubilee of 1900, though shorn of much of its splendor by the self-confinement of the pope within the limits of the Vatican, was, nevertheless, carried out by Pope Leo XIII with all the solemnity that

7029-405: The popular ox and donkey and they reduced other light sources in the scene in order to emphasize the "child of light" effect, and the Nativity was treated with chiaroscuro through the Baroque . Other details which are frequently seen, such as Joseph carrying a single candle that he "attached to the wall," and the presence of God the Father above, also originated in Bridget's vision. The pose of

7128-425: The records of these Revelationes coelestes ("Celestial revelations") which were translated into Latin by Matthias, canon of Linköping , and her confessor, Peter Olafsson, prior of Alvastra, acquired a great vogue during the Middle Ages . These revelations made Bridget something of a celebrity to some and a controversial figure to others. Her visions of the Nativity of Jesus would influence later depictions of

7227-513: The religion. In Western Christianity's original area, Latin was the principal language. Christian writers in Latin had more influence there than those who wrote in Greek , Syriac , or other languages. Although the first Christians in the West used Greek (such as Clement of Rome ), by the fourth century Latin had superseded it even in the cosmopolitan city of Rome , as well as in southern Gaul and

7326-463: The theory received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the Council in Trullo (692), which ranked the five sees as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem." Over the centuries, disagreements separated Western Christianity from the various forms of Eastern Christianity: first from East Syriac Christianity after the Council of Ephesus (431) , then from that of Oriental Orthodoxy after

7425-473: The tradition of devotion to the wounds of Christ. During the Middle Ages, the prayers were circulated with various promises of indulgence and other assurances of 21 supernatural graces supposed to attend the daily recitation of the 15 orations at least for a year. These indulgences were repeated in the manuscript tradition of the Books of Hours , and may constitute one major source of the prayers' popularity in

7524-404: The value of Saint Bridget's Revelations, sometimes the object of doubt, was specified by Pope John Paul II in the letter Spes Aedificandi : "Yet there is no doubt that the Church," wrote my beloved predecessor, "which recognized Bridget's holiness without ever pronouncing on her individual revelations, has accepted the overall authenticity of her interior experience." Saint Bridget prayed for

7623-696: The values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call Western civilization ". The rise of Protestantism led to major divisions within Western Christianity, which still persist, and wars—for example, the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604 had religious as well as economic causes. In and after the Age of Discovery , Europeans spread Western Christianity to the New World and elsewhere. Roman Catholicism came to

7722-418: The wall, which would then be set to collapse. This ritual caused injury to bystanders, so for the Great Jubilee of 2000, Pope John Paul II simplified the rite considerably, opening and closing the doors with his hands. Traditionally, the pope himself opens and closes the doors of St. Peter's Basilica personally, and designates a cardinal to open those of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside

7821-600: The wealth brought in by pilgrims in the jubilee year of 1450 to convert the medieval city into a Renaissance capital, to found the Vatican Library , and to permanently move the papal seat to the west bank of the Tiber away from the Roman masses who had evicted his predecessor: the Vatican Palace and St Peter's Basilica thus replaced St John Lateran as the main papal headquarters. The nearby Castel Sant'Angelo

7920-460: The year 1208 (rather than 1200), is this brief entry: "It is said that this year was celebrated as the fiftieth year, or the year of jubilee and remission, in the Roman Court." In Ancient Rome, it was said the jubilee was the celebration coinciding with the centenaries since the founding of Rome; this pagan celebration was co-opted into the tradition of the jubilee. In Roman Catholic tradition,

8019-468: Was a Swedish Catholic mystic and the founder of the Bridgettines . Outside Sweden, she was also known as the Princess of Nericia and was the mother of Catherine of Vadstena . Bridget is one of the six patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia , Cyril and Methodius , Catherine of Siena and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross . The most celebrated saint of Sweden was the daughter of

8118-489: Was born, have a Franciscan origin, by which she may have been influenced, because she was a member of the Franciscan order. Her visions of Purgatory were also well-known. In addition, "she even predicted an eventual Vatican State, foretelling almost the exact boundaries delineated by Mussolini for Vatican City in 1921." Pope Benedict XVI spoke of Bridget in a general audience on 27 October 2010, saying that

8217-507: Was closed by the pope on January 6, 2001, by the closing of the holy door of St. Peter's Basilica and the promulgation of the apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte ( Upon Entering the New Millennium ), which outlined the pope's vision for the future of the church. On March 13, 2015, Pope Francis announced a special jubilee on the theme of mercy to be held from December 8, 2015, until November 20, 2016, and formally convoked

8316-607: Was done, for example, at the convening of the First Vatican Council , or again at times of great calamity. Pope John Paul II convoked jubilees in 1983 (Holy Year of the Redemption) and in 2000 (the Great Jubilee). In 2000, he greatly liberalized the conditions for gaining the jubilee indulgence. A visit to only one of the four patriarchal basilicas in Rome was necessary (entering through the holy door). To

8415-569: Was due to end December 10, 2020, the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, but was extended to December 10, 2021 because of disruptions due to the coronavirus. Pope John Paul II named some of his voyages jubilee pilgrimages: to Mount Sinai and the Holy Land in 2000 and a Jubilee Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of Saint Paul in 2001 to Malta , Syria , and Greece . This is a plenary indulgence which, as stated by Pope Boniface VIII in consistory , it

8514-533: Was erected in 1651 in Vienna , and in 1900 the new district Brigittenau was founded. In Sweden, adjacent to Skederid Church , built by Bridget's father on the family's land, a memorial stone was erected in 1930. On 1 October 1999, Pope John Paul II named Saint Bridget a patron saint of Europe. Her feast day is celebrated on 23 July, the day of her death. Her feast was not in the Tridentine calendar , but

8613-546: Was in her early thirties, she was summoned to be principal lady-in-waiting to the new Queen of Sweden, Blanche of Namur . In 1341, she and her husband went on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela . In 1344, shortly after their return, Ulf died at the Cistercian Alvastra Abbey in Östergötland . After this loss, Birgitta became a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis and devoted herself to

8712-633: Was inserted in the General Roman Calendar in 1623 for celebration on 7 October, the day of her 1391 canonization by Pope Boniface IX . Five years later, her feast day was moved to 8 October (but the Church in Sweden celebrates it on the 7th), a date which was not changed until the revision of the General Roman Calendar in 1969, when it was set on 8 October, the date which it is currently celebrated on. Some continue to use

8811-536: Was not until 1370 that Pope Urban V , during his brief attempt to re-establish the papacy in Rome, confirmed the Rule of the order, but meanwhile Birgitta had made herself universally beloved in Rome by her kindness and good works. Save for occasional pilgrimages, including one to Jerusalem in 1373, she remained in Rome until her death on 23 July 1373, urging ecclesiastical reform. In her pilgrimages to Rome, Jerusalem and Bethlehem, she sent "back precise instructions for

8910-458: Was originally buried at San Lorenzo in Panisperna before her remains were returned to Sweden. After Queen Margaret of Scandinavia had worked on both Pope Urban VI and his successor for it, Bridget was canonized in the year 1391 by Pope Boniface IX , which was confirmed by the Council of Constance in 1415. Because of new discussions about her works, the Council of Basel confirmed

9009-607: Was partly done to obtain authorization to found the new order from the Pope and it was also partly done in pursuance of her self-imposed mission to elevate the moral tone of the age. This was during the period of the Avignon Papacy within the Roman Catholic Church , however, so she had to wait for the return of the papacy from the French city of Avignon to Rome, a move for which she agitated for many years. It

9108-483: Was possible. In the 20th century, jubilees were held in 1925, 1933 (in commemoration of the 1900th anniversary of the traditional year of Jesus 's death and resurrection), 1950, 1966 (post-Council jubilee) 1975, 1983 (for the Holy Year of the Redemption: the 1950th anniversary of Jesus's death and resurrection), and 2000. Pope Pius XII used the occasion of the 1950 Jubilee to declare a new pontifical anthem for

9207-426: Was proclaimed by Pope Clement VIII in 1600. In 1625, Pope Urban VIII opened the ceremonial doors for the jubilee year. However, the number of pilgrims was lower than expected due to the wars in northern Italy, so the Pope suspended the declaration of indulgences outside Rome in an attempt to lure the faithful to the city. He then went on to declare a universal or extraordinary jubilee in 1628 to pray for peace. This

9306-489: Was proposed to hold a jubilee every 33 years as representing the period of the sojourn of Christ upon earth and also the average span of human life. The next jubilee was held in 1390, and the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore was added to the list. The visits to these four churches has remained as one of the conditions for gaining the Roman jubilee indulgence. In 1400 so many people came to Rome that Pope Boniface IX granted

9405-609: Was rebuilt, along with new fortifications encircling what is now the Vatican City , which Pope Nicholas made his home. According to Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini , 40,000 pilgrims arrived in Rome every day for the jubilee in 1450. With them came plague, and some members of the Curia died of the infection while the Pope himself fled Rome for Fabriano in the Apennine Mountains . In 1500, Pope Alexander VI announced that

9504-474: Was repeated the next year in 1629, bringing material benefits to the city. Finally, Innocent X oversaw the last of his jubilees in 1650. Pope Clement X presided over that of 1675. Pope Clement XI , who opened the Jubilee of 1700, is remembered especially for establishing one of Rome's most renowned charitable institutions, the hospice of San Michele a Ripa . Gradually, other similar institutions were opened to offer shelter and assistance to pilgrims, as in 1725,

9603-430: Was solemnly opened on December 24, 1524, by Pope Clement VII , at a time when symptoms of the great crises which would soon tear the Church apart were already present, with the Protestant Reformation . The 1550 Jubilee was proclaimed by Pope Paul III , but Pope Julius III actually opened it. In 1575, in the time of Pope Gregory XIII , as many as 300,000 people came to Rome from all over Europe. The following Holy Year

9702-783: Was the most famous. In 1450, Rome was a largely rural area surrounded by the Aurelian Walls and inhabited by no more than 30,000 people engaged mainly in stock-rearing, in contrast with the economic centres of Florence , Venice , and Milan . Wolves frequented the Vatican Gardens , the population was centred on the Tiber near the Campus Martius , while round the churches of San Giovanni in Laterano and Santa Maria Maggiore were separate villages. Pope Nicholas V used

9801-550: Was unfortunately made famous by a terrible accident in which nearly 200 people were trampled to death in a panic which occurred on the bridge of Sant' Angelo. Following this disaster, great pains were taken to widen the thoroughfares and to provide for the entertainment and comfort of the pilgrims by numerous charitable organizations, of which the Archconfraternity of the Holy Trinity, founded by Saint Philip Neri ,

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