Holy Doors open for the Year of Mercy
St Dominic’s in north London and Holy Cross in Leicester are two Dominican parishes that have been chosen to host Holy Doors for the Year of Mercy.
An explanation of the Holy Door from the Holy Cross parish website:
“Holy Cross Priory Church is one of the four churches in our diocese which will have a Holy Door. The main door of the church was formally opened on Sunday 13 December as a Holy Door to mark the beginning of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
“A Holy Door is a sign of God’s opening a new pathway to salvation and it is a special honour for our church to have been chosen to have a Holy Door and to be a place of pilgrimage during this Jubilee of Mercy.
“A jubilee year is a special year called by the Church to receive blessing and pardon from God and remission of sins. The Church has called jubilee years every 25 or 50 years since 1300 and has also called special jubilee years from time to time, known as extraordinary jubilee years. The last jubilee year was held in 2000 during the papacy of Pope John Paul II and was known as ‘the Great Jubilee’. The last extraordinary jubilee year was held in 1983 to celebrate 1,950 years since the death and resurrection of Jesus.”
If you would like to make a pilgrimage during this Year of Mercy, we recommend a visit to either (or both!) of these beautiful churches which are in the care of the Dominicans. Details of location etc can be found on the following links:
Photos below by Gail Neill of Holy Cross parish.
Fr David Rocks OP opens the Holy Door in Leicester.
Pilgrims processing through the Holy Door.
