Liturgy

The public prayer of the Church is known as the liturgy. It is “at once the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; [and,] at the same time, it is the font from which all her power flows.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10). The centerpiece of Christian liturgy is the Mass, the Eucharistic celebration where Christ real presence s is Body and Blood is granted to the individual. During this pilgrimage, Christ walks with the disciples, revealing the Father’s mysteries. He enables them to say, as the Emmaus disciples did, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over” (Luke 24:29).

The Opening of the Holy Door is a special liturgical rite. In times past, during non-Jubilee years, the Pope would symbolically start to demolish the portion of the wall sealing the Holy Door. After him, the masons would completely destroy the brick wall to make way to the Holy Door. Since 1950, the ceremony is now very different; the wall is taken down beforehand and during a very solemn choral liturgy the Pope pushes the door open from the outside and thus he becomes the first pilgrim to pass through. This fact, together with other liturgical expressions that mark the Holy Year, reminds us that the Jubilee pilgrimage manifests more than a personal gesture—it is the collective journey of the entire people of God onwards to the Kingdom.