The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-02-28
The Jubilee Explained.

The Jubilee was the outermost circle III
that concentric system of religious institn
tons. which, starting from the Sabbath d.,
the Sabbatical Month (the moon of M.
seventh month, the Feast of Trumpets. H.
Sabbatical, or seventh year of rest. Ever
fifty years, the Jubilee closed q perioid
of seres sabbatical year. Its relsto,H
to this last named institution, and NH
directions for it's inauguration and obss,
vance. are given in the third book I'll
Moses, Leviticus, XIV, S-l6, and 23-S
Its bearings on lands dedicated to God an
one passing mention, NO reference 10 mad
to it elsewhere in the Pentateuch, az tn
five books of Moses are called. Tn
etymology of the term is somewhat nnee,.
tain. The commonest view is that the H.
brew word "Iobel," or "Iubel," means Il
joyous sound or shout, then the sound q
signal given by horn or turmpet. Thu
is conntensnced by the text of Levi
XIV, 9, where Jehovah orders the trumn]
to be sounded on the tenth day of tn
seventh month, on the day of atonemert
"and that they make the trumpet to
heard throughout the land" Daring TIL
Jubilee, ~ the soil was kept untitled, vi
during the Sabbatical year. No ploughis,
sowing, or reaping, and chance prOdue
was to be left to the first conner (2) ever
Israelite recovered the possession Of tn
land allotted to his family, or to his fors
fathers, if he had sold or otherwise partsd|
with it; (3) all slaves of Israelite raa|
were to be set free. On the authority ii
Josephus (Jewish Antiquities, ill.,, IL, i3
some add that all debts were RENTED
but Josephus stands quite alone in making
this assertion. The object of this institr
ton was to remedy the natural and una
voidable tendency of property to accun
ulate in a few hands, to relieve the Stat
from the burden of pauperism, and to pre-
serve the equality established at the frs|
settlement of the Promised Land, uuds|
Joshua. 1t is the general opinion that th
of the Assyrian Conquest, bnt except fes|
passing references to it in Isaias and
Ezekiel, no mention whatever is made Of d
10 the later books of the Old Testameutl
or elsewhere. A. D. 1900, a rumor epreG|
abroad that at the opening of every cen|
fury great indulgences were granted 81
Rome. Crowds both from the city and
foreign parts, fiocked to s.. Peters to gail
the indule euce. Pope Boniface VIII, orde,l
ed the archives of the Church of Rome 4
be searched, but nothing was found bearn|
upon the popular rumor. Still, as tbl
| crowda were daily increasing, the POntif|
wishing to give reality to the fancied ilI
diligence, published Bull, 22ld February
1900, in St. Peters granting Plenary lnduI
geDce during that year, and every hur|
dredth year following, to all who weFl
truly penitent, went to Confession, ap1
visited the Basilicas Of SIS. Peter and Paul
thirty times if Romans, fifteen times d
strangers. Persons of all classes and ag|
and sex flocked to Rome. AS We lear|
from an eye witness, there were never les|
than 200 600 pilgrims in the city.
In l343, Clement VI, acceding to the DEL
sires of the Romans, reduced the intervi|
between two Jdbilees from a hundred q
fifty years, in memory of the Mosaic yea
of Jubilee, of the sending down of tbl
Holy Ghost on the Apostles fifty day
after the Resurrection, and to ercoarae
the faith and piety of the Christian peopl1
To the former conditions he added that 4
st. John Lateran, the Cathedral of Roma
| This second Jubilee began on Christina
Day, 1349, and ended on the followil|
Christmas. Despite the plague, and u
rigor of the winter, the throng from 4
parts was greater than before. Numoe1
had to camp out in the fields, the inn keel
ers had no time to take their pay, wh1
was left on the tables, and never toucheq
The country round Rome wasfreed, for ID
time. from the brigands who had hither1
infested it. st. Bridget, of Sweden, vls,l
ed Rome during this Jubilee. In l5s|
|
Jubilee to another to thirty three yeat
In l47O, Paul III. fixed it to tweuty-h1
years. In 1900, Alexander vi. opened Y
Jubilee he was the first to introduce 4
ceremony of opening and closing the I'D
Gate, to mark the beginning and end
the Jubilee. The indults which are pu|
lished at the close of the Jubilee in Rom
to allow the faithful to gain it in tbd
own countries, have contributed, vii
other caases, to lessen the concourse
pilgrims to the Eternal City. The cond
tions for gaining the Indulgence Of u
Jubilee have scarcely changed, the recei1
ing of Holy Communion aud the additld
of st. Mary Majors, or the Liberiau Ba|
lica, as it is called, TO the. list of u
churches to be visited in Rome, are q
only conditions of later date. A Jubil|
F means not only Fienary Indulgence, d
the imparting by the Pope to coDfessors
extraordinary powers, such as those
absolving from ecclesiastical censures, frO|
the guilt of heinous sins, the absolntion
which is ordinarily reserved to the fo4
or other Prelates, of dispensing from
committing vows. All these powers.
faculties, are infinitely detailed in the Bu|
publication. A Jubilee may be OrdIRa]
as that which recurs every twenty'n1
years, lasts from one Christmas to the neA|
and, after having been celebrated in ROM
lid