He Pope Francisco has declared 2021 as a Holy Year dedicated to the figure of Saint Joseph, at the 150th anniversary of the declaration of the Virgin’s husband as Patron of the universal Church. Well, today we have known, through a decree signed by the Bishop of Avila, that the temple of the convent of San José (first foundation of Santa Teresa) will be the place of the diocese where the faithful will be able to profit from the plenary indulgence in this Holy Year, according to the methods indicated by the Apostolic Penitentiary.
It was the diocesan bishop himself Mons. José Mª Gil Tamayo who personally conveyed to Pope Francis (in the private audience they held on December 17) that he allowed him to declare this temple of the Discalced Carmelite Mothers as a Jubilee temple, something that has just been communicated through said episcopal decree. The small convent in the center of Ávila thus becomes a special place to go to pray to San José, and ask for his intercession, among other issues, so that this pandemic that is causing so much suffering is soon ended.
Year of San José in the middle of the pandemic
When Pope Francis instituted this Holy Year, he also shared a Apostolic Letter on the figure of Saint Joseph. In of the heart, the pontiff explains the context in which Blessed Pius IX declares Saint Joseph Patron of the Universal Church. “Moved by the grave and dark circumstances in which the Church found herself, harassed by the hostility of men, he proclaimed Saint Joseph Patron of the Universal Church.” The text of the decree encourages all the Catholic faithful to follow the example of Saint Joseph in this Jubilee Year “and may daily strengthen their life of faith in full compliance with the will of God.”
And it is that, certainly, we find ourselves again before “grave and dark circumstances”. Thus, the Pope quotes Saint Teresa of Jesus in the Decree promulgating this Holy Yearto remind us that those who have come to San José seeking help have never been disappointed.
The pandemic, the Holy Father reminds us, has made us understand the importance of ordinary people, of those who, far from being protagonist, exercise patience and instill hope every day, sowing co-responsibility. Like Saint Joseph, “the man who goes unnoticed, the man with the daily, discreet and hidden presence”. And yet his is “an unparalleled role in the history of salvation.”
How to profit from the Plenary Indulgence?
As is customary, the conditions prescribed by the Church to obtain an indulgence for a Holy Year are: sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and praying for the Holy Father’s intentions.
The modalities in which the plenary indulgence will be granted in this Year of Saint Joseph, as set out in the Decree of Apostolic Penitentiary, are the following:
– A plenary indulgence is granted to those who meditate on the Lord’s Prayer for at least 30 minutes, or participate in a Spiritual Retreat of at least one day where a meditation on Saint Joseph is carried out.
– Those who, on the example of Saint Joseph, carry out a corporal or spiritual work of mercy may also obtain the gift of plenary indulgence.
– So that all Christian families feel encouraged to recreate the same atmosphere of intimate communion, love and prayer that was lived in the Holy Family, the plenary indulgence is granted for the recitation of the Holy Rosary in families and between the bride and groom. .
– The plenary indulgence may be obtained by those who entrust their activities to the protection of Saint Joseph on a daily basis and each faithful who invoke with prayer the intercession of the Craftsman of Nazareth so that, whoever is looking for a job, may find employment and that the everyone’s work is worthy.
– The plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who recite the Litanies to Saint Joseph (for the Latin tradition), or the Akathistos to Saint Joseph, whole or at least a part (for the Byzantine traditions), or another prayer to Saint Joseph of their own from other liturgical traditions by the Church persecuted ad intra and ad extra and for the relief of all Christians who suffer some form of persecution.
Likewise, to reaffirm the universality of the patronage of Saint Joseph over the Church, in addition to these reasons, the Apostolic Penitentiary grants plenary indulgence to the faithful who recite any legitimately approved prayer or act of piety in honor of Saint Joseph. For example, ‘To you, oh, Saint Joseph’, especially from March 19 to May 1, on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, on Saint Joseph Sunday (according to the Byzantine tradition ), on the 19th of each month and every Wednesday, a day dedicated to the memory of the Saint according to the Latin tradition ”.
Finally, we remember that those who due to illness cannot fulfill these conditions or approach the Jubilee Temple of the diocese, can try to fulfill them from their homes.
The convent of San José: “A star that gave of itself great brilliance”
The jubilee temple of the diocese of Ávila has a great history behind it. It is, nothing less, the first monastery in Christendom that was erected under the invocation of San José. Likewise, it is the first foundation of Santa Teresa de Jesús, with which she began her reform of the Carmelite order in the 16th century.
But why did you decide to found your first “palomarcico” with the name of San José? Santa herself leaves it explained in her Book of Life: “Having received Communion one day, His Majesty commanded me to seek it with all my might, making great promises that the monastery would not stop being built, and that it would be served a lot, and that it be called San José, and that at one door he and our Lady would keep the other for us, and that Christ would walk with us, and that he would be a star that gave of itself great brilliance, and that, although religions were relaxed, that he did not think little was used in them; what would the world be if it weren’t for the religious? that I tell my confessor what he was sending me and that I begged him not to go against it or hinder me “… (V 32.11)
From that moment, the convent of San José conserves its roots and tradition within its walls, being a place of pilgrimage for many devotees, who seek to reach the source of the experience of faith of the Saint from Avila.
And it is that there are many times in which Teresa de Jesús recommends devotion to Saint Joseph and his powerful intercession, especially in the hardest setbacks. “And I took the glorious Saint Joseph as my lawyer and lord and I entrusted a lot to him. I saw clearly that, both from this need and from other greater ones, from losing my fame and soul, this father and lord of mine freed me better than I knew how to ask. I do not remember until today of having begged him for anything that he did not grant me. It is something that frightens the great favors that God has granted me through this blessed saint, and the dangers from which he has delivered me, both body and soul; that to other saints it seems that the Lord gave them grace to help in a need; but I have experience of this glorious saint that he helps in all “ (V 6.6)
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