Prescribed Works for the Jubilee Year

Pilgrimages: Make a pilgrimage to any sacred Jubilee site and devoutly participate in Holy Mass, ritual Mass for the conferral of the sacraments of Christian Initiation, or the Anointing of the Sick, or a celebration of the Word of God, the Liturgy of the Hours (office of readings, lauds, vespers), the Via Crucis, the Marian Rosary, the recitation of the Akathist hymn, or a penitential celebration, which ends with the individual confessions of the penitents, as established in the Rite of Penance (form II).

Pious visits to sacred places: Devoutly visit any Jubilee site and there, for a suitable period of time, engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to Mary, the Mother of God, so that in this Holy Year everyone "will come to know the closeness of Mary, the most affectionate of mothers, who never abandons her children" (Spes non confundit, 24).

Works of mercy and penance: The faithful, following the example and mandate of Christ, are encouraged to carry out works of charity or mercy more frequently, especially in the service of those brothers and sisters who are burdened by various needs. More especially, they should rediscover these “corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead " (Misericordiae vultus, 15) and rediscover also "the spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill, and pray for the living and the dead".

Read the full text of the decree here.