Sacred Place - Pilgrimage Site
December 29, 2024 - December 28, 2025
The Newman Catholic Center has been designated by Bishop Byrne as a Sacred Place- Pilgrimage site in the Diocese of Springfield for the Jubilee Year of Hope 2025. ​​​​
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"As a Pilgrimage site, the faithful, pilgrims of hope, will be able to obtain the Jubilee indulgence granted by the Holy Father if they undertake a pious pilgrimage to the Newman Catholic Center in Amherst by devoutly participating in Holy Mass; a ritual Mass for the conferral of the sacraments of Christian Initiation of the Anointing of the Sick; or any of the following: a celebration of the Word of God; the Liturgy of the Hours; the Via Crucis; the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the recitation of the Akahtist hymn or a penitential service that ends with the individual confessions.
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As a designated Jubilee Year Sacred Place, likewise, the faithful can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if, individually, or in a group, they devoutly visit the Newman Catholic Center in Amherst or any Jubilee site and there, for a suitable period of time, engage in Eucharistic Adoration and meditation, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form as well as 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).
Uniquely during Jubilee 2025, despite the rule that only one plenary indulgence can be obtained per day, the faithful who have carried out an act of charity on behalf of the souls in Purgatory, if they attend a second Mass that day and receive Holy Communion during that Mass, can obtain the plenary Indulgence a second time that same day." -From Bishop Byrne's letter of designation
Bishop Byrne celebrating the Juiblee Mass at the Center
Conditions to obtain indulgences
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To gain indulgences, whether plenary or partial, it is necessary that the faithful be in the state of grace at least at the time the indulgenced work is completed. [i.e. one must be a Catholic, not excommunicated or in schism.]
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In order to obtain it, the faithful must, in addition to being in the state of grace:
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have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin;
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have sacramentally confessed their sins;
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receive the Holy Eucharist (it is certainly better to receive it while participating in Holy Mass, but for the indulgence only Holy Communion is required);
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It is appropriate, but not necessary, that the sacramental Confession and especially Holy Communion and the prayer for the Pope's intentions take place on the same day that the indulgenced work is performed; but it is sufficient that these sacred rites and prayers be carried out within several days (about 20) before or after the indulgenced act. Prayer for the Pope's intentions is left to the choice of the faithful, but an "Our Father" and a "Hail Mary" are suggested. One sacramental Confession suffices for several plenary indulgences, but a separate Holy Communion and a separate prayer for the Holy Father's intentions are required for each plenary indulgence.
Ways to obtain the Jubilee indulgence include:
Pilgrimages
1. National. The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., is the only nationally designated “Jubilee site” in the U.S.
2. International. In Rome, visit St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major or St. Paul Outside the Walls. In the Holy Land, visit the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem), Basilica of the Nativity (Bethlehem) or Basilica of the Annunciation (Nazareth).
3. Local. Sacred sites in the Diocese of Springfield for Jubilee Year 2025. The Most Rev. William D. Byrne, Bishop of Springfield, has declared and decreed the following entities as sacred places-pilgrimage sites in the Diocese of Springfield for Jubilee Year 2025 beginning on December 29, 2024, until December 28, 2025:
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Cathedral of Saint Michael the Archangel
260 State Street, Springfield
Dominican Nuns Adoration Chapel
Dominican Monastery of the Mother of God
1430 Riverdale Street, West Springfield
National Shrine of Divine Mercy
2 Prospect Hill Road, Stockbridge
Newman Catholic Center
111 Thatcher Road, Amherst
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Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel
Thomas Aquinas College
231 Main Street, Northfield
The Monastery Chapel
Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary Monastery
14 Beach Road, Tyringham
Saint Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Basilica
566 Front Street, Chicopee
Eucharistic Visits
4. Pilgrimage Sites. At any site listed above, spend time in Eucharistic adoration, concluding with the Our Father, a Profession of Faith, and prayers to Mary.
5. Italy. Do the same at any of six other designated churches in Rome.
6. Close to Home. Do the same at any church designated by a local bishop, or any basilica, cathedral or shrine (Marian, national or international) worldwide.
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Pilgrimages in Spirit
7. Those impeded by “serious reasons” — cloistered religious, the elderly, the sick, prisoners, caregivers — can get the indulgence by uniting spiritually with pilgrims, especially through media, Catholic devotional outlets, and reciting an Our Father and Creed, “offering up their sufferings or the hardships of their lives.”
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Works of Mercy and Penance
8. Formation. Participate in a study on the Vatican II documents or the Catechism, held in a church or other suitable place, “according to the mind of the Holy Father.”
9. Visits. Spend time with those in need — the sick, prisoners, lonely, elderly, the disabled — “making a pilgrimage to Christ present in them.”
10. Fasting and Abstinence. In a spirit of penance, give up “futile distractions” (real or online) and “superfluous consumption” (through fasting, abstinence or almsgiving) for at least one day.
11. Defend Life and Volunteer. Support efforts defending life at all stages or helping abandoned children, struggling youth, the needy, lonely elderly or migrants. Do acts of community service.
12. Blessing. Receive the “papal blessing” from your bishop.
Bishop Byrne celebrating the Juiblee Mass at the Center
“For Christian hope is not a ‘happy ending’ which we passively await, but rather, a promise, to be welcomed here and now in our world of suffering and sighs.”
-Pope Francis