Holy Year?

[Rosina Lila]

       A year during which St James'  feast day falls on  a Sunday is a
Xacobean Holy Year and the number of pilgrims to Santiago triples or quadruples.
The Cathedral's "Puerta Santa" is opened during such year and it is walled-up
again at the end thereof. The last  Xacobean Holy Year was in 1999 and the next
one will be next year.
       This is different from the Holy Years  declaredby the Vatican and
observed by Catholics world-wide, of which 2000 was the last one. Again, the
number of pilgrims to Rome in such years increases dramatically, and St. Peter's
central door is open by the Pope and it remains open until the end of the year
when the Pope closes again. Unlike what happens in Santiago, St. Peters'
central door, which is a wondrous bronze work of art, is only closed and not boarded
or walled up.
       Memorable festivities and observations, religious and otherwise, take
place during such years and those of us who value and enjoy our  faith make
every effort to go to Santiago, or Rome, then.
       The three traditional pilgrimages for Christians have been to Rome, to
Santiago and to Jerusalem.  Sadly, at the present time pilgrimages to
Jerusalem, heretofore encouraged by churches and parishes, are not being made.
       In Spain, a pilgrimage to any particular church is called a "romeria",
a word derived  from the fact that the oldest pilgrimages were to Rome;
(during the dark and middle ages those who had made the pilgrimage to Rome were
later referred to as "Romeos")
       Whether because of history, tradition, or the sheer joy of  making a
pilgrimage during a special time, pilgrimages during Holy Years are very
popular and crowded  and nowhere more so than in Spain.
Regards,
Rosina