WOMEN’S EVENING OF RECOLLECTION
REDEMPTIVE SUFFERING AND PURGATORY
S
Monday, November 17 at 7:00 PM
Location: Saint Matthew Catholic Church in Tyrone in the Sanctuary
215 Kirkley Road, Tyrone, GA
This event will help to prepare our hearts to experience a fruitful Advent. It will be given by Father Valery Akoh, the pastor of Saint Matthew and will include women from Holy Trinity, Saint Matthew and Saint Mary Magdalene parishes. As many of you know, Father Valery is a wonderful, holy priest and a great spiritual guide. He will be speaking on Redemptive Suffering and Purgatory - two very important and life-changing teachings of the Catholic Church!
On November 17, you will have also have the opportunity to experience a wonderful grace. This year is a jubilee year in the Church which brings with it many special graces and blessings. One of them is the ability to gain a plenary indulgence by walking through a "Pilgrim Door" that is applicable to oneself or to a holy soul in purgatory. Saint Matthew has been designated as one of the parishes in the archdiocese for this. It is an official pilgrimage site during this Holy/Jubilee Year and the Pilgrim Door is at the main entrance of the Church. There is a banner above it so you know which door to walk through. Scroll down for several links and other information to help you understand what a blessing and grace this is. I recommend especially reading “INFORMATION ABOUT OBTAINING A JUBILEE PLENARY INDULGENCE AT SAINT MATTHEW CATHOLIC CHURCH ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17.”
REGISTER HERE
Here are the links to learn about indulgences and the Pilgrim Door at Saint Matthew:
1. What is a Jubilee/Holy Year? - https://saintmatthew.us/what-is-a-jubilee-holy-year
2. Local Pilgrimage Information - https://saintmatthew.us/local-pilgrimage-information
3. Indulgence Information - https://saintmatthew.us/indulgence-information
4. Indulgences 101: A helpful teaching on indulgences: https://www.catholiceventplanning.com/blog/indulgences
Personal Testimony
The Incredible Grace Offered through Plenary Indulgences
Offered for the Holy Souls in Purgatory during a Jubilee Year
My uncle, my mother’s brother, was married five times and in his second marriage had two sons. He and his second wife divorced when they were 5 and 1 ½ years old. She remarried and her new husband threatened my uncle and told him he could not see his sons ever again. Unfortunately he complied out of fear and did not pursue a relationship with them. My mother prayed about their reunion for over 20 years but saw no results.
During the Jubilee Year of 2000, my mother and my family made a visit to EWTN and heard a talk given by a priest about the Jubilee Indulgences. He suggested that we make a resolution to obtain a plenary indulgence, many times throughout the week, every day if possible, and offer each one for the holy souls in purgatory and ask them, in return, to pray for a prayer intention that we have been praying about for a long time that has not been answered. He said that the souls in purgatory are happy to do this because they are so grateful for the indulgences we obtain for them. My mother was very inspired and motivated by this and knew immediately that she would do this and ask the holy souls in purgatory to pray for my uncle and his sons to be reunited. She began to do this right away.
About six months into it, God worked a miracle! My uncle's wife was transferred with her job from Cincinnati to Columbus, Ohio. While living there, they needed to have their air conditioner serviced and the technician assigned to the job was my cousin, one of his sons. My uncle did not know that his two sons were living in Columbus at the time. My cousin saw the name on the job order and thought, “Oh my! I am about to meet my dad!” Needless to say, they were reunited and have been close ever since. About a year later, my aunt was transferred back to Cincinnati and my cousins eventually moved there too.
What a blessing to be able to help the holy souls in purgatory and receive their help in return. This is the Communion of Saints. Is there a prayer intention that you have almost given up on? Why not give this pious practice a try during this Jubilee year?
12 Ways to Gain a Jubilee Plenary Indulgence and Help Yourself or the Souls in Purgatory
Indulgences are a wonderful gift of God’s mercy and understanding them can have a profound effect on a practicing Catholic’s daily life. Unfortunately, many Catholics are negatively influenced by a misunderstanding fueled by Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation.
Understanding indulgences will give a faithful Catholic a way to appease a guilty conscience and an effective and fruitful means of helping deceased loved ones and friends who may be languishing in Purgatory. Jubilee Years are a special time of grace full of opportunities to obtain special indulgences. Because of that, the Vatican has given the faithful detailed information about how to obtain plenary indulgences during the 2025 Jubilee Year.
Indulgences remit the temporal punishment - all (plenary) or in part (partial) - due to sins that have been authentically repented of and, therefore, forgiven by applying the merits of Christ to particular prayers and pious practices of the Catholic faithful. That is, if the faithful have confessed their sins, they will be forgiven all or part of the temporal punishment they must otherwise endure in purgatory (learn much more about Indulgences by going to Indulgences 101 ).
To receive a plenary indulgence, in addition to the actual indulgenced prayer or action, the usual conditions must also be met:
1. Be a baptized Catholic and
in the state of grace at least at the time of obtaining the indulgence - meaning you are not bearing the guilt of unconfessed mortal sin. If you have committed any mortal sins, you must be authentically repentant and receive absolution in the Sacrament of Confession (Reconciliation) in order to be restored to the state of grace.
and free from all attachment to sin, even venial sins. In order to know if you are attached to any sins, make an examination of conscience asking Our Blessed Mother - Our Lady of Sorrows - to show you the sins you are attached to and then make an act of the will to renounce them and make concrete resolutions to live this out.
2. Receive Holy Communion.
3. Pray for the Intentions of the Pope. Some people are uncomfortable praying for Pope Francis’ monthly intentions. Instead, pray for the traditional intentions of the Holy Father (not just any intention). An Our Father and a Hail Mary are common prayers for this. No matter who the current pope is, the 6 objective intentions, of the Holy Father are as follows:
The Exaltation of the Church.
The Propagation of the Faith.
The Extirpation of Heresy.
The Conversion of Sinners.
The Concord between Christian Princes.
The .Further Welfare of the Christian People
4. Receive Sacramental Confession within 20 days (before you gain the indulgence) with true sorrow for your sins and a firm purpose of amendment. Indulgences are given as a blessing for true repentance to help heal the negative effects of sin.
Each indulgence requires a separate Communion and prayer, ideally on the day of the indulgenced act although that is not strictly necessary. Only one plenary indulgence can be obtained per day, but a second is possible if applied to souls in purgatory. Once again, this would mean that you would need to receive Holy Communion twice in one day in order to obtain a second plenary indulgence.
The 12 Ways to obtain a special Jubilee plenary 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. While there, participate in Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, Stations of the Cross, the Rosary or Akathist, a penance service, or a celebration of the Word of God. Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
2. International
In Rome, visit Saint Peters, Saint John Lateran, Saint Mary Major or Saint 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. Close to Home
Visit any site designated for Jubilee pilgrimages by the local bishop. In our area, Saint Matthew in Tyrone is one such place.
Information about Saint Matthew in Tyrone:
215 Kirkley Rd, Tyrone, GA 30290
Visiting Times:
Monday–Friday: 9:00 am-2:00 pm
Thursdays: 9:00 am-7:00 pm
Saturdays: 3:30 pm-6:00 pm
Sundays: 7:30 am-3:30 pmContact Information:
Phone Number: 770-964-5804
Email Address: mvahanian@saintmatthew.us
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 churches in Rome (Santa Croce, San Lorenzo, San Sebastiano, Divino Amore, Santo Spirito in Sassia, Tre Fontane), the “Iter Europaeum” route (28 churches connected to European nations), the “Patronesses and Doctors” route (seven churches dedicated to female saints), the Roman Catacombs, or five churches outside Rome (St. Francis and the Portiuncula in Assisi, St. Anthony in Padua, Our Lady of Loreto, Our Lady of Pompei).
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. Once again, Saint Matthew in Tyrone is one such designated Church.
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 or other media, and reciting an Our Father and Creed, “offering up their sufferings or the hardships of their lives.”
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.
Sources: EWTN (National Catholic Register) and “Decree on the Granting of Indulgence during the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025”