Holy Door Opened at Downside

10 Feb 2016

As part of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Holy Door of Downside Abbey was opened for the first time, on Saturday 19th December.

The event took place during a Mass celebrated by the President of the English Benedictine Congregation (EBC), Abbot Richard Yeo. The event is of particular significance given that Downside Abbey is one of only three Minor Basilicas in the United Kingdom.

“The Indult for the Jubilee Year of Mercy calls us to seek the mercy of God through repentance and reformation of life.” (Dom Leo Maidlow Davis, Prior Administrator of Downside Abbey)

The Jubilee Year of Mercy is a world-wide occasion that will provide opportunities for contemplation, celebration and conversion of life.

“I have decided to announce an Extraordinary Jubilee which has at its centre the mercy of God. It will be a Holy Year of Mercy. We want to live in the light of the Word of the Lord: ‘Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful’ (cf. Lk 6:36). And this especially applies to confessors! So much mercy!” (Pope Francis)    

To hear Abbot Richard Yeo, President of the EBC, talk to parishioners at Downside Abbey, click here.

To hear Dom Leo Maidlow Davis talk more about the Year of Mercy, click here.