In this definitive guide to the Jubilee of Mercy, EWTN’s Rome Correspondent, Joan Lewis, takes you back in time for a look at the history of Jubilees, and then brings you to the present with a visit to the seven pilgrim basilicas of Rome and the immeasurable treasures of Rome and the Vatican. Joan shares with you the many special graces you can receive this year, as well as countless fun facts such as the significance of the Holy Doors, the key features of Catholic architecture, the liturgical customs that are unique to the Jubilee of Mercy, how to obtain an indulgence, and so much more. Whether you make a pilgrimage to Rome or are celebrating this extraordinary year in your own home, there’s no better guide than EWTN’s Joan Lewis.

On this Jubilee year, the authors take readers back to the first Holy Year, 1300, when Pope Boniface VII promised eternal peace for the souls of all Christians who trekked to the Eternal City. 225 illustrations, 60 in color.

The year 2000 is the first Jubilee, or Holy Year, to coincide with a millennium, and it is expected to inspire the world's largest-ever pilgrimage, bringing some thirty million visitors to Rome. What might these contemporary pilgrims expect to find other than the world's largest-ever traffic jam? In this wise and often witty book, longtime Vatican-observer Desmond O'Grady has written a fascinating history of Rome and the papacy seen through the grid of the twenty-five Jubilees that have occurred since the practice was initiated seven hundred years ago. During each Jubilee Year the Holy See has asserted its centrality, its universal relevance, and responded to various challenges: the Islamic threat, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the loss of the Papal States. The story of the Jubilees is told by means of the following coordinates: the state of the city and of the church at the time, the most memorable episodes, and the reactions of the pilgrims, many of them kings, queens and emperors. These 'liminal', or threshold, moments find the church often at its best and its worst. The final chapter analyzes the announced goals and prospects for Jubilee 2000 and explains how the church hopes to ferry humankind into the third millennium with a new sense of history as a meaningful journey. Book jacket.

This warm anecdotal guide gives legends and traditions of both the popular sites of Rome as well as little-known places of historical significance. Written by an internationally known expert and veteran of fifty visits to the Eternal City. Color illustrations, photos and maps are included.

The Jubilee Guide to Rome provides a brief history of how the Holy Year observance developed over the centuries, details significant events, and offers a guide to the architecture and history of the four basilicas of the Eternal City.