The Archbishop of Toledo, Francisco Cerro Chaves, presented this Monday the poster announcing the Jubilee Year of the Most Holy Christ of the True Cross of Urda (Toledo), the starting signal for a program of events in which the city of Toledo will once again welcome thousands of pilgrims. Cerro Chaves said that he has written a pastoral letter that aims to “deepen what a Jubilee is”, which is nothing other than “earning that jubilee grace that the Church grants at these times” and which is “something as profound as a grace that, by fulfilling certain requirements, is obtained through devotion”, in this case to the Christ of Urda.
In this pastoral letter, the Archbishop recalls that in the Jubilee Year of Urda, once the “Jubilee Door” is opened, there is a great pilgrimage of young people and adolescents “very consolidated”, in addition to a meeting of brotherhoods.” Everything that happens around Urda “therefore has a lot of life”, according to the archbishop, and now the intention is that the The Holy Door is open on September 22almost coinciding with the opening of the Holy Door of all the cathedrals, a commission received from the Pope because it coincides with the Holy Year in Rome.
Within the Archbishopric of Toledo, the Basilicas of Guadalupe, the Basilica of Prado in Talavera de la Reina, the Basilica of Caridad in Illescas and the Basilica of Urda itself will be inaugurated.
The author of the poster, Rafael Laureano Martínez, is the holder of the Seville Youth Prize in the art category awarded by the Andalusian Youth Institute. He is also currently part of a group of researchers at the University of Seville. The artist himself presented a work whose “undisputed protagonist” is the image of the Holy Christ of the True Cross, an image that “has captured the devotion of so many faithful for centuries and helped them in their daily burdens, in their sorrows, in their pains, in their illnesses. The work is made on a wooden support, which allowed the author “to carry out some very laborious techniques, such as the brocade that is in the background.” “The image is the undisputed protagonist of the work. It is not painted static, it is as if dragged, it is as if in motion, in memory of that procession and those transfers that Christ makes, which arouse so much devotion and so much pilgrimage,” explained the author. It is accompanied by a boat drawn in graphite so that “the union between past and present” is present, all in graphite on paper and acrylic on board.
As for the parallel activitieswill begin on September 18 and will bring together different bishops residing in the diocese of Toledo, such as Archbishop Emeritus Braulio Rodríguez Plaza, and others such as Ángel Fernández and Ángel Rubio.
On September 22, the Holy Door will open and begin the Jubilee Year, an act that will coincide with the procession and the singing of the litanies of the saints until reaching the Minor Basilica of the Most Holy Christ, where the Archbishop will open the Holy Door.
Various pilgrimages
Already on the 29th, the day of the holder of the Holy Christ of the True Cross, a solemn ceremony will take place presided over by Francisco Cerro Chaves before the procession back to the Basilica.
There are also celebrations and pilgrimages prepared for the future, such as in January 2025 by the brotherhoods and fraternities; the pilgrimage of Adolescence and Youth, which will take place from March 28 to 30; and spiritual exercises during Lent at the House of Spirituality of the Holy Christ, on the weekends of March 7 to 9 and April 4 to 5. Vigils, adorations and pilgrimages will complete a year of activities in which the door of the basilica will open daily.
