Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton will be celebrating three concluding 75th anniversary Masses. They will be celebrated at St. Joseph Church, Ironton, Oct. 22, 2020, 6 p.m.; the Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption, Marietta, Oct. 23, 2020, 6 p.m.; and Holy Family Church, Steubenville, Oct. 24, 2020, 8:30 a.m.
At the request of Bishop Monforton, the Apostolic Penitentiary (one of the tribunals of the Holy See to which the pope has given the faculty to grant indulgences) granted a plenary indulgence on Aug. 24 for those who participate in any of the closing Masses and conclude their participation with Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed and invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The penitentiary also decreed, for those unable to participate in these Masses, that “pious faithful Christians, prevented by old age or grave illness, will be able to gain the plenary indulgence equally if they conceive a renunciation of each sin, join themselves spiritually to the jubilee celebrations and offer their prayers and sorrows to God.”
In addition, the penitentiary has granted that Bishop Monforton may give the papal blessing at the conclusion of the Mass at Holy Family Church. There is a plenary indulgence attached to the papal blessing. For the faithful not physically present at the Mass at Holy Family, they may still receive the blessing and gain its indulgence if they follow the Mass devoutly while it is being broadcast live.
“An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. ... The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 1471).
According to Norms on Indulgences, “To gain a plenary indulgence, the baptized person, in addition to being in the state of grace, must be free from all attachment to sin, must undertake the indulgenced act and meet the three following conditions: sacramental confession, eucharistic communion and prayer for the Holy Father’s intention (for example, praying one Our Father and one Hail Mary for his intention).” In addition, “the three conditions may be fulfilled several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work; it is, however, fitting that Communion be received and the prayer for the intention of the Holy Father be said on the same day the work is performed.”
All three anniversary Masses will be livestreamed. The Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption will be available on their website: www.stmarysmarietta.org. Holy Family Parish will be livestreaming the Mass on their YouTube channel – Holy Family, Steubenville. St. Joseph, Ironton, will be livestreaming on their YouTube channel as well – Ironton and Pine Grove Catholic Community.
The two opening Masses for the 75th anniversary were held last October at St. Peter Church, Steubenville and the Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption. The Diocese of Steubenville was founded Oct. 21, 1944.