Immaculate Conception and Year of Mercy: December 8, 2015
December 8 ^th is a Holy Day of Obligation and it is also the start of the Year of Mercy, which has been declared by Pope Francis. 
At the Cathedral the Mass times for December 8^th are as follows: 7am, 7:30am, 8am, 8:30am, 11:30am, 12pm, 12:30pm, 1pm, 5:30pm and 6pm. 
During this Year of Mercy, it is a tradition to make a pilgrimage and to pass through the Holy Doors of a basilica or cathedral.  In the Archdiocese of New York, Cardinal Dolan has designated five Doors of Mercy where pilgrims will have the opportunity to encounter this profound symbol of Christ’s desire to welcome all into the Kingdom of God. These Doors may be visited at:

1. Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, 5^th Avenue and 50^th Street
2. Basilica of Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Manhattan, 263 Mulberry Street
3. Shrine Church of Saint Francis Cabrini in Manhattan, 701 Ft Washington Avenue and 191^st Steet
4. National Shine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middletown, 70 Carmelite Drive
5. Salesian National Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians in Stony Point, 174 Filors Lane

You can receive a plenary indulgence when you enter through these doors and abide by these steps:

1. Passing through a designated Holy Door during the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy (between Dec. 8, 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and Nov. 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King) or performing one of the corporal or spiritual works of mercy.
2. As for the sick and the elderly, the Holy Father says, "For them it will be of great help to live their sickness and suffering as an experience of closeness to the Lord who in the mystery of his Passion, death and Resurrection indicates the royal road which gives meaning to pain and loneliness. Living with faith and joyful hope this moment of trial, receiving communion or attending Holy Mass and community prayer, even through the various means of communication, will be for them the means of obtaining the Jubilee Indulgence."
3. For the imprisoned, the Holy Father says, "They may obtain the Indulgence in the chapels of the prisons. May the gesture of directing their thought and prayer to the Father each time they cross the threshold of their cell signify for them their passage through the Holy Door, because the mercy of God is able to transform hearts, and is also able to transform bars into an experience of freedom."
4. You may receive the plenary indulgence yourself, or offer it for a person in purgatory.

 
To receive a plenary indulgence

• It is necessary that the faithful be in the state of grace at least at the time the indulgenced work is completed.
• A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day. In order to obtain it, the faithful must, in addition to being in the state of grace:
  • have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin;
  • have sacramentally confessed their sins;
  • receive the Holy Eucharist (it is certainly better to receive it while participating in Holy Mass, but for the indulgence only Holy Communion is required); and
  • pray for the intentions of the Pope.

It is appropriate, but not necessary, that the sacramental Confession and especially Holy Communion and the prayer for the Pope's intentions take place on the same day that the indulgenced work is performed; but it is sufficient that these sacred rites and prayers be carried out within several days (about 20) before or after the indulgenced act. Prayer for the Pope's intentions is left to the choice of the faithful, but an Our Father and a Hail Mary are suggested. One sacramental Confession suffices for several plenary indulgences, but a separate Holy Communion and a separate prayer for the Holy Father's intentions are required for each plenary indulgence.
For the sake of those legitimately impeded, confessors can commute both the work prescribed and the conditions required (except, obviously, detachment from even venial sin).
Indulgences can always be applied either to oneself or to the souls of the deceased, but they cannot be applied to other persons living on earth.
– Adapted from the decree on the plenary indulgence for the 2000 Jubilee Year.
 
Reconciliation Monday: December 14, 2015
All parishes in the Archdiocese of NY, Diocese of Brooklyn/Queens and the Diocese of Rockville Center will have confessions from 4pm-8pm on this day.  During this season of Advent and during this inaugural month for the Year of Mercy, take this opportunity to talk to a priest and reconcile yourself with God!