PROVIDENCE — On December 13, the Diocese of Providence will participate in a tradition that dates back several hundred years in the history of the Catholic Church. Bishop Thomas J. Tobin will break the seal on a Holy Door installed in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, marking the start of the Jubilee Year of Mercy and inviting all the faithful to cross the threshold as a sign of repentance and remission of sins.
The tradition of the Holy Door comes to the diocese from Rome, where pontiffs have called for the construction of a Holy Door to be opened during years of celebration since the fifteenth century. Pope Francis asked that Holy Doors be opened in dioceses across the globe to mark the celebration of the Jubilee Year of Mercy beginning on December 8.
“The faithful are called to make a brief pilgrimage to the Holy Door, open in every Cathedral or in the churches designated by the Diocesan Bishop, and in the four Papal Basilicas in Rome, as a sign of the deep desire for true conversion,” wrote Pope Francis in a September 1 letter regarding the jubilee year.
Entering through the Holy Door is an act which contains both symbolic and real meaning in the Catholic tradition. While the crossing of the threshold serves as a symbol of new life, Church teaching dictates that the faithful may also obtain an indulgence, or a remission of temporal punishment due to sin, by crossing the threshold and soon after making a confession of sins, receiving the Eucharist, professing the faith and praying for the intentions of the pope.
“The significance of the door, as with the door in St. Peter’s Basilica, is that it evokes a right of passage,” said Msgr. Anthony Mancini, cathedral rector. “Going through that door is symbolic of a passage from sinfulness to holiness. From sin to grace.”
Several weeks ago, Rhode Island Catholic checked in with Cathedral Superintendent John Emmons and his assistant Rob Cooke, tasked with the responsibility of constructing the Holy Door in preparation for the upcoming Year of Mercy. Emmons, a skilled woodworker, designed and hand-carved the decorative wooden panels that have since been affixed to an existing door in the cathedral entryway. On the day of our visit, he was hard at work in the maintenance space of the cathedral basement, chipping away at the panels and listening to a recording of Gregorian chant music that played softly from a computer beside the workbench.
“It helps me work. I listen to it all the time,” he explained.
Emmons used a chisel to detail with careful precision the four main panels and two smaller panels that now decorate the inside surface of the cathedral door. The panels, carved from pine wood and stained to match the door behind them, take approximately 25 to 30 hours apiece to complete. Once assembled, the Holy Door will be sealed with plaster from the outside to be opened by Bishop Tobin during a solemn Mass.
Though the Holy Door is not the first of its kind to be erected in the cathedral — Bishop Emeritus Robert Mulvee commissioned a similar door to celebrate the Great Jubilee of 2000 — its complexity signifies a departure from the simpler designs of years past. Emmons’s design draws from a number of sources, incorporating both the biblical foundation of the jubilee celebration and the history of the diocese.
Among the symbols adorning the door are grapevines, crowns and the four living creatures symbolizing the four Gospel writers. Emmons also incorporated Celtic knots to represent Patrick Keely, the Irish-American architect who designed the cathedral, and Providence’s Irish roots.
“He was a godly man,” Emmons said of Keely. “God really worked through him abundantly.”
The design also includes the crest of Pope Francis, oak leaves signifying the crest of Bishop Tobin and a copper trellis for the faithful to walk beneath as they pass through the door. Emmons and Cooke plan to weave live grapevines into the trellis to symbolize Jesus and the jubilee harvest. The grapevines, ordered from a nursery in New York, have been kept beneath special lights in the cathedral basement for weeks as they await the start of the jubilee year.
For Emmons, who considers his work as a craftsman a way of living out his faith in God, the construction of the Holy Door presented an opportunity to connect with the symbolism and scripture of his faith.
“I’ve been reading the Bible for a long time,” he said. “I pray about everything I build and ask God to work through me.”
Cooke, a carpenter by trade, said he also learned a great deal from the experience of building the Holy Door. The two men will finish assembly of the door this week in time for the celebration of Mass on Sunday, at 1 p.m.
The Holy Door will remain open until the close of the Jubilee Year of Mercy on November 20, 2016. All those living in the diocese and beyond are welcome to make a pilgrimage to the cathedral to pass through the Holy Door and observe the Year of Mercy through prayer and the sacrament of reconciliation.
