Our Lady of the Head: receive the authorized papal blessing

Receive the papal blessing at one of the eight appointed jubilee celebrations, in person or through the decree’s eligible live-media route.

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Time required Allow for actual participation in the appointed rites and receipt of the papal blessing.

When: Eight appointed occasions: 4 October 2026; 25 April, 2 May, 11 August, 26 September, 17 October, 24 October and 8 December 2027
Where: Shrine of Our Lady of the Head for 4 October 2026 and 25 April, 2 May, 11 August and 8 December 2027; Jaén Cathedral on 26 September 2027; Santa María la Mayor, Andújar, on 17 and 24 October 2027; eligible live-media participation
Who: Faithful receiving the authorized blessing, including those reasonably prevented from attending who follow the rites live with pious intention
Application: Self or the departed

The prescribed work

Participate devoutly in the appointed sacred rites and receive the papal blessing imparted after Mass by the authorized Bishop of Jaén. Be truly repentant, moved by charity and detached from sin; fulfil the usual plenary conditions.
Those prevented from physical attendance by a reasonable circumstance may instead follow the rites live through communication media with pious intention and devoutly receive the blessing. The usual plenary conditions remain applicable.
The bishop’s separate pastoral directions for elderly, sick and convalescent people gravely unable to leave home additionally direct them to offer prayers and their suffering to the merciful God while following the celebrations through media and receiving the blessing.

The work and its conditions

A plenary indulgence also requires complete detachment from every sin, sacramental confession, Holy Communion, and prayer for the Pope’s intentions, subject to the grant’s stated exceptions. The ordinary limit is one plenary indulgence per day.

Conditions common to every indulgence

The person gaining an indulgence must be baptized, not excommunicated, and in the state of grace at least when the prescribed works are completed. There must be at least a general intention to gain indulgences, and the prescribed work must be performed at the time and in the manner required by the grant.

Read the full conditions and norms. The cited grant and its specific provisions govern.

Time required

Read each branch with its own conditions. An editorial estimate is not a prescribed minimum.

Attend the appointed rites and receive the blessing

Complete the prescribed event

Time for participation in the appointed rites and receipt of the blessing after Mass.

No fixed number of minutes is stated. Use the actual celebration’s schedule for planning; participate devoutly in the prescribed rites and receive the blessing. No independent every-minute attendance condition is asserted.

Timing sources

Eligible live-media participation and receipt of the blessing

Complete the prescribed event

Time for following the live rites and devoutly receiving the blessing.

No fixed number of minutes is stated. Follow the rites as they occur; this is not a later recording. The bishop’s additional pastoral directions for gravely homebound elderly, sick and convalescent faithful also include offering prayers and suffering.

Timing sources

What the time estimate excludes

Ordinary travel to and from the venue, and waiting outside the prescribed work
Separate confession, Communion and prayer for the Pope’s intentions, except where a branch expressly includes the prescribed celebration

Stated start: 4 October 2026
Stated end: 8 December 2027

Occasion and source notes

These eight dates are expressly appointed in §5 of the bishop’s signed decree. Consult the diocesan schedule for the time and any competent changes. The concession is not an arbitrary-day blessing, and a recording does not satisfy its live-media clause.

The original papal-blessing decree permits eligible live participation for a reasonable circumstance. The narrower homebound directions and offering in the bishop’s §6 are identified separately rather than presented as words of the Latin decree. No automatic deferral of the usual conditions is stated in this blessing concession.

Source and exact reference

Prayer texts and grants have separate source histories. Consult the grant source for the prescribed work, occasion, and conditions.