Every day of the Christmas octave is filled with meaning that reflects back on the Nativity — not just the birth of Christ, but the impact and reality of the birth.

In the quiet of Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, launching what he called a “Jubilee of Hope.”

This odd combination of circumstances would eventually prove providential, confounding medical authorities, changing the life of this anonymous seminarian, and forever tying him to another young man who had been dead for almost 100 years: Pier Giorgio Frassati, who in August will be declared a saint of the Catholic Church on account of the miracle of Juan Gutierrez’s ankle.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore will offer six pilgrimage sites in Baltimore, Emmitsburg and Cumberland, as well as jubilee passports to check your progress in participating in the jubilee year.

Advent and Christmas are the appropriate times to meditate on the deep mysteries of the Incarnation. May the Child Jesus and his Blessed Mother be your guides.