Jubilee Year of Saint Arethas and Companions

Kingdom of Bahrain – Our Lady of Arabia

Opening the Holy Door

Jubilee Year of Saint Arethas and Companions

4th November 2023

"I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved". 

(Jn 10:9)

In commemoration of the 1,500th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Arethas and companions (523-2023) in Najran, Saudi Arabia, the Church of in Arabian Peninsula has celebrated the beginning of its Extraordinary Jubilee Year with the Opening of the Holy Door by Bishop Aldo Berardi in the various locations that make up the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar).

This represents a moment of joy for the Church in which it deepens its knowledge of the lives of Saint Arethas and his Companions, the fruitfulness that martyrdom gives to Christianity and the historical understanding of the presence of the Christian faith in the region.

Furthermore, this Extraordinary Jubilee constitutes a year of grace in which all the faithful can obtain a Plenary Indulgence through the different actions that this entails (confession, works of charity and prayer) and through pilgrimage to the holy places: the place of Martyrdom in Najran, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia in Bahrain or the Co-Cathedral of the Holy Family (Kuwait); prayerfully entering through the Holy Door:

"We have begun the Jubilee of Saint Arethas and companions by entering the Holy Door – it is a special privilege that has been granted to the Vicariate by the Holy Father for this Jubilee Year to open the Holy Door here at the Cathedral, in Saudi Arabia, in Kuwait and Qatar. As we pass through this door, we want to renew our faith, asking the Lord to give us the grace to bear witness to him even if we meet with persecution as Arethas and his companions did before us…

May this Jubilee Year be a time of grace for all of us and a time of spiritual renewal. May the example of the holy Martyrs teach us the virtues of faithfulness and perseverance…

In terms of the Gospel, the doorway to life can be summed up in the word "love". Saint Arethas and companions understood this very well 1,500 years ago when they made the supreme sacrifice of their lives for their faith and were willing to shed their blood for love of the Bridegroom".

S.E.R. Mons. Eugene Martin Nugent,

Apostolic Nuncio to Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.

Homily during the opening of the Holy Door,

Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia (Bahrain),

November 4, 2023.

"Open to me the gates of holiness, I will enter and give thanks."

Saint Arethas and Companions, pray for us!