Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope
MinistriesThe Jubilee is a Holy Year that happens every 25 years, and throughout the year, the faithful are invited to participate in pilgrimage, deeper prayer, and restoration of relationship. This year, the Holy Father has designated the theme of the Jubilee to be “Pilgrims of Hope”.
It is an opportunity for all people to enter into a pilgrimage of hope. Whether we celebrate locally (in our dioceses, cathedrals or Canada’s National Shrines) or make a pilgrimage to Rome, we are called to search for signs of hope and be signs of hope in our families, for our neighbours, the imprisoned, the sick and dying, the young and old.
Indeed, hope does not disappoint!
February 7th
Archbishop Miller's Pastoral Letter on the Jubilee of Hope
Archbishop Miller has released a pastoral letter for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, encouraging Vancouver's Catholics to renew their faith and trust in God. He highlights the importance of hope in difficult times and offers simple ways to live this Jubilee year, such as prayer, acts of kindness, and making a pilgrimage. Read the full letter at rcav.org/jubilee
December 06, 2024
Archbishop's Message on the 2025 Jubilee of Hope
I am writing to you in anticipation of the Jubilee Year of 2025, which the Church will begin to celebrate in less than a month. The Jubilee Year is marked by celebrations in Rome and in dioceses around the world. As directed by the Holy Father, we will begin our Archdiocesan celebration of the Jubilee with a Solemn Opening Mass on Sunday, December 29, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at Holy Rosary Cathedral. I hope that many of you will share in this special celebration.
"Pilgrims of Hope" is the theme of the 2025 Holy Year. In the words of Pope Francis, "We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision.”
Along with Holy Rosary Cathedral, I have designated the following as local places of pilgrimage during the Jubilee Year: St. Jude's Parish and Shrine; and St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Agassiz, together with the adjacent Shrine of Santo Niño de Cebú. Those making pilgrimages and pious visits to these churches and shrines may obtain the Jubilee indulgence, the details of which will be published soon.
I will be writing more to you about the Jubilee as it draws nearer. In the meantime, I ask you to join the Holy Father in praying that this Year will be for all of us "an intense experience of the love of God" that will help to awaken the sure hope of salvation in our hearts (Spes non confundit, 6).
With cordial greetings and the assurance of my prayers for you and your families during this Advent season, I remain
Sincerely yours in Christ,
+ Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB
What is the Jubilee?
For this and many other questions you may have about the Jubilee please go to: https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/en/giubileo-2025/segni-del-giubileo.html
What are the Holy Doors?
The Holy Door is the most powerful sign of the Jubilee since the ultimate aim of the pilgrim is to pass through it. The opening of the door by the Pope constitutes the official beginning of the Holy Year. Originally, there was only one door, at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. Later, to allow as many pilgrims as possible to participate in the Jubilee experience, the six other Roman Basilicas also opened their own holy doors.
In crossing the threshold of the Holy Door, the pilgrim is reminded of the passage from chapter 10 of St John’s gospel: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” Passing through the Holy Door expresses the decision to follow and be guided by Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd. The door is a passageway that ushers the pilgrim into the interior of a church. For the Christian community, a church is not only a sacred space to be approached with respect, with appropriate behaviour and dress code, but it is a symbol of the communion that binds every believer to Christ: it is a place of encounter and dialogue, reconciliation and peace which awaits every pilgrim, the Church is essentially the place of the community of the faithful. (from jubilaem2025.va)The Jubilee Prayer
Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever.
Amen.
RCAV Jubilee Events
When: Saturday, February 1, 7 p.m.
Where: Our Lady of the Assumption, Port Coquitlam
About this Event
You are invited to join Fr. James Hughes for a Pilgrims of Hope Candlelight Adoration Event to get filled up with hope for this Jubilee year.
If you are carrying a burden of any kind, feeling weary or just needing to be filled up so you can enter more deeply into this year, you are invited to join us for this beautiful time of Adoration.
There will be times of reverent silence, and times of gentle, intricate song by Jean-Paul and Mary-Rie de Fleuriot from faithroom.ca
Save the date, invite your loved ones and come for as long or as little as you like. Confessions will be available.
The Archbishop’s decree designates three sacred locations in the Archdiocese where pilgrims may obtain the Jubilee Indulgence:
- Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver, which the Archbishop said should be in a special way among the “sacred places of welcome and privileged spaces for the rebirth of hope” like the other Marian Shrines Pope Francis mentions in his proclamation of the Jubilee Year;
- St. Jude’s Parish and Shrine in Vancouver;
- St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Agassiz, along with the adjacent Shrine of Santo Niño de Cebu.
The faithful can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence by visiting one of the designated sites and devoutly participating in Holy Mass or other sacred acts, such as the celebration of the Word of God, the Liturgy of the Hours, the Way of the Cross, the Rosary, or a penitential celebration that includes individual confession.