As we approach the Jubilee Year 2025, marking the 2,025th anniversary of Christ’s Incarnation, the Universal Church joins in celebrating what Pope Francis describes as an “event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church.”

The practice of a jubilee has ancient roots in the Jewish tradition, as found in the Old Testament. Every 50 years, the jubilee year was a time of renewal, when prisoners gained freedom, debts were forgiven, and God’s mercy was evident.

In Western Christianity, the tradition dates to 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII convoked the first Christian jubilee. Since then, these celebrations have typically occurred every 25 or 50 years, with additional extraordinary jubilees called during times of special significance. For Catholics, particularly in the Latin Church, jubilees traditionally involve pilgrimages to sacred sites, with Rome serving as the main destination.

Reflecting on the upcoming jubilee, Pope Francis stated: “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. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire…”

The celebration will commence on Christmas Eve 2024, when Pope Francis opens the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. Similar ceremonies will follow at Rome’s other major basilicas: St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. For those unable to journey to Rome, bishops worldwide will designate local cathedrals or prominent shrines as pilgrimage sites, offering opportunities for spiritual renewal through reconciliation, indulgences, and other events intended to strengthen and revive faith.

This Jubilee holds special significance for the Ursulines as it coincides with the 500th anniversary of St. Angela Merici’s own pilgrimage to Rome. In 1525, Angela traveled to Rome during that year’s Holy Year, where she met with Pope Clement VII. The Pope, having heard of her dedicated work with young women in northern Italy, requested an audience.

During her papal audience, Angela shared details of her ministry with the pope, who, deeply moved, invited her to establish a women’s service organization in Rome focused on caring for the sick. However, guided by her spiritual vision at Brudazzo and years of prayerful discernment, Angela respectfully declined, believing God had different plans for her mission.

While on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1524, Angela was struck with blindness. She proceeded to visit the sacred shrines, seeing them with her spirit. On the way back while praying before a crucifix, Angela’s sight was restored.

Angela returned to Brescia, where she founded the Company of St. Ursula in 1535. This community was dedicated to serving God, living among the people in Christian life formation, and eventually evolved into the Ursuline Sisters, whose influence now spans the globe.

As the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville contemplate their own path forward in the reality of a smaller community, we can look to St. Angela’s pilgrimage as an example of trust in the Lord, even when one cannot see the entire road ahead. We have much to be grateful for as we remember the pilgrimage of St. Angela and we celebrate this holy year as “Pilgrims of Hope.”

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.