The Year of Prayer 2024 - 2025 Pilgrims of Hope

The Year of Prayer

Every 25 years, the Catholic Church celebrates a Holy Year of Jubilee. The next Jubilee year will begin in 2025. In preparation for this significant occasion, Pope Francis invites us to embark on a Year of Prayer, focusing on the Lord's Prayer. He encourages us all to join in a great “symphony” of prayer, “to renew our desire to be in the presence of the Lord, to listen to him and to adore him."

“Prayer unites us; it makes us brothers and sisters. It is in prayer that our hearts find the strength not to be cold and insensitive in the face of injustice. In prayer, God keeps calling us, opening our hearts to charity.” – Pope Francis

The Year of Prayer commenced on the first Sunday of Advent, 2023.

At St. Mary's, we will concentrate on the Our Father, the prayer Jesus taught us. Throughout the year, we encourage you to spend time as a family praying this prayer together, deepening your connection to God and one another.

2025 Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee

Pope Francis has declared that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee, an event that occurs every 25 years. The theme for this upcoming Jubilee is “Pilgrims of Hope.”

The 2025 Jubilee will officially begin in Advent 2024 and continue until the Epiphany's Feast in 2026.

What is a Jubilee?

A Jubilee year, occurring every 25 years, is a cherished tradition recognised and honoured globally as a significant aspect of our faith's history.

Aside from the Extraordinary Year of Mercy in 2016, the last Jubilee year was celebrated in 2000, marking a pivotal moment as the Church embraced its third millennium.

A Jubilee is a unique year of grace, during which the Catholic Church provides the faithful with the opportunity to request a plenary indulgence—a remission of sins for themselves or for their deceased loved ones.

The year commences with the well-known ritual of opening the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by the other three papal basilicas in Rome. The Pope authorises the establishment of Holy Doors worldwide, allowing Catholics everywhere to participate in this special rite.