Let’s prepare for the Holy Year with the Jubilee prayer

In anticipation of the Holy Year 2025, Christians around the world are preparing to be Pilgrims of Hope. Here are the tools provided by the Dicastery, the Intentions and prayers of the Pope, and the special Jubilee prayer.

2025 will be the year of the Jubilee, and the entire Christian world is preparing for this new Holy Year. A year filled with unmissable events, as announced by the dense Jubilee calendar, starting from the Opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on December 24, 2024. Preparations for this planetary event have been underway for months, and in addition to the logo dedicated to the theme Pilgrims of Hope, the hymn, and the possible pilgrimage to Rome, one can prepare with the special Jubilee prayer.

In anticipation of the 2025 Jubilee, Pope Francis outlined his intentions for 2024, emphasizing the importance of prayer as a tool to restore contact with God and deepen our spiritual dimension. The Pontiff reiterated the essentiality of prayer as a fundamental pillar to address personal and global challenges. So, it’s not just about the Jubilee Prayer. In the Intentions of the Holy Father, 2024 becomes the year of Prayer, in preparation for the Jubilee of 2025. The Pontiff invited Dioceses to adopt and promote the importance of prayer both individually and communally, so that it becomes not just an individual act, but an opportunity to build a better world together. It is this hope that inspires the Jubilee 2025, a hope in the name of which we are all pilgrims, journeying towards a world of changes and uncertainties, but united under the sign of the Cross, just as the event’s logo illustrates.

“[Praying] first and foremost to regain the desire to be in the presence of the Lord, to listen to Him, and to adore Him. Prayer, furthermore, to thank God for the many gifts of His love for us and to praise His work in creation, which compels everyone to respect and take concrete and responsible action for its preservation. Prayer as the voice ‘of the heart alone and of the soul alone’ (cf. Acts 4:32), which translates into solidarity and sharing of daily bread. Prayer that allows every man and woman in this world to turn to the one God, to express what is hidden in the secret of the heart. Prayer as the masterful way to holiness, leading to living contemplation even in the midst of action. In short, an intense year of prayer, in which hearts open to receive the abundance of grace, making the Our Father, the prayer that Jesus taught us, the life program of each of His disciples” (from the Pope’s letter to Monsignor Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization).

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Jubilee 2025 Pilgrims of Hope

Articles designed to celebrate the upcoming Jubilee 2025.

Among the many tools prepared by the Dicastery for Evangelization in view of the 2025 Jubilee, there is also Teach Us to Pray, a digital and free aid downloadable in different languages from the Dicastery’s website, precisely to help both individual Christians and communities prepare for the Holy Year. The title is taken from the Gospel of Luke: “Jesus was praying in a certain place; and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples'” (Luke 11:1). The inspiration for this booklet comes directly from Pope Francis’s intentions, from his heartfelt invitation to transform prayer, especially in view of the Jubilee, into a personal dialogue with God and a constant commitment to improving the world. Just as the Holy Year will be an opportunity to renew the fraternal bond among the baptized, called to be true witnesses of God’s love for all humanity, so prayer becomes the path to enter into communication with ourselves at a deeper and more precious level, until we rediscover in ourselves the same light of God, as we read in the introduction from the preface. It is also important to pray with perseverance, for constant and continuous support not only for the individual but also for the entire community, which draws energy from prayer to transform and improve itself.

Therefore, let prayer be for every Christian the compass that guides, the light that illuminates the path, and the strength that sustains on the pilgrimage that will lead to crossing the Holy Door. Through prayer, we will be able to arrive with a heart ready to receive the gifts of grace and forgiveness that the Jubilee will offer, as a living expression of our relationship with God. Let us immerse ourselves, therefore, with prayer in a continuous dialogue with the Creator, discovering the joy of silence, the peace of abandonment, and the strength of intercession in the communion of the saints. (Teach Us to Pray – Living the Year of Prayer)

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POPE FRANCIS

A selection of different Pope Francis articles.

Praying according to the Pope’s Intentions:

The Pope’s Intentions are the appeals that the Supreme Pontiff entrusts each month to his Worldwide Prayer Network. They express his concerns and reflect the needs of the Church and humanity. It is precisely on the basis of these Prayer Intentions that the Pope invites us to transform our words of faith into concrete actions, with the aim of contributing to making the world more humane, fraternal, and supportive. The monthly Prayer Intentions involve all countries of the world. Dicasteries and Congregations send their reports and proposals, and the Pope receives them, examines them, transforming them into prayer opportunities. These Intentions also provide useful insights for preparing for the Jubilee Prayer effectively.

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Pilgrim’s backpack, 2025 Jubilee full kit

Pilgrim’s backpack, 2025 Jubilee full kit.

Here are Pope Francis’s Prayer Intentions for the year 2024, entrusted to the Worldwide Prayer Network:

JANUARY

FOR THE GIFT OF DIVERSITY IN THE CHURCH

Let us pray that the Spirit helps to recognize the gift of different charisms within Christian communities and to discover the richness of different ritual traditions within the Catholic Church.

FEBRUARY

FOR TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS

Let us pray that terminally ill patients, and their families, always receive the necessary care and accompaniment, both from a healthcare and a human point of view.

MARCH

FOR THE NEW MARTYRS, WITNESSES OF CHRIST

Let us pray that those who risk their lives for the Gospel in various parts of the world infect the Church with their courage and missionary drive.

APRIL

FOR THE ROLE OF WOMEN

Let us pray that the dignity of women and their richness be recognized in every culture, and that the discrimination they suffer in various parts of the world cease.

MAY

FOR THE FORMATION OF NUNS, MONKS, AND SEMINARIANS

Let us pray that nuns, monks, and seminarians grow in their vocational journey through human, pastoral, spiritual, and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses of the Gospel.

JUNE

FOR THOSE FLEEING THEIR OWN COUNTRY

Let us pray that migrants fleeing from wars or hunger, forced to travel full of dangers and violence, may find welcome and new life opportunities in the countries that host them.

JULY

FOR THE PASTORAL CARE OF THE SICK

Let us pray that the sacrament of the anointing of the sick may give strength from the Lord to those who receive it and to their loved ones, becoming increasingly for all a visible sign of compassion and hope.

AUGUST

FOR POLITICAL LEADERS

Let us pray that political leaders may serve their people, working for integral human development and the common good, taking care of those who have lost their jobs and prioritizing the poorest.

SEPTEMBER

FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH

Let us pray that each of us may listen with our hearts to the cry of the Earth and the victims of environmental disasters and the climate crisis, committing ourselves personally to safeguard the world we inhabit.

OCTOBER

FOR A SHARED MISSION

Let us pray that the Church may continue to support in every way a synodal way of life, in the sign of co-responsibility, promoting participation, communion, and shared mission among priests, religious, and laity.

NOVEMBER

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LOST A CHILD

Let us pray that all parents who mourn the death of a son or daughter may find support in the community and obtain from the comforting Spirit the peace of heart.

DECEMBER

FOR THE PILGRIMS OF HOPE

Let us pray that this Jubilee may strengthen us in faith, helping us to recognize the risen Christ in the midst of our lives, and transform us into pilgrims of Christian hope.

Francesco

From the Vatican, December 31, 2022

Jubilee Prayer

Father who art in heaven,

the faith that you have given us in

your Son Jesus Christ, our brother,

and the flame of charity

poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,

rekindle in us the blessed hope

for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us

into diligent cultivators of the gospel seeds

that may leaven humanity and the cosmos,

in hopeful anticipation

of new heavens and a new earth,

when the powers of Evil are defeated,

and your glory is forever revealed.

May the grace of the Jubilee

revive in us as Pilgrims of Hope

the longing for heavenly goods

and pour upon the whole world

the joy and peace

of our Redeemer.

To you, blessed God, be eternal praise and glory

forever and ever.

Amen