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2025 Jubilee: Pilgrims of Hope

Welcome, Pilgrims!

We invite you to experience the sacred beauty of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, a designated Jubilee Pilgrimage Site for 2025. Whether you come seeking prayer, reflection or renewal, we welcome you to walk in the footsteps of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin and embrace the spirit of this holy year.

Jubilee Pilgrimage Sites at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

On Christmas Eve 2024, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, marking the beginning of Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope. In anticipation of this moment, the Shrine of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin and the Church of the Immaculate Conception were named among the official Jubilee Pilgrimage Sites in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

Why Saint Mary-of-the-Woods?

The designation of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods as a pilgrimage site reflects:

  • The deep connection between the Jubilee theme — Pilgrims of Hope — and the enduring charism of Providence lived out by Saint Mother Theodore Guerin
  • A continued commitment to welcoming pilgrims seeking spiritual renewal, prayer, and a deeper encounter with God
  • An opportunity to pray together, embracing Pope Francis’ call to “fan the flame of hope” and journey forward with trust and faith

How to Participate as a Pilgrim

As you visit this Jubilee Pilgrimage Site, you are invited to:

Learn more about pilgrimage sites in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis: Archdiocese Jubilee Page.

What is a Jubilee Year?

The tradition of a Jubilee Year is deeply rooted in Scripture, dating back to ancient Israel, where it was observed every fifty years through:

  1. The forgiveness of debts
  2. The freeing of slaves
  3. Reverence for the land

In the Roman Catholic Church, the first Jubilee Year was proclaimed in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII. Since then, the Church has continued to observe Jubilee Years as times of spiritual renewal, pilgrimage and grace.

Plan Your Pilgrimage

Visit these sacred sites during your Jubilee pilgrimage:

Interested in scheduling a time to visit? Contact us!

What is Jubilee Year Plenary Indulgence?

During the Jubilee of Hope, the Church offers opportunities to obtain a plenary indulgence. The Catechism tells us “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.”

Through obtaining an indulgence, grace is bestowed upon us in satisfaction for sin or can be offered for the souls in purgatory. A plenary indulgence removes all the temporal punishment due to sin.

Jubilee Prayer

Join us in praying the official Jubilee Prayer as we journey together in faith and hope. Read the prayer here.

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

We look forward to welcoming you to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods as you embark on your Jubilee pilgrimage of hope. May this holy year be a time of grace, renewal and deeper connection with God.

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