Jubilee Year 2025
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Jubilee Year of Hope
On Christmas Eve 2024 at St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis symbolically opened the holy door that marks the Jubilee year, which happens every 25 years. This Jubilee is the Year of Hope, and will run until the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, 2026. “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; that is why I have chosen as the motto of the Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope."
Pope Francis
Rome, Saint John Lateran,
11 February 2022,
Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes
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About the Jubilee Year
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Our Catholic Church has beautiful traditions that enable us to renew our faith and deepen our relationship with Jesus and each other. One of those special traditions is the celebration of a Jubilee Year every twenty-five years. This tradition dates back to 1300 when Pope Boniface VIII instituted the first Holy Year. At that time Jubilee Years were celebrated every 100 years and over time it became 25 years. On December 24, 2024, Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to begin the celebration of the Jubilee Year in 2025 with the theme “Pilgrims of Hope.” Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez invites all Catholics in the Church of Philadelphia to experience spiritual renewal by participating in Holy Year events in their homes, in their local parishes, and at shrines throughout the region. As pilgrims of hope we have opportunities for reconciliation, indulgences, prayer, and reception of the sacraments to strengthen our personal relationship with Jesus Christ in continuing our journey in faith.
See below for details about the various ways to receive a Jubilee Year Plenary Indulgence.
Our parish is blessed to have been formally decreed an Archdiocesan Shrine last year by Archbishop Pérez. St. Jude Church and Shrine is a Sacred Jubilee Site in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for the clergy and faithful to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence. This indulgence is available to all who make a pilgrimage and/or a pious visit to our Church and Shrine from December 29, 2024 through December 28, 2025.
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St. Jude Church and Shrine Jubilee Year Events
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Veneration of the St. Jude Relic on Thursdays
Thursday schedule:- 9:00am Morning Mass
- Veneration of the Relic and Adoration beginning immediately after Mass
- Adoration continuing throughout the day until 7:00pm
- 2:00pm Novena prayer and veneration of the relic
- 7:00pm Novena prayer and veneration of the relic, concluding with Benediction
Click the image to visit our St. Jude Novena page for more details and Novena prayers.
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40 Hours & St. Jude Novena October 20-28
On Monday, October 20, 2025, St. Jude Church and Shrine will begin its 40 Hours Devotion, which will run through Wednesday evening, October 22. Guest homilist will be Fr. Sean Bransfield.
Our St. Jude Novena will run concurrently with 40 Hours and continue through to October 28, the Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude.
An evening service will take place each night, October 20-28, and the St. Jude Novena will be prayed at each service, with veneration of the relic. On the first three nights, during 40 Hours, the theme of the homilies will be the Holy Eucharist. On the remaining six nights of the novena, the theme of the homilies will be the Gifts of the Spirit.
More details as the event approaches.
2024 St. Jude Novena and 40 Hours
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During the Jubilee Year of 2025, the faithful can obtain a plenary indulgence
either for themselves or for the souls in Purgatory.
“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.” (CCC 1471)
The faithful must:
Requirements for Obtaining the Plenary Indulgence- Be truly repentant
- Be free from attachment to sin
- Receive the Sacrament of Penance (within 20 days)
- Receive Holy Communion (within 20 days, but preferably on or near the day of the indulgence)
- Pray for the intentions of the pope (typically Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be)
- Perform the prescribed works to gain the indulgence (see below for details)
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Various Ways to Obtain the Indulgence in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
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Through Pilgrimage or Pious Visits
Visit any designated Jubilee site in the archdiocese and participate in one of these devotions (the prescribed work):
Holy Mass
Celebration of the Word of God
Liturgy of the Hours
Stations of the Cross
Marian Rosary
Penitential celebration with individual confession
Engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation and conclude with an Our Father, Profession of Faith, and Invocations to Mary
Designated Jubilee Pilgrimage Sites:- National Shrine of St. John Neumann at St. Peter Church, Philadelphia
- National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Doylestown
- National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia, Philadelphia
- Miraculous Medal Basilica, Philadelphia
- St. Jude shrine at St. Jude Church and Shrine, Chalfont
- St. Gianna Beretta Molla shrine at Nativity of Our Lord Church, Warminster
- St. Katherine Drexel shrine at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia
- St. Anne shrine at St. Anne Church (upper church), Philadelphia
- Bl. Carlo Acutis shrine at Malvern Retreat House, Malvern
- Padre Pio shrine at St. Bede Church, Holland
Special Provisions:
Those who cannot make a pilgrimage due to serious reasons (elderly, sick, imprisoned, or caregivers) may obtain the indulgence by:- Uniting spiritually with jubilee celebrations
- Offering their sufferings to God
- Praying the Our Father, the Creed, and other prayers in their place of confinement
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Through Works of Mercy and Penance
Participate in popular missions and spiritual exercises
Attend formation activities on Vatican II documents or the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Perform Spiritual and/or Corporal Works of Mercy
Please see detailed document below with Q&A for more information.
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