Sacred Sites of the Central Coast for the Journey of Faith
By Central Coast Catholic
The year 2025 marks the Jubilee Holy Year, the 2,025th anniversary of the Incarnation of Our Lord, an event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church. The concept of the Jubilee originates from the Book of Leviticus (chapter 25) as a special time of reconciliation, pilgrimage, and homecoming. Pope Francis has designated this Holy Year as a time for the faithful to renew themselves as “Pilgrims of Hope”.
On 24 December 2024, His Holiness Pope Francis inaugurated the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025 by opening the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. This symbolic act invites the faithful worldwide to enter more deeply into God’s mercy. Traditionally, Holy Years are occasions for pilgrimage, a physical and spiritual journey to sacred places that reflects the Christian’s lifelong path toward God.
As part of this Jubilee tradition, the faithful are encouraged to visit designated pilgrimage sites within their dioceses. In his Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025, Spes Non Confundit, the Holy Father decreed that on Sunday, 29 December 2024, in every cathedral and co-cathedral, diocesan bishops were to celebrate Holy Mass as the solemn opening of the Jubilee Year (cf. Spes Non Confundit, n. 6).
Pilgrimage is a fundamental element of every Jubilee event, as Pope Francis reminds us: “Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our human quest for meaning in life. A pilgrimage on foot is a great aid for rediscovering the value of silence, effort, and simplicity of life. In the coming year, pilgrims of hope will surely travel the ancient and more modern routes in order to experience the Jubilee to the full” (Spes Non Confundit, n. 5).
Pilgrimage Sites on the Central Coast
On 29 December 2024, during the 10am Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, the Most Reverend José H. Gomez, 5th Archbishop of Los Angeles, inaugurated the Jubilee Year in the archdiocese and has officially designated the following pilgrimage sites for the Jubilee Year 2025:
- Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles
- Mission Basilica San Buenaventura in Ventura
- Mission Santa Inés in Solvang
Additional pilgrimage sites in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles can be found here.
On 24 February 2024, the Most Rev. Daniel E. Garcia, 5th Bishop of Monterey in California, officially designated the following pilgrimage sites for the Jubilee Year 2025:
- San Carlos Cathedral in Monterey
- Mission Santa Cruz (Chapel) in Santa Cruz
- Mission San Juan Bautista in San Juan Bautista
- Madonna de Sasso Pro Cathedral in Salinas
- Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Pro Cathedral in San Luis Obispo
By visiting these pilgrimage sites, the faithful may gain a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions of confession, Eucharistic communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father.
The Holy Year will conclude in particular Churches on Sunday, 28 December 2025. As Pope Francis instructs, “Every effort should be made to enable the People of God to participate fully in its proclamation of hope in God’s grace and in the signs that attest to its efficacy” (Spes Non Confundit, n. 6). The Ordinary Jubilee will formally end with the closing of the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica on January 6, 2026, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.
Walking as Pilgrims of Hope
The 2025 Jubilee Holy Year is an opportunity for the faithful to embark on a journey of renewal, reconciliation, and deeper communion with Christ. Whether traveling near or far, this Jubilee is a time of grace, healing, and profound encounter with God’s mercy.
The Bishop of Monterey in California concluded his message on the Holy Year of Jubilee 2025 by saying:
“[M]y prayer for all of you is that this Jubilee will bring forth a deeper encounter with the Lord Jesus, who is the world’s true hope, ‘yesterday, today, and forever.’ May we pray together for the courage to proclaim this hope to the world. May this hope be ‘realized’ in our love for and service to the poorest and most marginalized in our midst.”
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.
ORACIÓN DEL JUBILEO
Padre que estás en el cielo, la fe que nos has donado en tu Hijo Jesucristo, nuestro hermano, y la llama de caridad infundida en nuestros corazones por el Espíritu Santo, despierten en nosotros la bienaventurada esperanza en la venida de tu Reino.
Tu gracia nos transforme en dedicados cultivadores de las semillas del Evangelio que fermenten la humanidad y el cosmos, en espera confiada de los cielos nuevos y de la tierra nueva, cuando vencidas las fuerzas del mal,
se manifestará para siempre tu gloria.
La gracia del Jubileo reavive en nosotros, Peregrinos de Esperanza, el anhelo de los bienes celestiales y derrame en el mundo entero la alegría y la paz de nuestro Redentor.
A ti, Dios bendito eternamente, sea la alabanza y la gloria por los siglos.
Amen.
