Jubilee of Marian Spirituality
[FR]
PONTCHÂTEAU, France– The Jubilee of Hope was an opportunity for the Association Mary Queen of All Hearts to cross the Holy Door in Rome, during the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality held on October 11 and 12, 2025.
As Montfortian Associates, fourteen people from France experienced the Jubilee together in Rome. We were joined by three Norwegian Associates: Jofrid, Adriana and Lomita.
It was a rich experience, despite our diverse backgrounds and origins, in terms of age, professional background and spirituality. We walked together as one family through the streets of Rome, sharing and testifying to various aspects of our lives and cultures. What united us in our diversity was that we are all children of God, comfortable in our different ways of following Christ.
On Thursday, October 9, 2025, we left the Calvary of Pontchâteau at 4:30 a.m. for Nantes airport, driven by Father Santino in the community minibus.
For accommodation, we were hosted at the general house of the Brothers of Saint Gabriel. We were touched by the Brothers’ warm welcome and their cheerful availability. A huge thank you to our hosts: Brother Dionigi, Brother Michael and Brother Jean-Marie Ndour.
Similarly, we received the same welcome from the Montfort Missionaries at the Generalate, where Father Dwi, Father Marco and the other members of the community welcomed us joyfully. What can we say about the unfailing availability of Brother Désiré, Father Bala and Father Jailos in providing early morning shuttles to avoid the long lines at St. Peter’s? This warm and constant welcome greatly contributed to maintaining a serene mind and remaining in peace and contemplation.
To begin the process of passing through the Holy Door, we received instruction in the Brothers’ chapel from Brother Jean-Marie Ndour, FSG, who spoke to us about the Jubilee in three parts: its history, its significance and its practice. It was a good introduction, before the celebration of the opening Mass of the pilgrimage.
On Friday, October 10, we celebrated our Jubilee celebration at St. Peter’s Basilica. We began the day with Mass at 7:30 a.m., celebrated in the Chapel of St. Joseph in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Crossing the Holy Door is a powerful spiritual act for anyone who wishes to place their life in the hands of God, in Jesus Christ. This act signifies the passage to salvation and divine mercy. By crossing the Holy Door, pilgrims demonstrate their desire for conversion and spiritual renewal. It marks a deliberate passage between the earthly world and a sacred space linked to spiritual purification, forgiveness and reconciliation, opening the way to inner transformation and connection with the Lord.
We then received, thanks to the priests who accompanied us, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We then took time before the exposed Blessed Sacrament to welcome the grace of the Jubilee and prepare our hearts for the renewal of our baptismal promises the following day.
In the afternoon, we paid our respects at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, then walked to the Colosseum, site of the first Christian martyrs.
We spent the morning of Saturday, October 11, 2025, in the chapel of the Montfort Missionaries. At 10:00 a.m., Eucharistic adoration followed by the veneration of the relics of Father de Montfort and Blessed Marie-Louise of Jesus, and the celebration of our consecration to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the hands of Mary during the Mass prepared and celebrated by Father Arnold, accompanied by Father Willi for the hymns, refocused us on Montfortian spirituality. It was one of the highlights of our pilgrimage. Many of us were touched by the luminous beauty of the chapel, the atmosphere of fervent prayer and the warmth that reigned throughout the celebration. In the afternoon, we were back in St. Peter’s Square for the Marian vigil with Pope Leo XIV and an audience of 30,000 faithful.
The Pope’s main message: the call to be bridge builders and spreaders of a culture of encounter. The Pope encouraged us to never cease praying for peace, «a gift from God that must become our conquest and our commitment».
On Sunday, October 12, Mass for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time was celebrated in St. Peter’s Square. At the end of the Mass, Leo XIV appropriately returned to the theme of Marian spirituality, stating: «Marian spirituality, which nourishes our faith, has Jesus as its center».
At the end of this pilgrimage filled with fraternal joy under the theme «Pilgrims of Hope», each of us reflected on our journey of faith and, through the renewal of our baptismal commitment, to spread hope and love in the world we live in. It is indeed Jesus who gives us every reason to hope and rejoice. It is He who can transform our lives and illuminate our hope. We deepened and matured in our hearts the notion of missionary disciples.
Josiane Peltier,
Coordinator of the Montfortian Marian Fraternity (MMF)
Pontchâteau, France
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