The Jubilee 2025 enters its final stretch. The solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, which the Church celebrates on January 6, will mark the definitive closure of the Holy Year with the closing of the Holy Door of the basilica of Saint Peter at 9:30 am, a rite that will officially signal the end of the jubilee time.
The celebration will be presided over by Pope Leo XIV, who will close the Holy Door and subsequently preside over the Holy Mass, thus culminating the main jubilee acts that, throughout the last year, have gathered in Rome millions of pilgrims from all over the world.
With the closing of the Holy Door of Saint Peter, an extraordinary time of grace concludes, characterized by the call to conversion, reconciliation, and hope, central elements of jubilee spirituality and the penitential practice associated with this Holy Year.
Progressive Closure in the Papal Basilicas
The closure of the Jubilee has taken place in a staggered manner in the different papal basilicas of Rome. On December 25, the basilica of Saint Mary Major was the first to close its Holy Door, in a celebration presided over by the cardinal archpriest Rolandas Makrickas.
Two days later, on December 27, the closing of the Holy Door of the basilica of Saint John Lateran took place, with the rite and Eucharist presided over by the cardinal vicar of Rome, Baldo Reina, accompanied by the diocesan choir directed by Monsignor Marco Frisina.
On December 28, the basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls also hosted the rite of closing its Holy Door, presided over by the cardinal archpriest James Michael Harvey.
To these celebrations was added, days earlier, the closing of the Holy Door of Rebibbia prison, celebrated on December 21 and also presided over by Baldo Reina, a gesture intended to emphasize the universal scope of the Jubilee and its particular attention to realities of suffering and marginalization.
The Epiphany as the Horizon of Closure
The choice of the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord for the definitive closure of the Jubilee underscores its universal dimension. The feast recalls the manifestation of Christ to all peoples, represented by the Magi from the East, and reaffirms the missionary vocation of the Church.
With the closure of the 2025 Holy Year, the Holy Doors close, but the call to live the spiritual fruits of this time of grace remains, remembering that the light of Christ, which guided the Magi to Bethlehem, continues to invite everyone to go out to meet him, beyond the jubilee signs already concluded.