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Rome Newsroom, Feb 22, 2025 / 06:00 am
The theme of the 2025 Jubilee Year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” For those who wish to embark on a spiritual pilgrimage through reading and prayer during the Lenten season — or anytime during this sacred year — here is a list of recommended books, essays, and encyclicals that explore the theme of Christian hope.
Spes Salvi (Saved in Hope) by Pope Benedict XVI
This encyclical beautifully explores the Christian understanding of hope as rooted in the promise of eternal life. Benedict XVI writes: “The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life.”
Spes Non Confundit (Hope Does Not Disappoint) by Pope Francis
The papal bull for the 2025 Jubilee Year begins: “To all who read this letter, may hope fill your hearts.”
“Crossing the Threshold of Hope” by Pope John Paul II
In this book-length interview, John Paul II addresses the challenges and questions of the modern world in a deeply personal and philosophical conversation on faith and hope.
“Faith, Hope, Love” by Josef Pieper
A classic meditation on the theological virtues, the treatise on hope was written in 1934 in response to the general feeling of despair he perceived at that time.
“Hope” by Alice von Hildebrand
A chapter in the book called “The Art of Living” was co-authored with her husband, Dietrich von Hildebrand. The book has been praised by Peter Kreeft as “a masterpiece” of spiritual wisdom.
“The Portal of the Mystery of Hope” by Charles Péguy
Theology professor Jennifer Newsome Martin called this narrative poem on the theological virtue of hope a “book that changed my life.”
“Prayers of Hope” by Venerable Cardinal Francis-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận
Benedict XVI described this work by the late Vietnamese cardinal who was imprisoned for 13 years as “a precious little book.”
“Life Everlasting and the Immensity of the Soul” by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
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This profound theological treatise on the four last things — death, judgment, heaven, and hell — offers a contemplative perspective on our ultimate hope.
“Advent of the Heart: Seasonal Sermons and Prison Writings” by Father Alfred Delp
The writings of a German Jesuit priest who was imprisoned and martyred in a Nazis camp in 1945 reflect on our journey toward a meeting and dialogue with God.
“Summa Theologiae” by St. Thomas Aquinas (II-IIae, Questions 17-18)
These questions in the Secunda Secundae deal with the theological virtue of hope.
“End of Time: Meditations Towards a Philosophy of History” by Josef Pieper
This philosophical exploration of what Christians truly hope for in the end times distinguishes authentic eschatological hope.
“An Act of Hope” by Father Jacques Philippe
A short meditation on hope and prayer found in the book “Prayer: Oxygen for the Soul.”
“Is It Possible to Live This Way? An Unusual Approach to Christian Existence: Hope” by Luigi Giussani
This work is dialogue on what it means to live with authentic Christian hope in everyday life.
Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees. She is the author of “Blessed Carlo Acutis: A Saint in Sneakers” (Ignatius, 2023), https://ignatius.com/carlo-acutis-sscap/.
