Monsignor Sequeri: “A hymn which is the synthesis of the faith which animates the Jubilee.”

Monsignor Pierangelo Sequeri, a theologian and musicologist, composed the text for the official hymn of the 2025 Jubilee. “A hymn is always a synthesis of the faith that animates a Jubilee, and every time it is played or sung by pilgrims, it renews in them the emotion of the event and preserves its memory," the author explained, describing how a text is written which will be performed and sung by millions of pilgrims. To date, the Jubilee hymn has also been translated into English and French.

Monsignor, how do you come up with the lyrics for a Jubilee hymn and what elements do you have to take into consideration when writing it?

“Each hymn is composed in the spirit of the Jubilee to which it is linked, taking inspiration from the Pope's message which sets out its themes and aims. The theme for the 2025 Jubilee is “Pilgrims of Hope” and therefore the hymn is written starting from this image. The words take form starting from our own mother tongue, the language of the bible, which is so rich in powerful images, capable of reaching everyone, even those who are not familiar with ecclesiastical language. The third thing you think about when writing something like this is the musician, who needs a text that works for him/her. You need to have a certain musical knowledge to work with the musician, who has to find the best way to set a written text to music."

Which passages of Sacred Scripture inspired you and which themes in particular?

“For me, the starting image was that wonderful scene from the prophet Isaiah of the procession of those who have been freed, on their way to meet God, because they have found their way home. There is a very tender image in that text, of fathers holding their daughters in their arms, which inspired me very much. Men are ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ with the light-filled certainty of finding the way guided by the Spirit and by the tender gaze of God, the same gaze with which He watches fathers carry their children in their arms.

Then I wanted to introduce some elements of the profession of faith into the text, because the Jubilee is also a profession of faith. The verses, in fact, are profoundly Trinitarian, full of metaphors from the Bible. When you read ‘Living flame of hope’, everyone knows that the ‘flame’ is the Spirit, everyone remembers Pentecost, and the Jubilee very clearly recalls this idea.

It’s the idea of a Church that sets out on its path again, emerging from all the prisons into which it has entered, so as to open itself up to all of humanity. Then again there is the expression ‘Eternal womb of infinite life’, which is a powerful way of expressing the natures of the Father and the Son together.

In short, it seemed to me that the metaphors that come from the Bible were very well-suited to reaching a vast audience which feels encouraged by the theme of the Trinity".

What did the motto “Pilgrims of Hope” mean to you?

“The motto carries within it the very concept of journey, and the word ‘hope’ underlines the idea of a path that is accompanied by many signs, but which has not yet reached its goal. The two images had to be balanced together and in the text I tried to convey this double idea: the pilgrimage of life and the risen Body of the Lord who comes to console his disciples, to support them, despite the obstacles that stand in the way.

Every burden of melancholy, every sadness, which can make the journey more difficult and weigh us down, is here lightened by the breath of the Spirit, because God is both our final destination and our support on the journey to that destination. Our testimony is joy. The joy of the journey lets everyone understand what it means to ‘give a reason for our hope’, to use the words of the Letter of St Peter."

What is the mission of a hymn, and of sacred music in general, within a Jubilee?

“On the one hand, a hymn is a very real synthesis of the faith that animates a Jubilee. The fact that such a faith can be found in a song that emotionally touches everyone, while they renew their profession of belief in the form of a text set to music, is surely the first function of sacred music in a Holy Year. It’s a vibrant condensation of the faith that animates the whole Jubilee event.

On the other hand, the function of a hymn is also to preserve the memory of the Jubilee, not to let it be lost over time. In fact, a song can continue to be used, it can recall the emotion of the event, the joy of that moment, the spirit and the hope that animated that Jubilee and became part of the history of our faith journey."

The last verse is a mandate. What did you want to communicate with those words which are so challenging?

“What I wanted to express is that we have a cornerstone that supports us in our journey of hope. That cornerstone is the Son of God who became man, and that is what allows millions of people, even if they do not belong to the visible Church, even if they don’t have the same ties that we have with the Lord, to find their way, their path.

Our mediation is important so that history has witnesses to the extraordinary event that was the Incarnation. But whoever finds the way doesn’t necessarily have to find us, whoever finds the way of the Lord doesn’t necessarily have to form part of the community of disciples whose task it is to testify.  That’s why the Lord came.

“The wish for men and women to find the way, and not just find us, seemed to me an interesting image for this time of grace which invites us to open ourselves to the world and not close ourselves in behind our own barricades.”