Five young Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows travel from Shreveport to Rome for the Jubilee

July 2025

Five young Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows (OLS) set out from Shreveport, Louisiana, to make an extraordinary pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee, an important moment in this Holy Year. It was a journey of faith and communion that deeply marked their personal and community path.

The Experience of the Jubilee

The five sisters joyfully made their pilgrimage, alternating in carrying the Jubilee Cross, entering St Peter’s Basilica through the Holy Door, asking God for the grace of this special year.

The high point was the passing through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica, together with the Jubilee Cross, “Peregrinantes in Spem”. That act, performed side by side with thousands of other pilgrims, became a true entry into hope, a call to renew their educational mission. Deep emotions accompanied their prayers in St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the monastery of Tre Fontane with the place of St Paul martyrdom, and the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Revelation at the Tre Fontane,

places that made visible the Church’s maternal face and closeness to young pilgrims.

During these Roman days, the sisters also had the opportunity to meet their Italian counterparts, sharing moments of fraternity that made the Jubilee experience even more alive.

Discovering Elisabetta Renzi’s Places

After the Jubilee days, the pilgrimage continued into Emilia-Romagna and the Marche, toward the places linked to the foundress, Elisabetta Renzi. In Saludecio, Mondaino, Pietrarubbia, Savignano, and Coriano, the sisters paused in prayer, visiting the houses, churches, and spaces that keep alive her memory.

The most moving moment was the prayer before her tomb, where the sisters renewed individually their vows and entrusted to the intercession of Bl. Elisabetta, the youth, and the educational mission they carry out in the United States. Experiencing these places firsthand was not only a return to historical roots, but also a chance to draw new spiritual strength and to feel even closer to the charism that unites communities across the world.

Guiding them spiritually was the legacy of Mother Elisabetta, who used to say: “Let us trust in God and go forward with a strong heart.” Words that reflect her dedication to youth, to the poor, and to Christian education, values that the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows continue to live out today in schools, parishes, and apostolic works, both in Italy and America.

In these Renzi’s places as well, the embrace of the Italian sisters was felt, as they welcomed the Shreveport pilgrims with joy and simplicity, sharing celebrations and testimonies.

The Roman and Elisabetta Renzi’s pilgrimage gave the five Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows renewed energy. They returned to Shreveport with hearts filled with grace, ready to bring to the young people they meet in schools and communities the experience of a living, universal Church rooted in hope.

The Jubilee and the firsthand encounter with the Bl. Elisabetta’s places remain for them a spiritual treasure to guard and to transmit, a sign that the mission of Mother Elisabetta Renzi (educating to faith and to life with a mother’s heart, especially the smallest and most fragile) continues to flourish far from her native land.

Click HERE to explore the trip’s photo gallery on Flickr

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