Anchored in Hope
VSN Common Theme 2025-2026
By Anne Williams,
Director, Visitation Salesian Network (VSN)
“This hope we have [is] an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable.” Hebrews 6:19
“Encourage each other in Holy Hope.” -St. Francis de Sales
Each year the Visitation Salesian Network (VSN) of Schools engages in a common theme celebrated across our schools to guide us in educating the mind and heart in the Visitation tradition. This beautiful tradition reminds us that while distinct in many traditions, we speak a common cherished spiritual language.
For the school year 2025-2026, the VSN has chosen the theme, “Anchored in Hope.” As Catholic schools rooted in Salesian Spirituality, we pursue hope not just as simple optimism, but as an engaged and steady virtue. More so, as spiritual daughters and sons of the founders of the Visitation, St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal, the virtue of hope is our legacy. It is a radical, confident belief and expectation in God’s promise to be with us.
In the Salesian tradition, hope is practical, relational, and expressed in ordinary – and extraordinary – ways.
Day-by-Day
For one, St. Francis de Sales depicts an attainable daily path to holiness with encouragement to pursue it step-by-step. Our patron teaches us to “Live Jesus” by cultivating gentle, humble hearts and steadfast trust in God’s Providence. He encourages us not to waste time looking back in regret over our past sins or looking too far forward and fretting about the future. He reminds us instead to focus on what’s right in front of us—the very next thing that God is calling us to do.
With God
Alone we can get sidetracked by the seeming power of societal challenges or discouraged by our own limitations. Yet, when we pause, we recognize that we are invited to consider that God invites us to accept the gift of faith and divine power. Time and time again, Jesus’ ministry leads us to God’s love poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. This signifies that hope is not based on external circumstances or our own efforts, but on the unwavering love of God, which is freely given to us. We simply need to ask God to strengthen us in hope, and we can share that hope with others.
In Relationship with Others
The VSN continues to embrace this Jubilee year of Hope declared by Pope Francis as a time to deepen our relationship with God, and importantly with one another. Amid all the stresses, concerns, and fears that affect us today, Pope Francis spoke widely and often about the virtue of hope needed in community, the virtue that helps to ground us in faith and leads to love. The secret, he said, is realizing that hope is already within us. Pope Leo XIV affirms this pursuit in his teachings on “Jesus Christ, Our Hope.”
Our Visitation schools are also called to be places where we encounter Christ’s peace and hope with one another.
So, next year, the VSN invites our Visitation school communities to discover what it means to be anchored in hope. Through teaching, prayer and daily interactions, we’ll seek to:
- Recognize signs of hope in our own lives
- Develop perseverance by trusting in God’s Providence
- Practice hope through prayer, acts of service, and thoughtful concern for others
- Understand hope as a virtue we build together
Together, let’s anchor hearts and our schools in this deep, enduring hope.