A Pilgrimage to Italy in the Jubilee Year of Hope
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A Pilgrimage to Italy in the Jubilee Year of Hope
Pilgrimage Overview
DAY 1
Depart USA
Today we board our flights overseas with beverages and snacks served aloft.
DAY 2
Arrival in Rome
Welcome to Rome, also known as “The Eternal City.” Upon arrival at Rome airport, you will collect your luggage in the baggage claim area, where you will be greeted by our Holy Land Travel Center Representative. Make your way to the bus and transfer to the Basilica of San Paul Outside the Walls, where we will visit our first Major Basilica and visit the First Holy Door of our Jubilee Year Pilgrimage. We will have Mass here and tour the Basilica before transferring to our hotel for dinner and overnight.
Overnight: Rome (Dinner)
DAY 3
Rome
This morning we attend the Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square or at the Audience Hall. The Audience is celebrated each Wednesday by His Holiness, Pope Francis (pending the papal schedule). Next, visit the Trevi Fountain area for some free time and lunch (on your own). This afternoon, visit the oldest of the four major Basilicas in Rome, the Archbasilica of St. John the Lateran, the cathedral church, and the seat of the Bishop of Rome. Cross the street to the very steps that lead up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, which Jesus climbed on His way to trial during His Passion. Holy Mass will be celebrated by our priest at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, dedicated to Our Blessed Mother. Dinner and overnight.
Overnight: Rome (Breakfast, Dinner)
DAY 4
Rome
Today we tour St. Peter’s Basilica, built on the site where St. Peter the Apostle was martyred. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to view Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture and pray at the tombs of Pope Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II. Next, you will visit the Vatican Museum, where you can see the Tapestry Gallery, Raphael Rooms, and Sistine Chapel. After lunch, continue down the Appian Way, one of the earliest roads built in ancient Rome, to the Catacombs of Saint Sebastian. If we were unable to visit the Basilica of San Paul Outside the Walls on arrival to Rome on Day 2, we will visit the Basilica today.
Overnight: Rome (Breakfast, Dinner)
DAY 5
Rome - San Giovanni Rotondo
This morning, you will board the bus and enjoy the scenic route to the Abbey of Monte Cassino, the principal monastery of the Benedictine Order, founded by St. Benedict around 530 A.D. Continue on to San Giovanni Rotondo, where St. Pio of Pietrelcina (St. Padre Pio) lived for many decades and where thousands of people have flocked to be closer to this great saint and Our Lord. Dinner and overnight in San Giovanni Rotondo.
Overnight: San Giovanni Rotondo (Breakfast, Dinner)
DAY 6
San Giovanni Rotondo
We visit the Old Church of Our Lady of Grace and see the confessional from where St. Pio spent an innumerable number of hours listening to confessions. Next, you will board the bus and travel along the beautiful Gargano Peninsula to the Grotto of St. Michael the Archangel. Return for dinner and overnight in San Giovanni Rotondo. Candlelight Procession: Between May and October, attend the weekly candlelight procession at the Sanctuary of St. Pio after dinner, at 9:00 pm.
Overnight: San Giovanni Rotondo (Breakfast, Dinner)
DAY 7
Lanciano & Loreto
After breakfast, we leave for Assisi. On the way, we stop in Lanciano for private Mass at the Church of St. Longinus, the site of a Eucharistic Miracle that occurred in the eighth century. At the time of the miracle, there was a Basilian monk who struggled with the belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. During the time of Mass, the monk, with doubt in his voice, said the words of consecration, and the bread and wine transformed into physical flesh and blood. Leave for the Marian shrine of Loreto to visit the Holy House of Nazareth and the beautiful Madonna of Loreto. Tradition holds that this is the house in which Mary first prayed the Magnificat, in which Jesus grew to manhood, and in which the Holy Family lived, before it was transported several times by angels to its current location. End the day in Assisi, hometown of St. Francis and St. Clare, with dinner and overnight at your hotel.
Overnight: Assisi (Breakfast, Dinner)
DAY 8
Assisi
Tour the Basilica of St. Francis, where you will see the tomb of St. Francis and have the opportunity to view a series of frescoes depicting his life, along with a few of the saint’s possessions. Next, visit the Santuario Della Spogliazione, where Blessed Carlo Acutis’ tomb is located, the first millennial to be declared Blessed. Continue the tour by walking through this picturesque town, where St. Francis and St. Clare both followed God’s call to rebuild His church. Enjoy some free time for additional prayer, shopping, and lunch. After lunch, board the bus, which will take you outside the walls of Assisi, to the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. This Basilica is made up of two structures, both of which you will visit. The first structure is the “Porziuncola,” and the second is the “Capella del Transito,” which is the place where St. Francis died. Return to the hotel for dinner and a restful overnight.
Overnight: Assisi (Breakfast, Dinner)
DAY 9
Orvieto & Bolsena
This morning, you will ride through the beautiful Umbrian mountains to Orvieto. This incredible town sits on a volcanic high rock formation. Here we visit one of the most beautiful and renowned Cathedrals in Italy. Because of its strategic location, its Christian history officially started in 1004, but Orvieto was built over preexisting Etruscan-era cave tunnels dating back 2,500 years, which some historians believe Christians used to celebrate Mass when Christianity was forbidden. Next, we visit the nearby town of Bolsena and the Cathedral housing the corporeal of the Miracle of the Eucharist, which took place in 1262. Here we celebrate Mass. Transfer to Rome for dinner and overnight.
Overnight: Rome (Breakfast, Dinner)
DAY 10
Return Flights Home
Today we board our return flights home with memories and keepsakes that will last a lifetime.
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