Make your way to your local airport, where you will board your overnight flight(s). Meals will be served on board.

Welcome to Rome, also known as “The Eternal City.” Upon landing at Rome airport, claim your baggage and proceed to the Arrivals Hall, where your tour guide and/or driver will greet you. Following check-in at the hotel, enjoy some free time to unpack, relax or explore Rome on your own. Your tour escort may suggest places to visit. Later this afternoon, your group will meet in the hotel lobby for a meet and greet and you will depart together for Mass. Following Mass, you will attend a welcome dinner. After dinner you have to opportunity to join in a walk to St. Peter’s Square for the Rosary (optional). Overnight in 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, 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 to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and the Catacombs. Dinner and overnight in 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, The Pope (pending the papal schedule). Next Trevi Fountain area for some free time and lunch (on own). This afternoon, visit the oldest of the four major Basilicas in Rome, the Archbasilica of St. John the Lateran, the cathedral church and 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. This Basilica contains a relic from the manger of the infant Jesus. Dinner and overnight.

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 in order to be closer to this great saint and to Our Lord. Dinner and overnight in San Giovanni Rotondo.

Visit the Old Church of Our Lady of Grace, 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.

After breakfast, you 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 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.

Tour of 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 you will visit the Santuario Della Spogliazione where Blessed Carlo Acutis’ tomb is, the first millennial to be declared Blessed. Continue 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, shop and lunch. After lunch, board the bus, which will take you outside of 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.

Today depart from Italy for your flight (s) to Medjugorje. Upon arrival, you’ll be greeted by your tour guide and/or driver, who will take you on the 2.5 hour drive to the village of Medjugorje. Dinner and an overnight.

Upon arrival at Dubrovnik Airport, you will be met by your tour escort and board the motorcoach. On the way to Medjugorje, the group will make a brief stop in Dubrovnik’s historic Old City. Enjoy a short walking tour with a local guide and free time for dinner at a local restaurant. After dinner, continue the drive to Medjugorje for check-in and overnight.

The most beautiful features of Medjugorje are its simplicity and peace. While in Medjugorje, you may experience your faith grow and share in the faith journey of pilgrims from all over the world. A local guide will accompany your group throughout your stay in the village.

Some activities that will accompany you in your spiritual journey:

Attend Daily Mass: Each morning at 10:00 AM, your group will assemble at St. James Church for English-speaking Mass. At the end of each Mass, there is a blessing of religious articles.
On Feast Days and Sundays, English Mass is at 12 PM.

Climb Apparition Hill: The site of the first reported apparitions of Our Lady to the visionaries. The Rosary is prayed as you ascend, with pauses for each decade.

Visit Nancy and Patrick’s Castle: A well-known site in Medjugorje offering personal testimonies of faith and hospitality.

Climb Mt. Krizevac (Cross Mountain): Commemorating Jesus’ Passion, pilgrims climb while praying the Stations of the Cross.

Evening Apparitions: At 6:00 PM, join villagers and fellow pilgrims at St. James Church or Apparition Hill to commemorate the daily apparition time of Our Lady. Croatian Mass follows, with blessings for the sick.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Held Tuesday and Saturday evenings outdoors; Veneration of the Cross on Fridays inside the church. Daily Adoration is also available in the Chapel on church grounds.

Visit the Community of Cenacolo: Hear powerful testimonies from young people in recovery, guided by Christ through the Cenacolo community.

Prayer at the Statue of the Risen Christ: Pilgrims often gather here to pray; the statue is known for miraculously seeping water from Christ’s right knee.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport in Split, Dubrovnik, or Sarajevo for your return flights home, filled with peace and renewed faith.

*206 Tours Disclaimer:
Occasionally local religious and national holidays, weather, traffic conditions and other events may necessitate changes in the sequence of events or the missing of certain events/places. Though every effort will be made to follow the itinerary, it should be considered as an indication, rather than a contract of events and places to be visited.