Make your way to your local airport and board your first flight to Rome. Meals will be served on board.

Welcome to Rome, also known as, “The Eternal City”. Upon arrival at Rome airport, collect your luggage in the baggage claim area and continue to the Arrivals Hall, where you will be greeted by a tour escort and/or driver. You will make your way to the bus and transfer to your hotel. Following check-in, you will have free time to unpack and relax or explore Rome on your own. Your tour escort may suggest places to visit. Later in the afternoon, your group will meet in the hotel lobby for a “Meet and Greet” with your fellow pilgrims and depart for Mass. Following Mass, you will attend a welcome dinner.

After breakfast, we will make our way to St. Peter’s Square for an audience with Pope Francis. After a break for lunch, we will gather again and head to the Vatican Museums, where we will see some of the greatest works of art ever created, including Raphael’s Transfiguration and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. Our day in the Vatican will conclude with a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica, arguably the greatest and most important Catholic Church in the world. We will then return to our nearby hotel for dinner and overnight.

Today we partake in one of the unique highlights of our trip! In the morning we will attend the Ordination to the Diaconate of Nicholas Stellpflug, Seminarian for the Diocese of Green Bay, in St. Peter’s Basilica. This will be one of the most beautiful and moving liturgies you ever experienced. 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. We will then visit the Church dedicated to Our Blessed Mother, Basilica of St. Mary Major reigns as the only Basilica that has kept its original structure and is an authentic jewel in the crown of Roman Churches. This Basilica contains a relic from the Manger of the Infant Jesus. Next, the Scala Sancta (English: Holy Stairs, Italian: Scala Santa) are a set of 28 white marble steps located in an edifice on extraterritorial property of the Holy See in Rome. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

This morning we will attend our new Deacon’s first Mass and hear his first homily as an ordained minister! Afterwards, we will head to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls to pray at the tomb of St. Paul. We will then make our way to the catacombs to see where the early church gathered in times of persecution. This day will also include a walking tour of central Rome, including many famous sites like the Pantheon and Piazza Navona.

After breakfast, feel free to explore, pray or relax at your leisure. No dinner will be included this night.

Today we depart Rome and go by bus to the hillside city of Orvieto. We will visit the gardens overlooking the valley and then enter the Cathedral to pray in the chapel which houses the relic of the corporal from a 13th-century Eucharistic Miracle. After Mass and a guided visit of that Cathedral, we will enjoy a wonderful lunch together. Following this visit, we will have a leisurely evening in Assisi.

Tour of the Basilica of St. Francis, where you will see the tomb of St. Francis, and can 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 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 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.

Enjoy breakfast, followed by a scenic drive to the Tuscan city of Siena. This medieval city is the birthplace of St. Catherine “Doctor of the Church”, and the Apostle of Italy, St. Bernardine. Visit the Basilica of St. Catherine (which is also known as the Basilica of St. Domenico). St. Catherine spent a large part of her life inside the walls of this Basilica. It is here you will also view the incorrupt head of St. Catherine. After, visit the Shrine of St. Catherine, which occupies the site of her family home. Enjoy your walking tour through Siena including a visit to its Cathedral (Duomo di Siena). Conclude at one of Italy’s finest squares, the Piazza Del Campo, where you will be given free time to spend at your own leisure. There are several restaurants surrounding the square to have lunch, as well as shops for gifts and souvenirs. Return to Assisi for dinner and overnight.

After an early breakfast, the group will transfer to the Rome Airport for return flights home.

*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.