Make your way to your local airport, where you will board your overnight flight(s). Your 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 your 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 can 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 dinner, you will have the opportunity to walk to St. Peter’s Square as a group, for the Rosary (optional).

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 Leo (depending on the papal schedule). Next, 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 seat ofthe 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. You will visit 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.

Following breakfast we will 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 Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and the Catacombs. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

After breakfast, you’ll depart for a half day tour of Ancient Rome, including the Colosseum is a reminder of the persecution that early Christians faced, and it is also a symbol of their faith and courage. The area around the Colosseum was the heart of ancient Rome, and it was the site of many important government buildings, temples, and shops. It was also the place where public meetings were held and where the laws were debated and passed. Ancient Rome was a busy and bustling place. It was home to a wide variety of people, from wealthy aristocrats to poor laborers, and it was a place where people from all walks of life came together. The afternoon is free – experience the wonder of the ancient or modern city of Rome. Your tour guide can offer suggestions for you on where to spend your afternoon. You could choose to stroll through the city’s open-air museums and archeological sites that show the grandeur of ancient Rome’s political and civil power. Walk the Palatine Hill, the location of the cave where Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome, were raised, and the oldest part of the city. Have coffee or a gelato in the Piazza Navona or climb the Spanish steps. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

This morning after breakfast, we will celebrate Mass. Following Mass, you will have a half day tour of downtown Rome – you will visit the Pantheon, an ancient Roman building, that is renowned for its large concrete dome, as well as a stop at the Roman Forum, the seat of government for ancient Rome. After lunch, you will have some free time to experience Rome, the Eternal City. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

After breakfast, depart Rome for Civita di Bagnoregio. Most people talk about the incredible views and the truly medieval feel of the town, but it is also the birthplace of the Seraphic Doctor, St. Bonaventure, the great theologian (and some would say the second founder) of the Franciscan Order. Next, we will travel high into the Umbrian Hills to Orvieto. This incredible town sits on a volcanic high rock formation. Here we visit one of the most beautiful and most 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. Continue to Assisi, the hometown of St. Francis and St. Clare. Upon arriving check-in to your hotel. Dinner and overnight. Retire to your room for a restful night’s sleep.

As you visit the birthplace of St. Francis, you will become captivated as the atmosphere has not changed since St. Francis began his ministry, in the early 13th-century. You will start your tour at the St. Francis Basilica, visit the tomb of St. Francis, and have the opportunity to view a series of frescoes depicting hislife, alongwith seeing a few ofthe saint’s possessions. Following this will be a visit to the Santuario Della Spogliazione where Blessed Carlo Acutis’ tomb is placed. Carlo is the first millennial to be declared Blessed. He loved the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. From there, you will continue on a walking tour through this picturesque town, including the birthplace of St. Francis, which will end with a tour of the Church that honors St. Clare, the foundress of the Poor Clare Sisters. This Saint followed the teachings of St. Francis very closely by also living a life of poverty and humility. Enjoy some free time on your own – you may take this time for additional prayer, shop in the many gift shops, or enjoy a nice lunch. After lunch, you will board the bus, which will take you outside of the walls of Assisi, to the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. This is where St. Francis spent most of his life. This Basilica is made up of two structures, both of which you will visit. The first structure we will visit is the “Porziuncola”, which is where St. Francis founded his order of the Friar Minors (Franciscans). The second is the “Capella del Transito”, which is the place of St. Francis’ death. During your time here, you will have the opportunity to visit the beautiful Rose Garden where St. Francis and the other friars lived, as well as the cave where the Saint retired to pray. Return to the hotel for dinner and an overnight.

After breakfast, enjoy a half day tour including San Damiano and the Eremo della Carceri. The church of San Damiano is a church with a monastery located near Assisi, where Christ spoke to St. Francis from the cross, exhorting him to repair His Church. Following this visit, travel to the Sanctuary of Eremo della Carceri, an ancient Franciscan site on Mount Subasio. It was a site of prayer for St. Francis and the friars. Return to Assisi for dinner and overnight.

After an early breakfast and heartfelt farewells, your group will leave by motor coach and transfer to the Rome Fiumicino 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.