Medjugorje & Oberammergau Passion Play
OBER20201Your trip includes
- Round-trip airfare
- *
- All airport taxes & fuel surcharges
- Hotel accommodations (or similar) in double occupancy
- ~ 7 Nights in a modern Pansion/Hotel with private baths
- ~ 2 Nights Oberammergau area
- ~ 1 Night Munich
- Breakfast and Dinner daily
- Wine with dinners
- Assistance of local guide throughout
- Whisper Headsets
- Transfers as per itinerary
- Sightseeing and admissions fees as per itinerary
- Mass daily & Spiritual activities (English at 10:00am & Croatian at 6:00pm)
- Visit to Community Cenacolo
- Tickets to the Passion Play
- Official Passion Play Program in English
- Luggage handling (1 piece per person)
- Flight bag & portfolio of all travel documents
Not included
- Lunches, Tips to your guide & driver
Itinerary
Depart for Medjugorje
Make your way to your local airport where you will board your overnight flight. Your meals are served on board.
Arrive Medjugorje
Upon arrival in Europe, change gates to board your short connection flight to either: Dubrovnik, Split, or Sarajevo airport. Upon arrival collect your luggage in the baggage claim area, and continue to the arrival's hall where you will be greeted by a tour guide and/or driver, who will take you on the 2 1/2 hour drive to the village of Medjugorje. Enjoy dinner before retiring for the evening.
Experiencing Medjugorje
The most beautiful feature of Medjugorje is its simplicity, and its peace. While in Medjugorje, you will have the opportunity to experience your faith grow, and share in the faith journey of pilgrims from all over the world. The 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 10:00A.M, your group will assemble at St. James Church for Mass (English-Speaking). At the end of each Mass, regardless of language, there is a blessing of the religious articles that you have with you.
On Feast Days, and Sundays: English Mass is at Noon
Climb Apparition Hill: This mountainous hill is where the visionaries first encountered Our Lady. Also, at the base of this hill is a Blue Cross, where it is said Our Lady appeared to the children while they hid from the communist police in the early days of the alleged apparitions. When climbing, your group is invited to recite the Rosary, pausing five times for each decade of the Rosary. At the top of the hill, you will witness the exact location of the first alleged apparition of Our Lady to the visionaries, and enjoy private time in prayer.
Climb Mt. Krizevac (Cross Mountain): In 1933, the villagers built a 30' high cross atop a mountain to commemorate Jesus' passion and death on the cross. Your group will have the opportunity to climb this mountain, and venerate that very cross. When climbing, your group is invited to pray the Stations of the Cross (to meditate on Jesus' suffering Road to Calvary), pausing fifteen times for each Station.
Apparitions: Each evening at 5:00 PM (or 6:00 PM depending on Daylight Savings Time), your group can join the villagers and fellow pilgrims of Medjugorje at either St James Church or Apparition Hill to commemorate the time Our Lady appears to the Visionaries. There you can pray the Rosary, as you all await that time (5:40 PM or 6:40 PM during Daylight Savings Time).
*Afterward, Croatian Mass is held at St. James Church and is free to all to attend. It is broadcasted by the radio, simultaneously in order to translate the services from Croatian into many languages. Following the Croatian Mass, there is a Blessing of the Sick.
**For details about the Visionaries, please visit: www.206tours.com/visionaries
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Our Lady has always called us to be close to her Son. For this, you will have the opportunity to adore the Blessed Sacrament at the outside altar of St. James Church. Adoration is held on Tuesdays and Saturdays; Veneration of the Cross is held on Fridays inside the church. Additionally, there is an Adoration Chapel on the grounds of St. James Church. Adoration is held here in the afternoon hours.
Visit to the Community of Cenacolo: You will have the opportunity to visit the community of Cenacolo, founded by the Sisters of Charity, for young men and women who have taken a wrong path and are on the road to recovery. You will be able to listen to their inspirational words about their journeys back to Jesus Christ.
Prayer at the Statue of the Risen Christ: Located on the grounds of St. James Church, is the bronze statue of the Risen Christ. Many pilgrims sit and pray on the benches surrounding this peaceful statue. This statue miraculously seeps droplets of water at all times of the day, out of Christ's right knee.
Medjugorje - Oberammergau
After breakfast depart to Split or Sarajevo airport for your flight to Munich. Upon arrival at Munich Airport, make your way to the baggage claim area and collect your luggage. Proceed to the arrival's hall, where you will be greeted by your tour guide and/or driver. Enjoy a picturesque ride through Bavaria arriving at your hotel in Oberammergau (or nearby). Time permitting walk the quaint streets of Oberammergau. The incredible 2,000 Oberammergau citizens are the actual actors, singers, instrumentalists and stage technicians. They are ordinary citizens who lead an everyday life. Later in the afternoon we will celebrate Mass followed by a welcome dinner and overnight.
Oberammergau Passion Play: Performance Day
Celebrate Mass at local church. Enjoy some time to explore Oberammergau’s colorful frescos known as "Luftlmalereien" on house facades and to visit wood carving shops with amazing array of nativity scenesand religious figures. Following lunch, we will make our way to the world famous theatre to attend the performance of a lifetime, the 42nd Oberammergau Passion Play. The sleepy village springs to life every ten years to put on a play that draws the world upon it! We, too, will become part of mission of the Passion of Christ, the greatest story ever told. We all share His message of faith and love! The Oberammergau Passion Play tells the story of the Passion of Christ, beginning with His entry into Jerusalem, followed by His trial, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. The play is held in a beautiful open air theatre that is praised for its superb acoustics. There are 2,000 actors (and live animals), they include local wood carvers, hotel owners, students, teachers, children, all of them interrupt their schedules to become actors, singers, orchestra members and stagehands. Requirements are strict: all actors must be born in Oberammergau, or have lived there 20 years, or be married to a villager and a resident for 10 years. All natural makeup, such as men let their hair and beards grow a year before the play. Female roles are limited to single women under age 35.
Act I will begin at 2:30 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.
(Intermission: From 5:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M., you will have dinner at a restaurant that is walking distance from the theatre)
Act II will begin at 7:00 P.M., and conclude at 9:30 P.M.
What makes this performance so extraordinary is how the Stage truly comes alive! Not only in the decoration of the Set and the performance of the Actors, but with real animals and birds playing under the open sky. There are thirty-six (36) main actors who are dressed in white costumes, with their supporting cast dressed in greyish blue. The actors do not wear makeup, as that is their natural hair. Every scene is real, and live, so for example: the actor who is tied to the cross has to stay in that position for more than one (1) hour In between each scene, there are “Living Tableaus”, where the live actors perform intricate sets of the Old Testament. You can never describe the feeling you get, as you see these stories being performed right in front of you.
Oberammergau - Munich
After breakfast, we will depart the Oberammergau area to Munich. Munich is the capital of Bavaria, one of Germany's popular destination. Upon arrival enjoy visiting many of Munichs top sites; Marienplatz with its world famous "Glockenspiel"; the twin-towered Frauenkirche (the Church of Our Lady), which serves as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich . The Cathedral is widely considered a symbol of Munich. Celebrate Mass followed by free time for lunch and/or shopping. Dinner and overnight.
Return from Munich to your hometown
Today we fondly say "auf wiedersehen" to Germany, we say farewell to our fellow pilgrims and new friends! Although it's an end of this journey, graces and blessings from our pilgrimage will last a lifetime.