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 landing at Rome airport, claim your baggage and proceed to the arrival 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 with fellow pilgrims and your priest. You will depart together for Mass, and after, attend a welcome dinner. After dinner, you will have the opportunity to walk to St. Peter’s Square for the Rosary (optional).

This morning, we will attend the Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square or the Audience Hall. The Papal Audience is celebrated each Wednesday by His Holiness, the Pope (pending the papal schedule). (During the month of July, Papal Audiences are typically cancelled while the Holy Father resides in Castel Gandolfo. For tours occurring during this time, the Audience will be replaced with an excursion to Castel Gandolfo with the itinerary below: Upon arrival in Castel Gandolfo, we will visit Piazza della Libertà. Here, we will take a moment to admire the impressive facade of the Papal Palace, the Pope’s summer residence. Our visit continues with an exploration of the Papal Palace itself, including the Vatican Observatory and the breathtaking Barberini Gardens, which offer panoramic views of Lake Albano.) Next, head to 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 seat of the Bishop of Rome. Cross the street to the Holy Stairs, which were brought to Rome by St. Helen in the 4th century. These were the same stairs that led up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, which Jesus climbed on His way to trial during His Passion. Our final stop will eb at the Basilica of St. Mary Major which is dedicated to Our Lady. Here we will celebrate Holy Mass, and then have dinner and an overnight.

Today you 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, as well as to 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 the Sistine Chapel. After lunch, continue down the Appian Way, one of the earliest roads built in ancient Rome, until you reach the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and the Catacombs. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

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 and see the confessional 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 p.m.

After breakfast, we will leave for Assisi. On the way, stop in Lanciano for a private Mass at the Church of St. Longinus. This is the site of a Eucharistic Miracle that occurred in the 8th century. At the time of the miracle, there was a Basilian monk who struggled with the belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. One day as he was offering Mass, the monk, with doubt in his voice, said the words of consecration. To his astonishment, the bread and wine transformed into the visible, physical flesh and blood of Christ. After witnessing this Eucharist Miracle, we will 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 same house in which Mary first prayed the Magnificat, where Jesus grew to manhood, and where the Holy Family lived. Tradition holds that the house was transported several times by angels from the Holy Land to its current location. End the day in Assisi, the hometown of St. Francis and St. Clare, with dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Begin your day in Assisi with a tour of the Basilica of St. Francis, where you will see his tomb. View a series of frescoes depicting the life of St. Francis, along with a few of the Saint’s possessions. Next, you will visit the Santuario Della Spogliazione, where you will be able to pray at the tomb of St. Carlo Acutis. Carlo is the first millennial to have been canonized a Saint. He had a great love for the Holy Eucharist and died from leukemia at the young age of 15. Continue your 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. Within this Basilica, there are two smaller structures, both of which you will visit. The first structure is the “Porziuncola”, which St. Francis restored as a young man, and it was the headquarters of the Friars Minor. 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.

This morning, you will ride through the beautiful Umbrian mountains to Orvieto. This incredible town sits on a volcanic high rock formation. Here we will visit one of the most beautiful and renowned Cathedrals in Italy. Due to its strategic location, Orvieto’s Christian history officially started in 1004, but it 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. Return to Assisi for dinner and a final overnight.

After an early breakfast and heartfelt farewells, you will head to Rome Fiumicino airport for your return flight(s) home. (Your flight departure time will be no earlier than 10AM)

*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.