Pilgrimage to Italy

• Depart the U.S. on your overnight flight to Rome

• Arrive in Rome and transfer from the airport to the hotel to check-in
• Opening Mass at Santa Maria della Pace, an Opus Dei church with the tomb of St Josemaría Escrivá
• Welcome Dinner at a local restaurant
• Overnight in Rome

Accommodations: Hotel Dei Mellini, Hotel Twenty One, or similar

Meals included: Dinner

• Explore the piazzas and churches of Rome in a city center walking tour
  • Stops can include Santa Maria Sopra Minerva (the tomb of St Catherine of Siena and Michelangelo’s Risen Christ); the Pantheon; San Luigi dei Francesi (Caravaggio’s The Calling of Saint Matthew); Sant’Agostino (tomb of St Monica); San Silvestro in Capite (head of St John the Baptist); Sant’Andrea delle Fratte (site of Rome’s only Marian apparition and where St Maximilian Kolbe celebrated his first Mass)
• Mass at one of the churches and time for lunch
• In the afternoon, walk to Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, built on the site of the family home of St Cecilia where she was martyred and now where she is buried. Entry to tour the excavations beneath the Basilica.
• Visit Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of Rome’s oldest churches, dating back to the third century, believed to be the first official place of Christian worship in Rome
• Group dinner in Trastevere
  • Tentative: Liz Lev to give an introduction to the Vatican Museums over dinner
• Overnight in Rome

Accommodations: Hotel Dei Mellini, Hotel Twenty One, or similar

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

• Visit the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the oldest basilica in the West and cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, and the Lateran Baptistery
• Across the street, pray on the Holy Stairs that Christ climbed on his way to his trial in the palace of Pontius Pilate, brought to Rome from Jerusalem by St. Helena
• Venerate the Passion relics at the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
• Time for lunch
• Transfer to the Basilica of St Mary Major, the oldest Marian shrine in the West, containing a relic of the Bethlehem manger, and celebrate Mass
• Visit Santa Prassede, famous for its mosaics distinguishing it as one of Rome’s oldest churches and the Column of the Flagellation, part of the pillar at which Christ was scourged
• Overnight in Rome

Accommodations: Hotel Dei Mellini, Hotel Twenty One, or similar

Meals included: Breakfast

• Enjoy a morning at the Vatican with Mass and a guided tour of St. Peter’s Basilica, in which you’ll see Michelangelo’s Pieta and learn about the architecture and popes buried there
• Free time to explore the Vatican or climb the cupola of St Peter’s and lunch
• Scavi Tour (pending availability)
• Late entrance to the Vatican Museums and an opportunity to see such highlights as the Sistine Chapel, the Raphael Rooms, and the Gallery of Maps
• Overnight in Rome

Accommodations: Hotel Dei Mellini, Hotel Twenty One, or similar

Meals included: Breakfast

• Morning Mass at St Paul Outside the Walls, the final resting place of St Paul
• Continue outside the city along the Appian Way to the Catacombs of San Callisto, the largest catacomb in Rome, home to the Crypt of the Nine Popes and the Crypt of St Cecilia
• Continue on to the medieval town and World Heritage Site of Assisi
• Stop at Santa Maria degli Angeli, with the Porziuncola where St Francis founded the Franciscan order
• Dinner at local restaurant
• Overnight in Assisi

Accommodations: Palace Hotel Fontebella, Asisium Boutique Hotel, or similar

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

• Morning Mass at the Basilica of St. Francis, where St Francis is buried and famous for its frescoes by Giotto
• Guided tour of Assisi, including the Basilica of St. Francis and Basilica of St. Clare, which holds the San Damiano Crucifix and the tomb of St Clare
• Free time to explore Assisi
• Overnight Assisi

Accommodations: Palace Hotel Fontebella, Asisium Boutique Hotel, or similar

Meals included: Breakfast

• Day trip to Siena
• Guided tour, with time to venerate the relics of St. Catherine at the Basilica of San Domenico, followed by Mass at the Shrine of the House of St. Catherine
• Time for lunch and to explore the Piazza del Campo, Siena’s bustling main square
• Overnight in Assisi

Accommodations: Palace Hotel Fontebella, Asisium Boutique Hotel, or similar

Meals included: Breakfast

• Transfer back to Rome, stopping en route in Orvieto
• Tour of Orvieto’s Old Town, including the Cathedral which contains the shrine of the Eucharistic Miracle of Orvieto
• Celebrate Mass, and free time for lunch
• Return to Rome with a Farewell Dinner at a local restaurant
• Overnight in Rome near the airport

Accommodations: Hotel Isola Sacra or similar

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

• Transfer to the airport and depart for the U.S.

Meals included: Breakfast