Pilgrimage to Italy

• Gather on campus and transfer to the airport (group to arrange bus transfer)
• Depart Chicago O’Hare on your overnight American Airlines flight to Rome at 5:10 p.m. (current schedule)

• Arrive at Rome Fiumicino Airport at 9:10 a.m. (current schedule)
• Gather your bags and meet your professional tour escort, who will accompany you for the week
• Transfer to a group lunch at a local restaurant
• After lunch, explore the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, one of Rome’s most significant underground burial sites of the early Christians
• Transfer to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the first Major Basilica to visit during your time in Rome
• Celebrate an Opening Mass and pray at the tomb of St. Paul
• Transfer to the hotel to check in and freshen up
• Welcome Dinner at a local restaurant
• Overnight in Rome

Accommodations: Casa Ravasco San Pietro or similar

Meals included: Lunch, Dinner

• Celebrate Mass at the Papal Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, where a relic of the table of the Last Supper is held
• Prayerfully climb the Scala Santa, the Holy Stairs that Christ climbed on his way to his trial, brought to Rome from Jerusalem by St. Helena
• Visit the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme and venerate the relics from Christ’s Passion
• Free time for lunch
• After lunch, continue to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, home of a relic of the Bethlehem manger and the tomb of Pope Francis
• Enjoy a free evening in Rome to explore the city on your own
• Overnight in Rome

Accommodations: Casa Ravasco San Pietro or similar

Meals included: Breakfast

• Mass in the Crypt at St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by a tour of the Basilica, including time to pray at the tomb of Pope St. John Paul II and to see Michelangelo’s Pieta
• After free time for lunch, enjoy the Scavi Tour (pending availability)
• Alternatively (if Scavi Tour is not available), enjoy a guided walking tour of the churches and piazzas of central Rome
  Stops can include Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Santa Maria sopra Minerva (with the tomb of St. Catherine of Siena), Sant’Agostino (with the tomb of St. Monica), and the Gesu (with the tomb of St. Ignatius of Loyola)
• Free time to continue exploring the city on your own
• Overnight in Rome

Accommodations: Casa Ravasco San Pietro or similar

Meals included: Breakfast

• Free morning to explore the city on your own
• Late afternoon entrance to the Vatican Museums, home of the Sistine Chapel (only tickets included, no guided tour)
• Evening Mass in a local church
• Overnight in Rome

Accommodations: Casa Ravasco San Pietro or similar

Meals included: Breakfast

• In the morning, attend the Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square (pending the Holy Father’s schedule)
• After free time for lunch, transfer to Assisi
• Celebrate Mass at Santa Maria degli Angeli and see the Porziuncola, where St. Francis founded the Franciscans and where he died
• Transfer to the accommodations and check in
• Dinner at the accommodations

Accommodations: Monastero Santa Colette or similar

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

• Enjoy a guided tour of the Old City of Assisi, starting with the Basilica of St. Clare, where the original San Damiano Crucifix is held, along with time to venerate the tomb of St. Clare
• Continue to Santa Maria Maggiore to pray at the tomb of St. Carlo Acutis
• Then, explore the Basilica of St. Francis, home to Giotto’s breathtaking murals, which depict scenes from the life of St. Francis
• Have time to pray at the tomb of St. Francis and then celebrate Mass
• Free for the rest of the day to explore the peaceful medieval town
  • Consider visiting the San Damiano Monastery, the Cathedral of San Rufino, Chiesa Nuova, or the fortress of
    Rocca Maggiore (all activities on your own)
• Overnight in Assisi

Accommodations: Monastero Santa Colette or similar

Meals included: Breakfast

• Continue exploring and praying in Assisi, reflecting on the week’s experiences
• Consider going for a hike in the surrounding Umbrian countryside (e.g. hike to the Carceri Hermitage for a further immersion in the life and spirituality of St. Francis)
• Celebrate a Closing Mass at the Basilica of St. Clare
• Conclude the pilgrimage with a Farewell Dinner at a local restaurant
• Overnight in Assisi

Accommodations: Monastero Santa Colette or similar

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

• Early morning departure from the accommodations (approximately 4 or 5 a.m.)
• Transfer to Rome Fiumicino Airport for your 11 a.m. American Airlines flight back to Chicago O’Hare (current schedule)
• After landing in Chicago, transfer back to Notre Dame (group to arrange bus transfer)

Meals included: Breakfast