Pilgrimages

Make your way the airport for your overnight flight(s). Your meals will be served on board.

Day 2, Monday, Sept 14 : Arrive in Rome

Upon arrival at Rome airport, collect your luggage and continue to the arrival’s hall, where you will be greeted by a tour escort and/or driver. You will make your way to the bus and transfer to your hotel. Later in the afternoon, you will 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).

Day 3, Tuesday, Sept 15: Rome: St Peter’s Basilica—Vatican Museums— Appian Way—Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls—Catacombs
This morning you will enjoy an early breakfast before making your way to the largest Christendom Church, St. Peter’s Basilica. Continue to the Vatican Museums. The final stop on your Vatican tour is at the tomb of Saint John Paul II. Afterward, you will be transferred to the Trevi Fountain, where you may enjoy some free time on your own for lunch. Continue on your short journey down the Appian Way, the earliest road of Ancient Rome. The day concludes with a visit to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. We will make our way to a local restaurant for dinner. Following dinner, feel free to explore the streets of Rome, or return to the hotel for overnight.

Day 4, Wednesday, Sept 16: Rome: Papal Audience—Basilica of St. John the Lateran—Holy Stairs– Basilica of St. Mary Major
After breakfast at your hotel, your day begins with attending the Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square! The Audience is celebrated each Wednesday by His Holiness (pending the papal schedule). Following the Audience, there will be free time. You will visit the oldest of the four major basilicas in Rome, and the home to the relics of Peter and Paul, the Basilica of St. John the Lateran. This Basilica is where the Pope is installed as Bishop of Rome, and where he officiates as the Bishop of Rome. Next, You will visit the Holy Staircase. To conclude your day, we will proceed to the Basilica of St. Mary Major. This Basilica contains a relic from the Manger of the Infant Jesus. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 5, Thursday, Sept 17: Rome – Monte Cassino—San Giovanni Rotondo

Following breakfast, you will board your bus to enjoy the scenic route to Monte Cassino. the principle monastery of the Benedictine Order, founded by Saint Benedict around 530 A.D. Following the tour, there will be an opportunity to visit the gift shop, before we board the bus to continue toward San Giovanni Rotondo, the hometown of Saint Padre Pio. Upon arrival in San Giovanni Rotondo, you will check-in, enjoy dinner in the restaurant, and overnight.

Day 6, Friday, Sept 18: San Giovanni Rotondo (View Incorrupt Body of St. Padre Pio) – Monte Sant Angel
This morning, after breakfast we will visit the Old Church. After Mass we will tour the sanctuary, it is here you will view the crucifix, in front of which St. Pio received the stigmata. Visit the confessional from where St. Pio spent an innumerable amount of hours listening to confessions. Next, we will board the bus and travel along the beautiful Gargano Peninsula to the Grotto of St. Michael the Archangel, a shrine consecrated by St. Michael. At this grotto, St. Michael appeared to a Bishop to assure him that his diocese would not be annihilated as he feared. Following the visit to the grotto, enjoy free time. On the way back to San Giovanni Rotondo view breathtaking views of the sea and surrounding countryside. Upon arrival to San Giovanni Rotondo you will have time for devotion and reflection. Dinner and overnight.

Day 7, Saturday, Sept 19: San Giovanni Rotondo – Lanciano—Loreto— Assisi
After breakfast, we will head to Lanciano. Upon arrival in Lanciano, we will attend Mass at the Church of St. Longinus. This Church is the site of the Eucharistic Miracle that occurred in the eighth century. There will be some free time to explore Lanciano, before continuing toward the Adriatic coast to the great Marian shrine of Loreto to visit the Holy House of Nazareth, and the beautiful Madonna of Loreto. More than 50 Popes have made pilgrimage to the house transported by angels to this hill in central Italy, in 1294. Continue on to Assisi, the hometown of St. Francis. Upon arrival in Assisi, you will enjoy dinner, before retiring to your room for a restful night’s sleep.

Day 8, Sunday, Sept 20: Assisi (St. Francis)

Enjoy an early breakfast, we will start our tour at the St. Francis Basilica, visit his tomb of St. Francis. From there, we will continue on a walking tour through this picturesque town, including the birthplace of St. Francis, and ending with a tour of the Church that honors St. Clare, the foundress of the Poor Clare Sisters. After lunch, we will board the bus, which will take us outside of the walls of Assisi, to the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. This is where St. Francis spent most of life. During your time here, you will have the opportunity to visit the beautiful Rose Garden where St. Francis and other friars lived, as well as the cave where the Saint retired to pray. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 9, Monday, Sept 21: Assisi – Gubbio – La Verna – Assisi

After breakfast, we will drive to Gubbio. Enjoy this medieval town with a visit of St. Francis Church, where we will be celebrating Mass. After Mass and lunch on your own, we will continue to La Verna; this is the place where St. Francis, over the years, went seven times and the last time in 1224 he received the stigmata. Return to Assisi for dinner and overnight.

Day 10, Tuesday, Sept 22: Rome – Oberammergau

After breakfast depart to Rome 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.

Day 11, Wednesday, Sept 23: Oberammergau Passion Play: Performance Day
Celebrate Mass at local church and enjoy some time to explore Oberammergau. Following lunch, we will make our way 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! 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.

Act I will begin at 2:30 P.M. – 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 8:00 P.M., and conclude at 10:30 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.

Day 12, Thursday, Sept 24: Oberammergau – Munich

After breakfast, we will depart for Munich. Upon arrival enjoy seeing many of Munich’s top sites. Celebrate Mass followed by free time for lunch and/or shopping. Dinner and overnight.

Day 13, Friday, Sept 25: Return Home

Today we fondly say “auf wiedersehen” to Germany, and 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.