Jubilee Year Pilgrimage to Rome with Fr. Luis Rodriguez and Maria Valentin Cruz

Depart on an overnight flight from Newark Airport to Rome. Dinner and breakfast will be served on the flight.

Welcome to Italy! We arrive in the Eternal City, and our professional English-speaking guide greets us at the airport to assist with luggage and boarding our bus. En route to Rome, we stop at St. Paul Outside the Walls, where we walk through the first Holy Door, which is opened only during the Jubilee Year, we celebrate Mass. Continue to the nearby Tre Fontane Convent to see where St. Paul was beheaded. We check into our hotel, and the rest of the day is at leisure to acclimate to a new time zone. Enjoy dinner at the hotel and our first overnight in Rome. (D)

Early this morning, we are transferred to St. Peter’s Square, where the Holy Father blesses us during the Papal Audience. We enjoy lunch in a local restaurant followed by a tour of Christian Rome, including a visit to St. Mary Major, the second Holy Door, and the Basilica of St. John the Lateran, the third Holy Door. We proceed to the Holy Stairs. Mass will be celebrated. Overnight in Rome. (B.L.D)

Following an early breakfast, we visit the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, see the chains that bound St. Peter in prison and Michelangelo’s statue of Moses. We continue with a visit to the nearby St. Clemente Church. Continue to the Church of San Marcello al Corso to see the miraculous Crucifix, which in 1522 was carried in procession through the city’s districts to end the ‘Great Plague’ of Rome. This Crucifix became a symbol of the faith to end Covid 19. We continue to the Trevi Fountain, where we may choose to have lunch on our own. The rest of the day is at leisure to explore on your own, perhaps visit the Spanish Steps. Dinner is at leisure. Mass will be celebrated. Overnight in Rome. (B.)

This morning, we visit St. Peter’s Basilica, walking through the fourth and last Holy Door of our pilgrimage, where we celebrate Mass. (TBC) We continue to the Vatican Museum, a group of impressive edifices with hundreds of galleries filled with art treasures. We’ll cover the Gallery of Tapestries, the Raphael Rooms, and the most overwhelming - the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s masterpiece, with its restored mural of the Last Judgment. From the Sistine Chapel, we return to St. Peter’s Basilica and explore the largest church in Christendom, built on the site where St. Peter was martyred. Unsurpassed in beauty, a monument to the long history of the Catholic Church to which pilgrims come from around the world, St Peter’s is the grandest of the world’s churches. Our visit includes headsets, so each pilgrim can benefit from a clear explanation of what we see. Following the included lunch we walk to Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Gesu Church, to see the rooms of St. Ignatius and Santa Maria Sopra Minerva where St. Catherine of Siena is buried. Tonight dinner is at leisure. Overnight in Rome. (B, L)

Following breakfast, we depart for Orvieto. Upon arrival in Orvieto, we celebrate Mass at the Duomo, the gothic Cathedral built to house the holy relics of the Eucharistic Miracle of Orvieto. It was this miracle that occasioned the proclamation of the Feast of Corpus Christi and inspired St. Thomas Aquinas to write the famous hymn “Tantum Ergo.” We enjoy lunch in a local restaurant with a tasting of the Orvieto and Orvieto Classico wine this region is famous for. In the afternoon, we proceed to Assisi. We stop to visit Santa Maria of the Angels Basilica on the way. Dinner and overnight at our hotel in Assisi. (B.L.D)

Today, we depart for Cascia, where we celebrate Mass and visit the Monastery and the Shrine of St. Rita, one of the most popular Italian saints. She was a married woman, a mother, a widow, a nun, a stigmatist, and later, a mystic. The Basilica of St. Rita contains her incorrupt body, several relics from her life, and a Eucharistic miracle before her time. Following lunch, we return to Assisi, the city of birds and silence. Overnight in Assisi. (B.D)

This morning, we tour the Basilica of St. Francis and celebrate Mass and visit the Church of St. Clare to see her tomb. We head to San Damiano where we see the Cross, which spoke to St. Francis, ‘Rebuild my Church’. The afternoon is at leisure to explore this charming little hilltop town on our own. Overnight in Assisi. (B.D)

We depart for Loreto to see the Holy House of Nazareth, which was transported here from the Holy Land, as tradition tells us. In it, we can view the most reproduced Madonna in the world: the Black Madonna of Loreto. Continue to Lanciano to see the Host of Flesh, which is still in one piece and has retained the dimensions of the original. The actual spot of the miracle is located beneath the present-day tabernacle of the Church of St. Francis. This is also a pilgrimage place to Our Lady of Mercy. Here, we join in the celebration of Mass. We then depart for San Giovanni, the home of St. Padre Pio. Overnight and dinner at the hotel in San Giovanni. (B.D)

We celebrate Mass in the Church of Santa Maria Delle Grazia this morning. We continue with visits to the places associated with Padre Pio, his tomb and cell, the old church where he received the stigmata, his confessional, and the old church of Santa Maria Delle Grazia. In the afternoon, see the Grotto of St. Michael the Archangel and celebrate Mass. Overnight and dinner at the hotel. (B.D)

We drive to Nettuno today to visit the Shrine of St. Maria Goretti, where we celebrate Mass. Dinner and overnight at our hotel in Castel Gandolfo. (B.D)

This morning, we are transferred to the airport for our flight home. (Boxed Breakfast)