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 Arrivals 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 priests. You will depart together for Mass, and following Mass, you will attend a welcome dinner. After dinner, you have to opportunity to join in a walk to St. Peter’s Square for the Rosary (optional).

This morning, we will head to Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis. You will start your tour at the St. Francis Basilica, visit the tomb of St. Francis, and view a series of frescoes depicting his life, along with a few of the saint’s possessions. Followed by a visit to the Santuario Della Spogliazione where Saint Carlo Acutis’ tomb is placed. From there, you will continue a walking tour through this picturesque town, including the birthplace of St. Francis, and end with a tour of the Church that honors St. Clare, the foundress of the Poor Clare Sisters. After lunch, you will board the bus, which will take you outside of the walls of Assisi, to the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. This is where St. Francis spent most of his life. This Basilica is made up of two structures, both of which you will visit. The first structure is the “Porziuncola”, where St. Francis founded his order of the Friars Minor (Franciscans). The second is the “Capella del Transito”, which is the place of St. Francis’ death. 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 an overnight.

This morning, we will attend the Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square or at the Audience Hall. The Audience is celebrated each Wednesday by His Holiness, Pope Francis (pending the papal schedule). Next, you will visit the Vatican Museum, where you can see the Tapestry Gallery, Raphael Rooms, and Sistine Chapel. Next Trevi Fountain area for some free time. Dinner and overnight.

Today, we will tour St. Peter’s Basilica, built on the site where St. Peter the Apostle was martyred. Here, you’ll be able to view Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture and pray at the tombs of Pope Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II. Then visit the oldest of the four major Basilicas in Rome, the Archbasilica of St. John the Lateran, the cathedral church, and the seat of the Bishop of Rome. Cross the street to the very steps that lead up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem which Jesus climbed on His way to trial during his Passion. The Holy Mass will be celebrated by our priests at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, dedicated to Our Blessed Mother. After lunch, visit the Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheater was built in the first century AD and was the largest amphitheater in the Roman Empire. Christians were often persecuted in the Roman Empire, and many of them were martyred in the Colosseum. Some of the most famous Christian martyrs who died in the Colosseum include Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Saint Polycarp, and Saint Perpetua and Saint Felicitas. The Colosseum is a reminder of the persecution that early Christians faced, and it is also a symbol of their faith and courage. The Roman Forum was the heart of ancient Rome, and it was the site of many important government buildings, temples, and shops. It was also the place where public meetings were held and where the laws were debated and passed. The Roman Forum was a bustling place. It was home to a wide variety of people, from wealthy aristocrats to poor laborers, and it was a place where people from all walks of life came together. Return to hotel for dinner and overnight.

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 to San Giovanni Rotondo, where St. Pio of Pietrelcina (St. Padre Pio) lived for many decades and where thousands of people have flocked to be closer to this great saint and Our Lord. Visit the Old Church of Our Lady of Grace, and see the confessional from where St. Pio spent innumerable hours listening to confessions. Dinner and overnight in San Giovanni Rotondo.

Depart for the Bari Airport for your trip back to the USA.

*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.