Make your way to your local airport where you will board your overnight flight(s) to Munich. Your meals will be served on board.

Upon arrival at Munich Airport, make your way to the baggage claim area and collect your luggage. Proceed to the Arrivals Hall, where you will be greeted by your tour guide and/or driver and be driven to Munich, the capital of Bavaria. Your tour of Munich will begin today with Marienplatz, the central city square and Frauenkirche (the Church of Our Lady), which serves as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and is a famous symbol of the city. We will celebrate the beginning of our pilgrimage with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. You will then have free time for lunch and shopping, after which we will meet back together for dinner and our first overnight stay in Munich.

Following breakfast, we will depart Munich for Altotting. Nicknamed the “Lourdes of Germany,” this city is home to one of Germany’s most celebrated shrines. The 13th-century statue of Our Lady of Altotting is said to have caused numerous miraculous cures and has sparked deep devotion to our Lady in this city. Upon arrival we will celebrate Mass at the home of this statue, the Chapel of Mercy. Next, we will admire the understandably famous Panorama of the Crucifixion – a circular painting more than 300 feet long and 30 feet high depicting Jerusalem and the Crucifixion. While in Altotting, we will also have the opportunity to visit the basilica and St. Konrad’s Monastery. In the afternoon we will cross the border to Austria to visit the Silent Night Chapel, commemorating the brief Christmas Day peace that took place during World War I. Nearby we will enjoy a short visit to the beautiful city of Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart. In Salzburg we will visit Nonnberg Abbey (the convent of Maria Von Trapp) and the Maria Plain Pilgrimage Basilica. After a wonderful day we will return to Munich for dinner and an overnight stay.

We will leave Munich early this morning for a visit to Dachau, notoriously known for serving as a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War. Upon arriving at the former camp just outside of Munich, sorrow overtakes the atmosphere as its visitors are reminded of the unspeakable atrocities that occurred at this site. Here we will solemnly appreciate the value of life and mourn the loss of so many. With heavy hearts we will continue through the Bavarian countryside. We will arrive at Neuschwanstein: King Ludwig’s fairytale castle perched in the foothills of the Alps. We will continue and cross the Austrian border to visit Seefeld, where an astonishing Eucharistic miracle brought an arrogant knight to humility. Oswald Milser was an arrogant man of great importance, so when he demanded to consume the large priest’s host during Mass, the celebrant was too afraid to refuse him. When the host touched his lips, he began to sink into the floor. He tried to hold fast to the altar, but that stone began to melt as well. The priest removed the host from the mouth of Oswald, at which point the floor stopped sinking and the Blessed Sacrament began to bleed. The knight’s heart melted as quickly as the floor had and he begged God for forgiveness. Inside the Church of St. Oswald, pilgrims can still see the hole in the ground where Oswald sank up to his knees. We conclude our day with a drive to Innsbruck, Austria, for dinner and an overnight stay.

Today we will visit the quaint country of Liechtenstein, and then continue on our adventure to Switzerland! We will begin with Einsiedeln, Switzerland’s famous Marian shrine. With its majestic edifice – elaborately decorated pastel ceilings, marble side altars, and a large high altar in the east end – the shrine is a baroque feast for the eyes. The most important part of the basilica is the Lady Chapel, located near the entrance. The Lady Chapel is a free-standing square marble structure that recalls the shelter over Christ’s tomb in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Above the chapel’s altar is the Black Madonna, also known as Our Lady of the Hermitage, resplendent in rich robes and surrounded by gold clouds. This devotion to the Blessed Virgin holding the Christ child dates back to at least the ninth century, and the statue’s fascinating history involves surviving fires and our Lady interceding for many miracles. We will continue our tour with a short walk to the world’s largest nativity scene, the Diorama Bethlehem, with more than 500 carved wooden figures. We will celebrate Mass at the shrine, and then continue to our hotel in Lucerne where we will check-in, enjoy dinner, and stay overnight.

After breakfast we will take the scenic route through the Swiss countryside, making our way through the Swiss Alps. After Mass, we will continue on to the picturesque shrine of Our Lady of the Rock at Orselina, or “Santuario de la Madonna del Sasso.” It is said that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared here on 1480’s Feast of the Assumption to Brother Bartolommeo, who was living in a nearby cave. He had a strong devotion to Our Lady, and she confirmed to him that this ought to be a place of prayer. In response to her apparition, the hermetic monk erected a small chapel. In the 17th-century several more chapels were completed, connecting the mountaintop with the valley below. Each chapel is dedicated to an event in the life of Christ and Mary. We will continue our adventure south to cross the border to Italy with a peaceful stop at Lake Como. Joyously colorful and quaint buildings intrude on this magnificent lake, making for a lovely introduction to Italy that will give you a breath of fresh air. We will complete our full day of travel by arriving in Milan for dinner and an overnight stay.

Following breakfast, we will embark on a sightseeing journey with a local guide in Milan. We will marvel at the famous “Last Supper” painting by Leonardo da Vinci, housed in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie (pending availability). We will pray for the intercession of St. Ambrose and St. Charles Borromeo as we visit the sites of their tombs (the Basilica of St. Ambrogio and the spectacular Milan Cathedral, respectively). The Milan Cathedral boasts being the largest cathedral in all of Italy. The duomo houses incredible relics, including a nail from the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Helena originally sent it to her son Constantine, who had it made into a bridle for his horse. The nail came into St. Ambrose’s possession at the end of the fourth century, and is now raised and lowered on a unique platform to be venerated. After free time for lunch, Pavia itself then awaits us to explore its famous covered bridge over Ticino river, the Towers of Pavia historical center, and one of the most famous churches built by a Lombard king in Pavia: San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro. The largest tomb of the three located in San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro contains the remains of St. Augustine of Hippo! We will have time to appreciate this site and venerate the remains of this great doctor of the Church. We will return to our hotel in Milan for dinner and an overnight stay.

This morning we will traverse the countryside around Milan to visit the shrine and tomb of St. Gianna Beretta Molla at Mesero. St. Gianna (1922-1962) lived a heroic yet simple life as a pediatrician, wife, and mother of four. She served the poor as well as her patients wholeheartedly, while attending to her children as if they were each Jesus as a child. When given the option to terminate her fourth pregnancy due to a severe complication, she opted for the surgery that would preserve the life of her daughter. St. Gianna ended up passing away a week after her cesarean section and her daughter is still alive today. We will go to Magenta in Ponte Nuovo to see the house where Gianna was born, the Basilica di San Martino where she was baptized, and the chapel of Madonna del Buon Consiglio where she often prayed and had her children baptized. There will be free time for lunch before we move on to Castelnuovo Don Bosco, the birthplace of St. John Bosco. St. John Bosco (1815-1888), also known as Don Bosco, was a priest and educator of disadvantaged youth. He founded the Salesians in Turin under the patronage of St. Francis de Sales with the mission of educating children with love rather than punishment. One of his students was St. Dominic Savio, of whom St. John Bosco wrote the biography that helped him become canonized. After commemorating the beautiful lives of these two Italian saints, we will travel to Turin for dinner and our first overnight stay in the city of the Shroud.

This morning we will wake up in the city of Turin, capital of the Piedmont region and home of the famous Shroud of Turin. This relic appears to bear the image of our Crucified Lord. Years and years of research attest to its authenticity, and millions believe it to be the linen burial cloth on which Christ’s face was miraculously permanently imprinted. The Shroud has a fascinating history and has sparked countless deep conversions throughout the world. Although the Shroud is not on display, we will visit where it is kept: the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Here we will venerate the buried body of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, which was found incorrupt when transferred to this cathedral in 1981. This young, fun-loving, athletic man died at the age of 24 leaving behind many people who loved him. He cared for the poor, hiked, laughed often, and prayed devoutly. Frassati was a strong Catholic with a simple life for all of us to emulate. We will then move on to the Sanctuary of Maria Ausiliatrice, (the Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians) completed in 1868. This church was originally part of a home for impoverished boys founded by Saint John Bosco. For this reason the saint is buried here along with the relics of St. Dominic Savio and other saints. Lastly we will visit the Corpus Domini Basilica, the site of the 15th-century Eucharistic miracle. French soldiers looted the main church, and the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament was put in a bag and loaded on a mule. The mule stumbled as they were leaving and the monstrance with our Lord rose above the surrounding houses, arousing wonder in all of the witnesses. The bishop, people, and clergy prayed “stay with us, Lord.” The monstrance fell leaving the host free and shining, and the bishop lifted up a chalice into which the host came down and rested. A railing in the basilica marks the place where this miraculous event took place in 1453. This afternoon you will have free time for some shopping before gathering at the hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

Today we will journey to Oropa, one of the oldest Marian shrines in the world. The shrine was founded by St. Eusebius of Vercilli in the 4th century. According to local legend, the town was spared from the plague in the 17th century because of their dedication to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Every year the residents make a pilgrimage in thanks to our Lady. We will visit the Brown Madonna as well as the church where Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati prayed. We will also see the mountain he climbed and take a cable car that goes halfway up the mountain to the lake (weather and time permitting). We will then return to Frassati’s birthplace, Turin, for a farewell dinner and our final overnight stay.

After an early breakfast, your group will leave by motor coach and transfer to the Turin airport for your return flights. You will arrive home with several countries and countless stories under your belt. Thank you for joining us for your multi-cultural pilgrimage experience!

*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.