A Lenten Pilgrimage to Italy

Departure from a USA gateway airport — final routing to be confirmed based on best pricing and connections from Chesterton Schools Network home cities. Overnight transatlantic flight to Rome.

Morning arrival at Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO). The group is met by our ProRome tour manager and transferred by private motorcoach into Rome. In the afternoon we set out on a walking tour of Ancient Rome — the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and Capitoline Hill — before celebrating our Welcome Mass at a church in the historic center. Following Mass we transfer to our religious guesthouse near the Vatican for check-in. Pizza party together in the evening.

After breakfast at the guesthouse we make our way to St. Peter’s Square for the Papal Audience with the Holy Father — a Wednesday tradition in which the Pope addresses pilgrims from around the world. Following the audience and lunch on your own, we enter the Vatican Museums, culminating in the Sistine Chapel. From there we continue directly into St. Peter’s Basilica to see Michelangelo’s Pietà, Bernini’s Baldacchino, the Confession, the Chair of St. Peter, and the tomb of St. John Paul II. Mass will be celebrated at an altar within St. Peter’s or at a nearby Vatican-area church. Group dinner.

After breakfast we visit the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore — one of the four papal basilicas — with its 5th-century mosaics, the relic of the Holy Crib, and the tomb of Pope Francis. We then visit the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano — the Cathedral of Rome and “Mother and Head of all the Churches of the City and of the World” — followed by the Scala Sancta, the stairs of Pilate’s praetorium brought to Rome by St. Helena and traditionally climbed on the knees, and the Sancta Sanctorum at the top. After a pizza lunch in the nearby park, we visit the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, home to relics of the True Cross, the Title of the Cross, the nails, and the finger of St. Thomas. Mass will be celebrated at one of the day’s basilicas.

After breakfast we depart for Tre Fontane Abbey, the site of St. Paul’s martyrdom, and continue to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls — the second-largest basilica in Rome and one of the four papal basilicas — where we celebrate Mass. Pizza lunch to follow. We then travel along the Via Appia Antica to visit the Catacombs of St. Sebastian (or St. Callixtus). Mass will be celebrated at one of the catacomb churches or a nearby basilica. Stations of the Cross in the evening.

After breakfast we set out on a walking tour of Baroque Rome, built over ancient and medieval Rome. Prepare for a day of sacred relics, ancient monuments, medieval alleyways, Renaissance piazzas and fountains and so much more. Along the way we pass by the Chiesa Nuova, the Gesù, Sant’Ignazio, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Piazza Navona and the churches of Sant’Agnese, Sant’Agostino and San Luigi dei Francesi. Time permitting, we then cross the Tiber to Trastevere, the medieval heart of Rome, with its winding cobblestone streets, the ancient Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, and the Basilica of Santa Cecilia. Group dinner and farewell to Rome to follow.

After breakfast and check-out, we board our private motorcoach and travel south to the Abbey of Monte Cassino (~2.5 hours) — motherhouse of the Benedictine Order, founded by St. Benedict in 529 AD, burial place of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, and rebuilt after its destruction in 1944. We enjoy a guided tour of the abbey followed by Mass. After Mass, free time for lunch nearby. We then continue east-southeast across the Apennines toward San Giovanni Rotondo (~3.5 hours), arriving in time for check-in at our religious guesthouse and a group dinner.

After breakfast we visit the Sanctuary of St. Padre Pio: the old church and confessional where Padre Pio heard confessions for hours each day, the crypt and tomb of St. Padre Pio, and the new church designed by Renzo Piano where the saint’s body is venerated. Mass will be celebrated at the Sanctuary. After lunch on your own in San Giovanni Rotondo, we transfer (~50 minutes) to Monte Sant’Angelo to visit the Sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo — the cave where the Archangel Michael appeared in the 5th century, one of the oldest shrines in Western Christianity and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Time for a Holy Hour here. Return to San Giovanni Rotondo for group dinner.

After an early breakfast and check-out, we travel north by private motorcoach to Lanciano (~2 hours) and the Church of San Francesco, home to the 8th-century Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano — the flesh and blood preserved unchanged for over 1,200 years, identified by modern scientific examination as human cardiac tissue and type AB blood. Mass will be celebrated at the Church of San Francesco, followed by free time for lunch on your own in Lanciano. We then continue north to Assisi (~3 hours), arriving for check-in at our religious guesthouse in Assisi’s centro storico and a group dinner.

After breakfast we celebrate Mass at the Basilica of San Francesco, followed by a guided tour: veneration at the tomb of St. Francis in the crypt, the Lower Church with its Cimabue and Giotto frescoes, and the Upper Church with Giotto’s monumental 28-panel fresco cycle of the life of St. Francis. We then walk through the medieval streets of the centro storico for a guided visit to the Basilica of Santa Chiara — the tomb of St. Clare and the San Damiano Crucifix, the cross that spoke to St. Francis: “Rebuild my church.” We conclude at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, resting place of St. Carlo Acutis. Group dinner in Assisi.

After breakfast we visit the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in the valley below — home to the Portiuncula, where the Franciscan Order was founded, and the Cappella del Transito, where St. Francis died. Mass will be celebrated at the Portiuncula. We then return to the centro storico for a visit to San Damiano and a hike up to the Eremo delle Carceri, the hermitage where St. Francis and his early companions retreated for prayer. The late afternoon is free, with the possibility of a Holy Hour. We gather in the evening for a farewell dinner.

After an early breakfast and check-out we celebrate a morning Mass in Assisi (timing determined by flight schedule). Private motorcoach transfer to Rome FCO Airport (~2.5 hours) for return transatlantic flights to the USA — arriving home the same day.