2027 Easter Break Pilgrimage through Italy

On Easter Monday our pilgrimage begins with departure from Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport (MSP). We fly United Airlines via Chicago O'Hare for our overnight transatlantic crossing to Rome. See the Group Flight Information section below for full flight details.

Arrival in Rome. Welcome to Italy! We meet our ProRome Tour Manager and board our private motorcoach for Assisi. Along the way we stop in the hilltop town of Orvieto, home to one of Italy's finest Gothic cathedrals. Inside this stunning medieval Duomo, pilgrims venerate a relic of the Blood of Christ — the Eucharistic Miracle of Bolsena, the first Church-approved Eucharistic miracle and the inspiration for the Feast of Corpus Christi. There is free time to explore and pray; some may wish to visit St. Patrick's Well, a 16th-century engineering marvel with 248 spiral steps. We then continue to Assisi and check into our religious guesthouse in the historical center, followed by a group dinner together.

After breakfast we enter into the life and legacy of Saint Francis and Saint Clare with a walking tour of Assisi. We visit the Basilica of Saint Francis, beginning in the crypt where the saint is buried and culminating in the Upper Basilica with Giotto's magnificent frescoes. We continue to the Basilica of Saint Clare to venerate her tomb and the San Damiano crucifix that spoke to Saint Francis more than 800 years ago. Free time for lunch — with an optional Rocca Maggiore hike for those who wish. The afternoon brings visits to the Cathedral of San Rufino, the Chiesa Nuova, and the Church of Saint Mary Major, where pilgrims pray at the final resting place of Saint Carlo Acutis. Before dinner we visit the Porziuncola chapel — the original home of the Franciscan Order and the place of Saint Francis's death — within the great Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels.

Following breakfast we depart for San Giovanni Rotondo, stopping in the coastal city of Loreto along the way. Loreto is home to one of Europe's most sacred sanctuaries: the Holy House of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here pilgrims experience the mystery of the Annunciation in a profound way, at the very place where the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary announcing the Incarnation — brought to Italy, tradition holds, during the Middle Ages, with building techniques matching those found at the Holy House in Nazareth. We continue to San Giovanni Rotondo, the home of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, check into our hotel, and enjoy a group dinner together.

After breakfast we tour San Giovanni Rotondo and the sites associated with the life and ministry of Saint Pio. We visit the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie, where Padre Pio lived, prayed, and bore the stigmata for fifty years, and venerate his tomb in the modern sanctuary dedicated to his memory. Free time for lunch. In the afternoon we take an excursion to Monte Sant'Angelo to visit the Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel. This sacred grotto is one of the oldest pilgrimage sites in Christianity, where according to tradition the Archangel Michael appeared in the late 5th and early 6th centuries — a destination for pilgrims for over 1,500 years. We return to San Giovanni Rotondo for dinner.

After breakfast we depart for Rome, stopping at Monte Cassino along the way. This mountaintop monastery is the motherhouse of the Benedictine Order and holds the tombs of Saint Benedict and his sister, Saint Scholastica. We enjoy a guided tour and time for individual prayer before continuing to Rome. On arrival we check into our religious guesthouse in the historical center, located within a few hundred meters of St. Peter's Basilica — a ProRome Tours promise thanks to our strong network of religious guesthouses in the Vatican area. Group dinner together.

After breakfast there is some free time before the day's great moment. There is an option to climb to the top of Michelangelo's dome for the most incredible panorama of Rome. At 12:00 PM we join the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, for the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square. Following the Angelus we proceed to the Via Appia for a group lunch at Ristorante Cecilia Metella, across from the Catacombs of St. Sebastian, and enjoy a guided tour of the Catacombs of St. Sebastian, named for the soldier-martyr buried there. We continue to the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, the second-largest church in Rome, built over the tomb of St. Paul, visible from the confessio before the high altar. A group dinner concludes the day.

After breakfast we visit the Basilica of Saint Agnes Outside the Walls for Mass and veneration of our patroness, Saint Agnes. We then explore ancient Rome, including the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and the Basilica of San Clemente, discovering the story of Rome from its founding in the 8th century BC to its fall in the 5th century AD. Free time for lunch. In the afternoon we visit the Cathedral of Rome, the Lateran Basilica, built by Emperor Constantine — mater et caput, mother and head of all the churches of the world. Nearby are the Holy Stairs, the very steps Christ ascended at Pontius Pilate's Praetorium, climbed on one's knees, and the Basilica of Holy Cross in Jerusalem, which safeguards relics of Christ's Passion including a large piece of the True Cross. Group dinner together.

After breakfast we tour the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, which preserve the world's greatest collections of Early Christian, Medieval, and Renaissance art, continuing into Saint Peter's Basilica. Free time for lunch. The afternoon is dedicated to the Centro Storico, exploring the Catholic Counter-Reformation through the saints, art, and architecture of this transformative movement. We visit the Basilica of Saint Mary Major to venerate the manger relic, the Madonna Salus Populi Romani, and the tomb of Pope Saint Pius V; Piazza Navona with the church of Sant'Agnese and Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers; and the Pantheon, consecrated as a church in 609 and dedicated to Saint Mary and the Martyrs. Time allows for charming side streets, gelato, and personal reflection. Farewell group dinner together.

Following an early breakfast, we transfer to Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) for our return flights home via Chicago O'Hare, carrying with us the graces and memories of our pilgrimage. Welcome home!