Day 1 - USA - Lourdes, France     

Departure from your home town, for the overnight flight to France. Dinner and breakfast will be served on board.
 

Day 2 - Lourdes     

Connect your flight in Paris (or Germany).  Upon arrival in France, meet your priest, tour guide & fellow pilgrims. Transfer to our hotel. At the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains in southwestern France, nestled between the spectacular mountain-river Gave de Pau, is Lourdes, one of the most important pilgrimage sites, visited by over 6 million pilgrims each year. Lourdes is the birthplace of St Bernadette to whom Our Lady appeared in 1858 near the Grotto of Massabielle. Relax or explore before dinner, followed by a candlelight procession (each evening from April to October).
 

Day 3 & 4- Lourdes      

After breakfast, our guided tour of Lourdes will include the sanctuary; the Basilica of St Pius X, the world's largest underground church; and the baths where hundreds of miraculous cures have taken place. Enjoy a video presentation telling the story of Lourdes, and walk in the footsteps of St Bernadette. See Boly Mill where St Bernadette was born and the "Cachot," an abandoned prison where Bernadette's impoverished family lived. Join your prayers with those of pilgrims from around the world as you pray for the sick, drink water from the miraculous spring,pray at the Grotto and submerge yourself in the healing baths. Experience Christ's love as you walk the life-sized Stations of the Cross overlooking the holy Grotto. Kneel in the chapel built on the very rock of the Grotto in obedience to the request of the "Immaculate Conception." Attend the blessing of the sick and participate in nightly candlelight processions requested by Our Lady, and take time for private devotions. Each evening dinners are at your hotel.
 

Day 5 - Lourdes -  Rome    

Flights to Rome.  Afternoon arrival in Rome - the Eternal City, and transfer to our hotel.  Dinner and overnight in Rome.
 

Day 6 - Rome (Papal Audience)     

After breakfast we go to Vatican City to attend the weekly Papal Audience and Blessing given by His Holiness. Visit St Peter's Basilica, 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. View such historical treasures as a piece of the True Cross, the lance that pierced Christ's side, and numerous papal tombs. We will also see Michelangelo's restored mural of the Last Judgment on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, his Pieta, and the four mighty piers that support St Peter's magnificent dome. In the afternoon take time to visit the Vatican Garden, Library and Museum to see awe-inspiring relics and works of art donated throughout centuries as tributes of faith. Dinner and overnight in Rome.
 

Day 7 - Rome     

Breakfast, then we depart for a tour of Christian Rome. The tour includes three major Basilicas: St Mary Major, one of the oldest shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, containing a relic from the manger of the infant Jesus. The Basilica of the St John in Lateran, the former residence of the popes prior to their return to Rome in 1377. St Paul Outside the Walls, which houses the remains of St Paul under its main altar. We will also see the ancient Baths of Caracalla, Arch of Drusus, Chapel "O' Domine Quo Vadis?", the remains of imperial tombs, Tomb of Celilia Metella, and the Catacombs of St Callixtus where the early Christians hid themselves to escape persecution. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
 

Day 8 - Rome - San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio)      

We leave the Eternal City and head southeast to San Giovanni. En route, we will stop in Monte Cassino to see the Monastery founded by St Benedict in 529. This lovely Abbey sits atop a hill overlooking the village of Cassino. We arrive in San Giovanni, the birthplace and home of Padre Pio, in time for dinner.
 

Day 9 - San Giovanni Rotondo - Monte San Angelo (Grotto of Michael the Archangel)     

After celebrating Mass at the tomb of Padre Pio, we visit the sanctuary, led by one of the fathers who knew Padre Pio personally. We will tour the old church and see the crucifix from which he received the stigmata in 1918.You will see the confessional where Padre Pio spent innumerable hours with a multitude of pilgrims, directing them on their journey toward God. Enjoy a breathtaking view of the Cargano Peninsula and a visit to the Grotto of Michael the Archangel. Six popes, St Francis, and at least four other saints have knelt in prayer at this grotto, seeking the protection of St. Michael. A panoramic view of the ocean and the surrounding countryside awaits you at this most celebrated shrine of early Christianity, the only Catholic Church to have been consecrated by St. Michael himself in 490. Return to San Giovanni for devotions, reflection, and a restful overnight.
 

Day 10 -SGR - Lanciano - Loreto - Assisi     

Our travels today first take us to Lanciano to see the 8th-century Eucharistic Miracle in the little Church of Lagontial. Expressing doubts about Christ's true presence in the consecrated host, a monk found himself holding a host that had changed into flesh and wine that had changed into blood. Next we follow the lush Adriatic coast to the great Marian shrine of Loreto to visit the Holy House of Nazareth and the beautiful Madonna of Loreto. More than 50 popes have made a pilgrimage to the house transported by angels to this hill in central Italy in 1294. Tradition has it that this is the house where Mary prayed the Magnificat, where Jesus grew to manhood, and the Holy Family dwelled. Mass at the Shrine in Loreto; then we transfer for dinner and overnight in Assisi.
 

Day 11 - Assisi    

Explore the quaint hilltop birthplace of St Francis, which still retains something of the atmosphere of the early 1200s when St Francis began his ministry. Pray before the tomb of St Francis. Contained within the huge 13th-century Basilica are many of his possessions and a series of frescoes depicting his life. You may kneel before the crucifix from which Jesus spoke to St Francis, asking him to rebuild His church. It was in St Mary of the Angels Basilica where St Francis spent most of his life. Here we visit the Chapel, Portiuncola, the rose bush, and the cave where the saint retired for prayer. Stroll the medieval streets of the compact little town. After stopping at an outdoor cafe with a view of an ancient Roman temple ,we go to the Church of St Clare to see the saint's incorrupt body. The foundress of the Order of Poor Clares followed the teachings of St Francis by living a life of poverty and humility.  Return to Assisi for dinner and overnight.