Santarem, Fatima, Coimbra, Loyola, Lourdes, Siena, Assisi & Rome
Air from San Juan/New York, Lisbon and Rome May 09 to May 23 June 06 to June 20 July 11 to July 25 August 08 to August 22 September 19 to October 03 October 11 to October 25 Nov 07 to November 21 13 nights in 3 star & 4 star hotels (or similar): ~ 3 nights: Lux Munde Hotel, Fatima, Portugal ~ 1 night: Gran Hotel Residencia, Salamanca Spain ~ 3 nights: Hotel Gallia Londres, Lourdes, France ~ 1 night: Hotel Atlantic, Nice, France ~ 2 night: Hotel Giotto, Assisi, Italy ~ 3 nights: Hotel Michelangelo, Rome, Italy.Breakfast and dinner daily. All transfers by private motor coach
our escorts, local guides, sightseeing and entrance fees. Papal Audience-Mass daily. Luggage handling and hotel taxes. DAY 1: New York - Lisbon
Our pilgrimage begins as we leave New York's JFK Airport for an overnight flight to Lisbon. Dinner and breakfast are served on board. DAY 2: Lisbon - Santarem - Fatima
After an orientation drive through Lisbon, we drive to the town of Santarem, one of the oldest cities in the world. We will walk through its narrow streets to the Church of St. Stephen, containing the oldest recorded Eucharistic miracle. See the 750-year-old Holy Miracle of Santarem, a relic of the Bleeding Host. Stolen by a woman in payment to a sorcerer, the host began to emit a brilliant beam of light and then to bleed. In the early afternoon, we drive to nearby Fatima, the place where the Blessed Mother appeared in 1917 to three simple shepherd children and exhorted mankind to pray for world peace. After settling into your hotel, you may participate in a candlelight procession or relax. Dinner and overnight. DAY 3 & 4: Fatima
After breakfast, we will celebrate Mass at the Little Chapel of the Apparitions. Touring Fatima, we see the Basilica, the site of Francesco and Jacinta's graves, the Hamlet of Aljustrel, where the children lived, and Valinhos, the site of Our Lady's appearance after the children's return from prison. Follow the Stations of the Cross along the Via Sacra (Sacred Way) culminating in the Chapel of Calvary that overlooks all of Fatima. Join pilgrims from around the world in an evening candlelight procession to pray the rosary. Don't forget your white handkerchief for the Adeus farewell, when thousands of pilgrims wave a loving farewell to the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary. Dinner and overnight in Fatima. DAY 5: Fatima - Coimbra - Salamanca
After breakfast we depart by motor coach to the city of Coimbra. Here you will see the incorrupt body of St. Isabel and the Carmelite cloister where Sister Lucia still lives. We will drive into Spain to the ancient university town of Salamanca. An orientation drive through this lovely city includes the 16th-century Plateresque buildings, the Roman-style Cathedral with its altar depicting 53 scenes from Christ's life, the Convent of the Holy Spirit, the House of the Dead from 1515, and Monterrey Palace. DAY 6: Salamanca - Loyola - Lourdes
Early departure from Salamanca to Lourdes. On the way, we will stop in the city of Loyola, the birthplace of St. Ignatius de Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. We cross into France, traveling to the great pilgrimage center of Lourdes. Dinner and overnight. DAYS 7 & 8: Lourdes
During your stay in Lourdes you may celebrate daily mass at the Grotto, 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. Pray for the sick, drink water from the miraculous spring, submerge yourself in the healing baths, and 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, attend the blessing of the sick, and participate in nightly candlelight processions requested by Our Lady. Time for private devotions before dinner and overnight. DAY 9: Lourdes - Sete - Nice
After breakfast, we drive southeast to the French Riviera with a stop in Sete located on the pristine shoreline of France's beautiful Mediterranean coast. Our travels end today with our arrival in the glamorous French City of Nice, DAY 10: Nice - Siena - Assisi
Depart from Nice for Siena, the birthplace of Saints Catherine and Bernardine and Italy's loveliest medieval city. Here we will stroll the Piazza del Campo, one of Italy's finest squares, celebrate Mass at the Cathedral, and visit the Basilica of St. Francis, containing the miraculous consecrated hosts that have remained intact since 1730. View the incorrupt head of St. Catherine, the mystical bride of Christ, at St. Dominic's Basilica. Later we drive through the Umbria region to the pilgrimage center of Assisi, where St. Francis tended the poor and sick and founded the Franciscan order. Arrive Assisi just in time for dinner. DAY 11: Assisi
After breakfast, we celebrate Mass at the tomb of St. Francis. Explore the quaint hilltop birthplace of St. Francis that still retains something of the atmosphere of the early 1200s, the period of his ministry. Contained within the huge 13th-century Basilica are many of the saint's 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. Dinner and overnight in Assisi. DAY 12: Assisi - Rome
We drive to Rome for dinner and overnight. DAY 13: Rome
Begin our day with Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the world. This morning we will tour St. Mary Major, one of the oldest shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, a shrine containing a relic from the manger of the infant Jesus. We will tour the Catacombs of St. Callixtus where the early Christians hid themselves to escape persecution. You will see the Cathedral of Rome and the Holy Stairs. Free afternoon. Dinner and overnight. DAY 14: Rome (Papal Audience at the Vatican)
After breakfast we go to Vatican City to attend the weekly Papal Audience and Blessing given by His Holiness, John Paul II. 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 Basilica 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, numerous papal tombs, Michelangelo's restored mural of the Last Judgment on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, his Pieta, and the four mighty piers supporting the 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. In the afternoon we will drive past the Coliseum, the Roman Forum and then explore St. Paul outside the Walls, which houses the remains of St. Paul under its main altar. We will also visit the Church of St. Peter in Chains to see Michelangelo's incomparable statue of Moses. Dinner and overnight in Rome. DAY 15: Rome - USA
Depart Rome for our return flight to the USA/Puerto Rico. We fondly say, Arrivederci Roma! Not Included: Lunch. Airport tax of $85. Travel insurance at $99. Tips to guides and drivers ($5 per day). Items of a personal nature. Add-on airfare from your hometown. $ 500.00, *DEPOSITS OF THIS DEPARTURE ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.
Post-Tour Option
4 nights in Medjugorje - $895.00
Round-trip flight, meals, transfers, and guide. Day 15 - Rome - Split - Medjugorje
Depart from Rome airport for the one-hour flight to Dubrovnik. After being greeted by our tour guide and driver, we travel for 2 1/2 hours by motor coach to the sleepy village of Medjugorje. Upon arrival, you will be introduced to the families in whose modern, comfortable homes we will be staying. Breakfast and dinner served daily. Days 16 to 19 - Medjugorje
Every morning at 10 we assemble at St. James Church for the English-language Mass. Your guides will accompany you throughout the week as you follow the same path up Apparition Hill on which the young visionaries first encountered Our Lady. Contemplate the inspired artistry of the bronze plaques depicting each mystery of the rosary as you climb. Touch and pray before the cross that commemorates the spot where Mary appeared to the visionaries. At 6 PM you will be welcome each evening to join the villagers and pilgrims to pray the rosary. Be present in the church when the apparitions occur and then stay for the Croatian Mass and the Blessing of the Sick. Your guide will arrange a meeting with the visionaries in their own homes. You will have a chance to see and climb Krizevac Mountain, where in 1933 the villagers built a 30' high cross on the anniversary of Jesus' crucifixion. Contingent upon his schedule, you may visit Father Jozo's parish to attend his holy preaching. In 1981, when the apparitions began, Father Jozo was the pastor of St. James parish, and is considered by many to be the highlight of a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. Day 20 - Medjugorje - Split - Rome – San Juan/USA
Transfer to the airport for your homeward flight to San Juan or USA. $ 500.00, *DEPOSITS OF THIS DEPARTURE ARE NON-REFUNDABLE. Optional Medjugorje Post-tour Trip
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