A Marian Pilgrimage to Lourdes and Fatima with Fr. Bob Knippenberg and Ceci Triska

We depart Houston International Airport on an overnight flight to Toulouse, France. Dinner and breakfast are served on the plane. Quotes for add-on flights and optional Premium Economy and Business Class upgrades are available upon request. Due to group air restrictions, we cannot request specific seat assignments on flights. If this is an essential trip feature, please book land-only with us and arrange your own air travel.

Welcome to France. This morning, we arrive at Toulouse Airport to meet our English-speaking tour manager. We board our deluxe motorcoach and are transferred to Lourdes, where we spend the next two days. Settle into your hotel and walk over to the Basilica for Mass. Dinner and overnight in Lourdes.

During our visit, we celebrate Mass daily, watch a video presentation on the story of Lourdes, and walk in the footsteps of St. Bernadette. We see Boly Mill, where St. Bernadette was born, and the “Cachot,” an abandoned prison where Bernadette’s impoverished family lived. Join our prayers with those of pilgrims from around the world as we pray for the sick, drink water from the miraculous spring, or submerge ourselves in the healing baths. We experience Christ’s love as we 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.” Evenings are free for the optional Blessed Sacrament Procession before dinner. Our role in the universal church will take on new meaning as we join the candlelight procession and participate in the group rosary. Dinner and overnight in Lourdes.

Departing Lourdes, our coach drives across Spain to Avila, the magnificent walled city dedicated to St. Teresa of Avila. Here, the atmosphere has changed very little since the days of St. Teresa, to whom the city is dedicated. St. Teresa, the great mystic, was the first woman named Doctor of the Church. We visit the crypt of La Santa Convent, built on the site of the house where she was born; La Encarnacion Convent, where St. Teresa became a nun and home to the most comprehensive museum dedicated to her life; the Cathedral, and the Cuatro Postes (four columns) commemorate St. Teresa, who, at the age of seven, convinced her brother to run away with her to die as martyrs in the land of the Moors. Their uncle caught them at Cuatro Postes site and returned them home. We drive along the pilgrimage route “From the cradle to the grave” which links the cities of Ávila and Alba de Tormes, which many pilgrims walk as they are walking in the footprints of the Restless Saint. In Alba de Tormes, the origin of the Noble House of Alba, we see where Saint Teresa died on October 4, 1582. Our visit includes Mass at the convent of La Anunciación (The Annunciation), which keeps her sepulchre, as well as the great relics of her heart and left arm. Dinner and overnight in Avila.

Today, we continue our journey through Spain to Portugal. Late in the afternoon, we arrive in Fatima, one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the world, well-known for the apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd children in 1917. Mass will be celebrated. Overnight in Fatima.

We start the day with Mass at the Basilica. Followed by the activities organized for the Feast Day. After lunch, we see the parish church where the visionaries were baptized and other places associated with their young lives, including the cemetery where the children are buried and their homes in Aljustrel. We travel to Valinhos, visiting the site where the Holy Virgin appeared in August, the outdoor Stations of the Cross erected by the Americans, and the beautiful Shrine of the Crucifixion, built on the highest point by Hungarian refugees. Tonight, we participate in the Candlelight and Blessed Sacrament Procession. Dinner and overnight in Fatima.

After breakfast, we celebrate Mass, and have time to visit the Museum, for personal prayer and reflection, and for shopping for religious articles which Father will bless. Dinner and overnight in Fatima.

Following breakfast, we depart for Santarem to venerate the Miracle of the Eucharist and celebrate Mass. We continue to the capital of Portugal, one of the most beautiful and historic cities in Europe. Located on the River Tagus, Lisbon is a vibrant city full of life, color, and fascinating places. We see Belem Tower, the longest bridge in Europe, and the impressive 300-foot-high statue of Christ the King. Tonight, enjoy a farewell dinner accompanied by wine in a local restaurant. Overnight in Lisbon. (B. Special dinner)

After breakfast, we are transferred to Lisbon Airport for our return flight home.