Fatima, Lourdes, and the Carmelite Sites of Spain with Fr. Randal Kasel

Depart on an overnight flight from Minneapolis to Lisbon. Dinner and breakfast will be served on the flights. Add-on flights from different airports, optional premium economy, and business class are available upon request. We work with group flights that do not permit airplane seat selection. If seat location is important to you, please book land only package with us and air on your own, enabling you to request a specific airline seat.

Upon arrival in Lisbon, we meet our driver and the Select International English-speaking tour manager. We board our deluxe motor coach for a panoramic city tour of Lisbon. We continue to drive to St. Stephen’s Church in Santarem to celebrate Mass and venerate the Miracle of the Eucharist. Arrival in Fatima for dinner and overnight. (D) *itinerary is dependant on the time of arrival.

After breakfast, a busy day awaits us as we meet in the lobby and walk to the site of apparitions. We visit the Chapel of Apparitions and the Basilica complex, where we celebrate Mass. We pray at the tombs of Blessed Jacinta and Blessed Francisco, in the Adoration Chapel, and at the Miraculous Fountain. We pray along the Stations of the Cross erected by the Americans and see the beautiful Shrine of the Crucifixion built on the highest point by Hungarian refugees. Dinner and overnight in Fatima.

Today we see the church where the visionaries were baptized, visit their homes in Aljustrel, see Valinhos, where the Angel appeared, and visit the Shrine where the Holy Virgin appeared in August. We celebrate Mass at the Basilica and join in the evening Rosary Procession. Dinner and overnight in Fatima.

After breakfast, we depart for Salamanca, one of Spain’s foremost cultural centers, a great university city, and a showcase of intricately sculpted Renaissance architecture in golden stone. Visit the Plaza Mayor, which is regarded as one of the most attractive squares in Spain, and the majestic Cathedral where we celebrate Mass. We arrive in Ávila today, the City of Kings and of Saints, completely encircled by 11th-century walls. This is the birthplace of St. Teresa, one of the greatest mystics and the patron of the Avila Institute. We visit the Museum of Avila and celebrate Mass at the Convent of La Encarnación, where St. Teresa entered religious life. In the museum, we see various relics and the stairs where Teresa encountered the Child Jesus. Dinner and overnight in Avila.

We continue our visit of Ávila today. The walled city of Ávila is the home of St. Teresa, one of four female Doctors of the Church. We visit the Cathedral, which contains many of St. Teresa’s relics, the crypt of the Convento of La Santa, built on the site of the house where she was born and home to the most comprehensive museum dedicated to her life, and the Convent of San Jose, the first convent that she founded. We also visit Los Cuatro Postes, tradition says that it was built to commemorate the place where Francisco de Cepeda, little Teresa’s uncle, found the saint and her brother Rodrigo while fleeing from the land of Moors. This spot provides a spectacular view of the city walls. Celebrate Mass at the Convent of St. Teresa. Overnight in Avila.

After breakfast, we depart for Fontiveros, where we will enjoy a walking tour of the village and spend some time in personal prayer at the Church of St. John of the Cross. Our pilgrimage continues on to Alba de Tormes, the burial place of St. Teresa of Avila. Following lunch, there will be a guided tour of the Carmelite Convent here and the Carmus-Museum, entering more deeply into the life of this holy saint. We will then celebrate Mass at the Carmelite Monastery, which houses the tomb of St. Teresa of Avila. We then go across the square to visit the first Church dedicated in honor of St. John of the Cross and the museum of the Discalced Carmelite Fathers. Overnight in Avila.

Today we visit Segovia for a tour of the medieval city and its ancient Roman Aqueducts. We will visit the Monastery of St. John of the Cross, his resting place, and celebrate Mass. Our walk takes us along the same route John of the Cross took into town – “ascending Mount Carmel” – going by the nun’s convent to visit the Gothic Cathedral of St. Mary and its chapel in honor of St. Teresa’s “half friar.” Overnight in Avila.

This morning we depart early as we are visiting Valladolid, where we visit the Convent La Concepción del Carmen, which houses the cell of St. Teresa. Also housed here is the original handwritten version of “The Way of Perfection”, as well as the largest collection of her handwritten letters. Our motor coach then departs Valladolid for Burgos. Upon arrival, we have a walking tour of the Old Quarter, the Arco de Santa Maria, the Burgos Cathedral, and the exterior view of the Carmelite Convent of San Jose and Santa Ana. Mass will be celebrated in the Burgos Cathedral before the group settles into the hotel for dinner and overnight. Overnight in Burgos.

This morning we cross the border into France and the great pilgrimage center of Lourdes. Nestled in the mountains is the birthplace of St. Bernadette, to whom Our Lady appeared in 1858 near the Grotto of Massabielle. Our time in Lourdes is spent in prayer as we celebrate Mass at the Basilica, see a video showing the story of Lourdes, and walk in the footsteps of St. Bernadette. We visit the Boly Mill, where the Saint was born, and the “Cachot,” an abandoned prison where Bernadette’s impoverished family lived. We pray for the sick, and drink water from the miraculous spring. We pray the Stations of the Cross overlooking the Holy Grotto. We visit the healing Baths where we are submerged in the healing waters and drink from the well of the Grotto of the Apparition. In the evening join pilgrims from all over the world in the Candlelight Procession and Group Rosary. Dinner and overnight in Lourdes.

We are transferred to Toulouse airport, where we board our flight home.