Four Corners Jubilee Pilgrimage to Italy and Medjugorje with Fr. Peter Short

We depart on an overnight flight from Albuquerque to Rome. Dinner and breakfast will be served on the flights. Optional premium economy and business class upgrades are available upon request. We work with group airfares that do not allow us to request specific flight seats. If this is an important feature of the trip please book your own international air and reserve the land-only portion of the trip with us.

Welcome to Italy! We arrive in the Eternal City, and our professional English-speaking guide greets us at the airport and assists us with luggage and boarding our motorcoach. We are on our way to Assisi, the charming city of birds and silence. We celebrate Mass and have the opportunity to relax from our travels. Dinner and overnight at our hotel in Assisi.

After breakfast, we explore the Basilica of St. Clare and the Chapel of San Damiano, where St. Francis received his call to rebuild the Church and where St. Clare lived and died. Our next stop is the Sanctuary of the Spoliation, where we will see the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis in the Church of St. Mary Major. We walk across town and downhill to the Basilica of St. Francis, first visiting the upper Basilica with Giotto’s frescoes representing the life of St. Francis, then the lower Basilica and the Tomb of St. Francis. Mass will be celebrated in one of the chapels of the magnificent Basilica. Dinner and overnight in Assisi.

After breakfast we depart Assisi and travel to Siena to celebrate Mass at St. Dominic Church, where we see relics of St. Catherine. Our next stop is Orvieto. Upon arrival we tour the Duomo, the gothic Cathedral built to house the holy relics of the Eucharistic Miracle of Bolsena. This miracle occasioned the proclamation of the Feast of Corpus Christi and inspired St. Thomas Aquinas to write the famous hymn “Tantum Ergo.” We enjoy lunch in a local restaurant with a tasting of the Orvieto Classico wine this region is famous for. We depart Orvieto and head for Rome. We have the remainder of this day and dinner at leisure. Overnight in Rome.

Following an early breakfast, we explore St. Paul Outside the Walls, where we walk through the first Holy Door, which is opened only during the Jubilee, and we celebrate Mass. We continue to the nearby Tre Fontane Convent to see where St. Paul was beheaded and we see the Shrine of Our Lady of Revelation. Continue with a visit to the Callisto Catacombs. Return to the hotel where we have dinner and overnight.

We celebrate Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica (TBC) this morning and visit the Vatican Museum (TBC). Our pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Basilica includes walking through the second Holy Door of our pilgrimage. St. Peter’s Basilica is the largest church in Christendom, 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. Our visit includes headsets, so each pilgrim can benefit from a clear explanation of what we see. Following the included lunch, we walk to the Church of St. Philip Neri, the first pilgrim, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Gesu Church, to see the rooms of St. Ignatius and Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, where St. Catherine of Siena is buried. Tonight’s dinner is at leisure. Overnight in Rome.

Early this morning, we celebrate Mass and are transferred to St. Peter’s Square, where the Holy Father blesses us during the Angelus. We enjoy lunch in a local restaurant followed by a tour of Christian Rome, including a visit to St. Mary Major, where we walk through the third Holy Door, and the Basilica of St. John the Lateran, to walk through the fourth and final Holy Door. Next to the great Basilica, we see the Holy Stairs. Dinner and overnight in Rome. (B. Special Lunch. D)

After breakfast, we explore Santa Maria Della Vittoria and celebrate Mass. After the hotel check-out, we head to the airport for our flight to Dubrovnik. Upon arrival in Croatia we meet our Croatian tour manager and board our motorcoach for a transfer to the Old Town Dubrovnik, where we have a brief walking tour. Dinner and overnight in Dubrovnik.

Breakfast is early this morning as we check out of our hotel in Dubrovnik and drive two hours to our hotel in Medjugorje. Our two days in Medjugorje will be filled with prayer and spiritual enrichment, including the daily English Mass at St. James Church, the Rosary, meeting with the visionaries who may currently be in the village, climbing the Blue Cross Mountain, visiting the Apparition Hill, attending the Blessing of the Sick, praying the Stations of the Cross, as we reach the statue of the Risen Christ. Opportunity for confession will be provided. We will have our Farewell dinner at a local winery on our last evening in Medjugorje. Overnights are at the hotel in Medjugorje.

After morning Mass at St. James Church, we check out of our hotel and depart for Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. We have dinner and overnight as tomorrow we are on the way home. Dinner and overnight in Zagreb.

After breakfast, we are transferred to the airport for our flight home. (B) WELCOME HOME!