Journey of Faith: Rome to Assisi, Milan, Cremona & Lake Como Fr Jose Erlito and Sr. Joan Godeski

We gather at Newark Liberty International Airport for our overnight flight to Rome, the first step of a pilgrimage that will carry us from the tombs of the apostles to the hills of Assisi and the cathedrals of Lombardy. Group air restrictions do not permit specific seating requests on flights. We recommend purchasing your own airline tickets and land-only packages with us if seat confirmation is essential to your trip. Quotes for add-on flights and optional Premium Economy and Business Class upgrades are available upon request and quoted starting 120 days before departure. Should you require any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact your trip Account Manager, who will be happy to assist you.

Arriving in Rome, we make our way first to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, one of the city’s four papal basilicas and the traditional burial place of the Apostle Paul. Beneath its soaring nave, ringed by mosaic portraits of every pope from Peter to today, we gather for Mass just steps from the apostle’s tomb. From there we travel a short distance to the Tre Fontane Abbey, the quiet wooded site where tradition holds Paul was beheaded, his head said to have struck the ground three times, each time bringing forth a spring of water. We walk the peaceful grounds, past eucalyptus groves planted by Trappist monks, before settling into our hotel at 4 PM. We have time to relax before we gather for a welcome dinner at the hotel, a glass of wine in hand, for the first of many meals shared as a pilgrim family finding its footing in Rome. Overnight in Rome.

This morning very early we make our way to St. Peter’s Square to attend the Papal Audience, gathering with pilgrims from around the world for a rare chance to see the Holy Father and receive his blessing. Afterward, we travel to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, Rome’s oldest church dedicated to Our Lady, resplendent with fifth-century mosaics, where we celebrate Mass beneath a gilded coffered ceiling said to hold the first gold brought back from the New World. We see the relics housed here and the tomb of Pope Francis. We continue to St. John Lateran, the cathedral church of Rome and mother church of the world, and climb the Holy Stairs, the twenty-eight marble steps tradition holds Christ climbed at his trial in Jerusalem, now sheathed in wood and climbed by pilgrims on their knees. Enjoy an evening at leisure to rest after a full day of grace. Overnight in Rome.

This morning we celebrate private Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica at 7:30 AM (TBC). We then enter the Vatican Museums, home to one of the world’s great collections of art and antiquity, walking the long galleries toward the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo’s ceiling and Last Judgment still draw a hush from every visitor beneath them. We continue into St. Peter’s Basilica itself, standing over the tomb of the first pope, where Bernini’s bronze canopy rises above the high altar, and Michelangelo’s Pietà rests in quiet marble sorrow. Your visit is guided by a private tour with headsets. In the afternoon our Tour Manager leads a walking tour of Rome’s historic center, through cobbled lanes past the Pantheon, its ancient dome still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world, and on to the Trevi Fountain, where a coin thrown over the shoulder is said to guarantee a return to Rome, and the Spanish Steps. We will also see Santa Maria Sopra Minerva where St. Catherine is buried and end the afternoon in Piazza Navona with its three fountains and street artists a fitting close to our days in the Eternal City. The rest of the evening is at leisure to enjoy dinner in one of the many restaurants around the piazza. (Transfers back to the hotel are not provided) Overnight in Rome.

We say goodbye to Rome this morning and travel north into Umbria, stopping in the hilltop town of Orvieto, whose cathedral facade, a shimmering wall of gold mosaic, is counted among the finest in Italy. We celebrate Mass inside, near the Chapel of the Corporal, home to the linen relic of the Eucharistic Miracle of Bolsena, the very event that led Pope Urban IV to institute the feast of Corpus Christi. Afterward, we enjoy lunch at a local winery in the surrounding countryside, a glass of Orvieto’s own crisp white wine in hand as we look over vineyards that have produced it for centuries. We continue to Assisi, the hill town of St. Francis and St. Clare, arriving in time to visit Saint Mary Major Basilica. In the late afternoon, we settle into our hotel before the quiet descends over the town for the night. Overnight in Assisi.

A full day in Assisi, the town that gave the Church one of its most beloved saints, and, in our own time, one of its youngest. We begin at the Basilica of St. Clare, its pink and white stone facade rising over the town, where Clare’s own body rests alongside the San Damiano cross, before which Francis heard Christ ask him to rebuild His Church. We visit San Damiano and continue to the Sanctuary of the Spoliation at Santa Maria Maggiore, where the tomb of St. Carlo Acutis, the teenager known for his devotion to the Eucharist and his gift for using technology in service of the faith, draws pilgrims of every age who see in him a model of holiness lived out in ordinary life. Our final stop of the day is the Convent Basilica of St. Francis, its Upper and Lower Churches filled with frescoes by Giotto and Cimabue, and we descend to the crypt where the saint himself is buried. Here we celebrate Mass. The remainder of the day is yours to wander Assisi’s quiet stone lanes or simply sit in the peace the town is known for. Dinner together at the hotel this evening. Overnight in Assisi.

We depart Assisi this morning and travel north into Lombardy, stopping en route in Cremona, a city whose name has been synonymous with the violin for five centuries. We celebrate Mass in the Cremona Cathedral, its Romanesque and Gothic facade rising beside the Torrazzo, the tallest medieval brick bell tower in Italy, before lunch in the shadow of Piazza del Comune. The city is known for its Museo del Violino, home to instruments crafted by Stradivari himself, whose workshop once stood in this same square, a fitting stop for a city recognized by UNESCO for its living tradition of violin making. We continue to Milan this evening. Dinner is at leisure. Overnight in Milan.

We enjoy a day at one of Italy’s most beloved lakes. We travel from Milan to Lake Como, where we board a boat for a ride across its famous waters, the villas and mountains of the Lombard lakes rising on every side, taking in a landscape that has drawn travelers, poets, and popes alike for centuries. We gather for Mass along the shore before time to wander the lakeside town at your own pace, a coffee in hand and the water close by. We return to Milan this evening for dinner together at the hotel. Overnight in Milan.

Our final full day begins with a tour of Milan, starting at the Duomo, the great marble cathedral whose spires took nearly six centuries to complete and is crowned by the golden statue of the Madonnina watching over the city. We celebrate Mass inside this vast Gothic space before continuing to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper (TBC) painted onto the refectory wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie. This masterpiece has survived war, weather, and five hundred years to reach us still. The afternoon is at leisure, with time to browse the shops of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II or do some last-minute shopping, before our final evening together. We gather this evening for a farewell dinner at a local restaurant, sharing memories of the road behind us, from the tomb of St. Paul to the hills of Assisi to the waters of Como, before we say arrivederci to Italy. Overnight in Milan.

This morning we transfer to the airport for our flight home to Newark, carrying with us the graces of a pilgrimage that led us through the heart of the Church, from the apostles’ tombs in Rome to the birthplace of St. Francis and the cathedrals of Lombardy.