Pilgrimage to Italy: In The Footsteps of the Saints with Msgr. Frank Pugliese & Deacon Tony Colichio

We depart the USA this evening on an overnight flight to Naples, gateway to southern Italy and the beginning of our pilgrimage through the heart of the Italian peninsula. Meals are provided
on board as we cross the Atlantic toward the land where saints, popes, and martyrs have walked for two thousand years. Group air restrictions (for ten passengers traveling together) do not permit specific seating requests on flights. If seat confirmation is essential, we recommend purchasing your own airline tickets and land-only packages with us. If you need additional information, please contact your trip Account Manager, who will be happy to assist you. Business Class and Premium Economy quotes are available upon request starting 120 days before departure.

Upon arrival, our Tour Guide will greet us and help us transfer to the bus as we depart Naples and travel north to Monte Cassino, the mother house of the Benedictine order. Founded by St. Benedict in the sixth century, the abbey has been rebuilt several times through the centuries, most recently after the devastating World War II battle that reduced it to rubble. We walk the cloisters and crypt where St. Benedict and his sister St. Scholastica are entombed, and reflect on the Rule of Life that has shaped Western monasticism for fifteen hundred years. We celebrate Mass at the Abbey. The abbey’s hilltop setting offers sweeping views over the Liri Valley, a fitting introduction to the layers of faith and history that will mark our journey through Italy. We settle into our hotel this evening in the surrounding area. Dinner and overnight in the area.

This morning we travel to Lanciano, home to one of the Church’s oldest and most venerated Eucharistic miracles. In the eighth century, a monk celebrating Mass witnessed the host transform into visible flesh and the wine into blood, relics still preserved and displayed today in the Church of San Francesco. We spend time in prayer and celebrate Mass before this powerful testimony to the Real Presence. In the afternoon, we continue across the Apennines to San Giovanni Rotondo, home for over fifty years to St. Pio of Pietrelcina. We arrive in San Giovanni in time to settle into our hotel and prepare for tomorrow’s time at the sanctuary dedicated to this beloved twentieth-century saint. Dinner and overnight in the area.

We spend the morning at the Sanctuary of St. Pio, visiting the crypt church, the confessional
where he heard confessions for decades, and his tomb in the modern church designed by Renzo Piano. We walk the Way of the Cross on the hillside above town, mirroring the path Padre Pio himself once walked. In the afternoon, we travel to nearby Monte Sant’Angelo, perched high on the Gargano promontory. Descend into the ancient grotto of the Sanctuary of St. Michael the Archangel, one of the oldest shrines in Western Europe and a site of pilgrimage since the fifth century, when the Archangel is said to have appeared here. This cave sanctuary was a major stop on the medieval pilgrim road to the Holy Land. Here we celebrate Mass. Dinner and overnight.

This morning, we travel to Loreto, home to the Basilica della Santa Casa, believed by tradition to enshrine the Holy House of Nazareth, the very home where the Annunciation took place,said to have been carried by angels to this hillside above the Adriatic. We celebrate Mass and personal prayer inside this small stone house surrounded by the grand basilica built to protect it. In the afternoon, we continue west into Umbria toward Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis and St. Clare. We arrive in the late afternoon and settle into our hotel with time to take in our first views of this beautifully preserved medieval hill town before a full day of exploration tomorrow. Dinner and overnight in Assisi.

We enjoy a full day exploring Assisi at a relaxed pace. We begin at the Basilica of St. Clare, home to the San Damiano Crucifix that spoke to St. Francis, and to the Cathedral of San Rufino, where both saints were baptized. We visit the San Damiano Convent and see the Tomb of St. Carlo Acutis before arriving at the Basilica of St. Francis, where Giotto’s frescoes illustrate the saint’s life above his tomb in the lower church, where we celebrate Mass. Time is also set aside for quiet moments in the peaceful hillside town, whether shopping along its stone streets or simply sitting in the piazza absorbing the spirit of poverty and simplicity that continues to draw pilgrims here. Dinner and overnight in Assisi.

Our first stop is the Porziuncola inside the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, the small chapel where the Franciscan order began and where St. Francis died. We continue to Orvieto, perched dramatically on a volcanic plateau, to visit the magnificent striped Duomo, built to house the Corporal of Bolsena, the cloth stained with Eucharistic blood from a thirteenth-century miracle that helped establish the feast of Corpus Christi. We have time to explore the Basilica and celebrate Mass before we enjoy lunch and a visit to the local winery for a tasting of the wine this region is known for. From there, we continue on to Rome, for our first overnight stay in the Eternal City. Dinner is at leisure. Overnight in Rome.

We begin our first full day in Rome at two of its four papal basilicas. First we visit the Basilica of St. Mary Major, Rome’s largest church dedicated to Our Lady, home to the relic of the Holy Crib and the icon Salus Populi Romani. Here we celebrate Mass. We continue to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the Pope’s cathedral as Bishop of Rome and the mother church of the world. Nearby, we climb the Holy Stairs on our knees, twenty-eight marble steps believed to have been walked by Christ during His Passion in Pontius Pilate’s palace in Jerusalem, brought to Rome by St. Helena in the fourth century. We enjoy dinner at leisure and overnight in Rome, our base for the coming days.

Today you may enjoy a full day at leisure in Rome, or participate in an optional full-day excursion south to Gaeta, on the coast where the Lazio region meets the sea. The visit to the Sanctuary of the Holy Trinity at the Split Mountain, built into the cliffs of Monte Orlando. Tradition holds that the deep fissure in the rock split open at the moment of Christ’s death on the cross. Founded around 930 by Benedictine monks on the ruins of an ancient Roman villa, the sanctuary includes the Crucifix Chapel, the Sanctuary Church, and the legendary Turk’s Cave, with dramatic views over the Gulf of Gaeta. Prayer, history, and the beauty of creation come together here, offering a quiet counterpoint to the grandeur of Rome. Return to Rome this evening. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

This morning, we join thousands of pilgrims from around the world for the Wednesday Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square, a highlight of any pilgrimage to Rome and a chance to receive the Holy Father’s blessing as a group. After the audience, we visit St. Peter’s Basilica. In the afternoon, we travel to Castel Gandolfo, the traditional summer residence of the Popes overlooking Lake Albano, with time to enjoy its gardens and lakeside views. We continue to nearby Frascati, a hill town in the Roman countryside known for its historic villas and its wine, for a relaxed visit before returning to Rome for the evening. Mass will be celebrated. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

We begin the day at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, built over the tomb of St. Paul the Apostle and one of Rome’s four papal basilicas, notable for its portraits of every pope in history circling the nave. Here we celebrate Mass. Then, continue to Tre Fontane, the wooded abbey complex marking the traditional site of St. Paul’s martyrdom, where legend holds his severed head struck the ground three times, each spot marked today by a fountain. In the afternoon, we descend into the Catacombs, the underground burial galleries of Rome’s earliest Christians, for a moving encounter with the early Church’s faith. This evening, we gather for a festive farewell dinner at a local restaurant to celebrate the pilgrimage together before tomorrow’s departure.

After breakfast, our ways part for the day. Those returning home will transfer to the airport for the flight back to the USA, carrying with them the graces of a truly memorable pilgrimage.