CFR25

REGISTRATION

Italy:

• $3,900 per person / Double Occupancy
  
•  $3,000 per person / LAND ONLY (Flights are not included in this price)

• +$500 - Private Room

• $300 per person / non-refundable deposit due at registration.

• Final Balance is due by:             Friday, May 30, 2025

• Scheduled roundtrip transatlantic flights from JFK

• Services of a professional English-speaking tour escort

• Whisper systems with individual headphones

• Daily Holy Mass

•  All breakfasts and dinners & Farewell Dinner

• Deluxe motor-coach for scheduled transfers and sightseeing

• Accommodations at Religious Guesthouses

• Entrance fees for all included sightseeing

• Porterage for one suitcase per person

• Government taxes and fees 

• ETIAS Visa - Needed for all traveling from the USA to the EU. Info will be provided to you!
• Travel Insurance
• Medical Insurance
• Lunches
• Tips to Guides and Driver
• Personal expenses

Spiritual Director:  Fr. Giuseppe Siniscalchi, CFR

Day 1. Wednesday, September 3: Transatlantic flight to Rome, Italy 

Day 2. Thursday, September 4: Rome    
Welcome to Rome airport, where you will be greeted by a tour escort. You will make your way to the bus and transfer to the city center. Time for lunch on own. Guided tour and Mass at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Wall. After your guided tour, stop for lunch. The afternoon will allow for the second set of Holy Doors at St. Mary Maggiore along with a tour. Our final stop of the day will be St. John Lateran to walk through the Holy Doors and a tour.  Transfer to your religious guest house for dinner and overnight. (D)

Day 3. Friday, September 5: Rome    
Morning Mass at St Peter’s Basilica. After Mass, we tour St. Peter’s Basilica, built on the site where St. Peter the Apostle was martyred. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to view Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture, pray at the tombs of Pope Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II. Next you will visit the Vatican Museums, where you can see the Tapestry Gallery, Raphael Rooms, and Sistine Chapel. This afternoon we will tour the St. Callixtus Catacombs in Rome.  Dinner and overnight. (B, D) 

Day 4. Saturday, September 6: Rome / Montecassino / Nola    
After breakfast depart for Nola. Stop en route at Montecassino for Mass and a tour. Montecassino, the principal monastery of the Benedictine Order, was founded by Saint Benedict around 530 A.D. During the bus ride, passing through the Roman countryside known for its villas and vineyards, your tour escort will share interesting information regarding the spiritual, historical, and cultural aspects of Italy. Dinner and overnight. (B, D) 

Day 5. Sunday, September 7: Nola / Pompeii / Nola
After breakfast, visit Pompeii, the famous ancient city buried by the ashes of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. You will walk through one of the most important and interesting archeological museums in the world. This is a preserved site of excavated ruins of streets and homes that pilgrims can freely explore. Visit the Shrine of the Rosary of Pompei “La Madonna Del Rosario”, one of the most visited Catholic Shrines. The painting of “Our Lady of the Rosary” with its bronze gilt frame is presented to the pilgrims on the high altar. The venerated painting depicts the Virgin Mary and Child Jesus presenting the Rosary to Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena. Inside the shrine, there are also two very important relics belonging to the Passion of Christ; a thorn from the Crown of Thorns and a small piece of the Holy Cross. After a late lunch and drive through the Amalfi Coast, we will arrive in Quindici for an evening Investiture. Dinner and overnight. (B, D)

Day 6. Monday, September 8: Nola / Quindici / Nola
Full day in Quindici with local celebrations. Mass today is TBD.  Return to Nola and visit the St. Felix and St. Paulino Shrines, then dinner and overnight. (B, D)

Day 7. Tuesday, September 9: Nola / San Giovanni Rotondo / Monte Sant’Angelo
After breakfast, depart for San Giovanni Rotondo, where St. Pio of Pietrelcina (St. Padre Pio) lived for many decades and where thousands of people have flocked in order to be closer to this great saint and to Our Lord. Here we will celebrate Mass.  Visit the Old Church of Our Lady of Grace, see the confessional from where St. Pio spent an innumerable number of hours listening to confessions. Next, you will board the bus and travel along the beautiful Gargano Peninsula to the Grotto of St. Michael the Archangel. Here we will celebrate Mass.  Dinner and overnight in San Giovanni Rotondo. (B, D)

Day 8. Wednesday, September 10: San Giovanni Rotondo / Lanciano / Loreto / Assisi
After breakfast, you we leave for Assisi. On the way we stop in Lanciano for private Mass at the Convent/Church of Saint Francis built on top of the antique Church of St. Longinus – the site of a Eucharistic Miracle that occurred in the eighth century. At the time of the miracle, there was a Basilian monk, who struggled with the belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. During the time of Mass, the monk, with doubt in his voice, said the words of consecration and the bread and wine transformed into physical flesh and blood. Leave for Marian shrine of Loreto to visit the Holy House of Nazareth and the beautiful Madonna of Loreto. Tradition holds that this is the house in which Mary first prayed the Magnificat, in which Jesus grew to manhood, and in which the Holy Family lived, before it was transported several times by angels, to its current location. End the day in Assisi, hometown of St. Francis and St. Clare. Dinner and overnight. (B, D)

Day 9. Thursday, September 11: Assisi
After breakfast, you will start your day with Mass at the St. Francis Basilica, followed by a tour and visit his tomb of St. Francis, and have the opportunity to view a series of frescoes depicting his life, along with a few of the saint’s possessions. Followed by a visit to the Santuario Della Spogliazione where Blessed Carlo Acutis’ tomb is placed. Carlo is the first millennial to be declared Blessed who loved the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. From there, you will continue on a walking tour through this picturesque town, including the birthplace of St. Francis, and end with a tour of the Church that honors St. Clare, the foundress of the Poor Clare Sisters. This Saint followed the teachings of St. Francis very closely by also living a life of poverty and humility. Dinner and overnight. (B, D)

Day 10. Friday, September 12: Assisi
Today we begin with a visit the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. This Basilica is made up of two structures, both of which you will see.  The first is the ‘Porziuncola’ and the second is the ‘Capella del Transito’ which is the place where St. Francis died.  Here we will celebrate Mass.  The remainer of the day is at your leisure.  Dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight. (B, D) 

Day 11. Saturday, September 13: Assisi / Rome / USA
Transfer to Rome Fiumicino airport for our flight home. (B)

Buffet Breakfast (B); Dinner (D) 

* In case of unforeseen events, this itinerary is subject to change.