Classic Italy 2023

Italy23 - Registration Form

Spiritual Director:
 Rev. Christopher Colavito, 
Diocese of Trenton

Classic Italy: 
                 $3,875 pp / Double Occ.
                 Single Supplement    + $500

Deposit:
                 $300 non-refundable
                 due at  time of registration

Final Payments:
                  Due by Friday, June 2, 2023

• Scheduled roundtrip transatlantic flights
• Services of a professional English-speaking tour escort/guide
• Local guides in each city
• Listening Headset for entire tour
• Daily Holy Mass
• All breakfasts and dinners
• Deluxe motor-coach for scheduled transfers and sightseeing
• First-class accommodations at all hotels
• Admission fees for all included sightseeing
• Private boat transfers in and out of Venice
• Porterage for one suitcase per person

• Tips
• Travel Insrance
• Lunches
• Anything not mentioned above

Day 1 - Sunday, September 17:
Transatlantic flight to Milan, Italy

Day 2 - Monday, September 18: Milan / Padua / Venice Mestre
Today we arrive in Milan and are met by our guide who will remain with us until the end of our pilgrimage. We depart the airport and head for Padua, the home of Saint Anthony, where he centered his preaching mission. Upon arrival, we will take time for lunch and will then visit and celebrate Mass at Saint Anthony’s Basilica, where we will see the tomb of Saint Anthony. After our tour, we will continue onto our hotel where we will check into and have a rest before dinner and overnight in Venice Mestre. (D)

Day 3 - Tuesday, September 19:  Venice
Today we enjoy a visit to Venice, where upon our arrival we begin a walking tour of Venice, where we will have the opportunity to see the Bridge of Sighs and Doge’s Palace. Following lunch and a bit of free time for shopping in St. Mark’s Square, we visit and celebrate Mass at the Basilica of Saint Mark. Here contains the tomb of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of Venice, along with mosaics depicting both the New and Old Testaments of the Bible. Finally, we enjoy dinner at a local restaurant in Venice before returning to our hotel in Venice Mestre for overnight. (B, D)

Day 4 -  Wednesday, September 20:  Florence
This morning we depart Venice Mestre for the Tuscany region of Italy and the center of the Renaissance. Upon our arrival into Florence, we celebrate Mass at the Basilica di Santa Croce, where we will see the tombs of several famous people, including Michelangelo, Galileo & Machiavelli. After our break for lunch, we will visit the Accademia Gallery, home of Michelangelo’s sculpture David, the Florentine Gothic art collection from the 13th and 14th centuries, along with many other notable pieces. The remainder of our day will be at leisure. We will check into our hotel in Florence for dinner and overnight. (B, D)

Day 5 - Thursday, September 21: Florence / Assisi
After breakfast, we will spend more time in Florence enjoying a walking tour and gets sites of the Ponte Vecchio, Piazza Signorina, Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi, and Republic Square to the Santa Maria del Fiore. Continue to many of Florence’s main sights, including the Cathedral with its magnificent Dome by Brunelleschi, Giotto’s elegant belfry and the Baptistery with Ghiberti’s Gate to Paradise. Following lunch, we begin our journey to Assisi, the birthplace of Saint Francis. Along the way, we will visit the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, built to enclose the tiny Church of the Porziuncola, where St. Francis founded his order of the Friars Minor (Franciscans). It is here that we will celebrate Mass before heading to our hotel in Assisi for dinner and overnight. (B, D)

Day 6 - Friday, September 22: Assisi
Today we enjoy a full day in the medieval town of Assisi. First, we will begin our tour at the St. Francis Basilica, visit his tomb of St. Francis, and have the opportunity to view a series of frescoes depicting his life. It is here that we will celebrate Mass. After some free time to walk through the 13th century streets, which haven’t changed much since Francis’ time, shop and enjoy lunch, we will continue to the Basilica of Saint Clare, Francis’ friend and foundress of the Poor Clare nuns, and see the crucifix that spoke to St. Francis in San Damiano. Before ending the day, will visit the resting place of Bl. Carlo Acutis, a young millennial to be who had a true devotion to the Real Prescence of Jesus in the Eucharist, at Santuario Della Spogliazione, (Sanctuary of the Spoliation). Dinner and overnight in Assisi. (B, D)
 

Day 7 - Saturday, September 23: Assisi / Rome
This morning we depart Assisi and begin our drive to the Eternal City, Rome. We begin with a visit to the first of the four major basilicas of Rome, the wonderful Basilica of Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls.  Upon arrival we celebrate Mass. After a break for lunch, we will visit the Basilica with the local guide, where the Apostle is buried. We will also see the chains with which the apostle of the Gentiles was tied to the guard soldier when he was taken prisoner to Rome. The rings that make up the chain, are nine, supported at the end by two Roman coins of the time: sesterces magnified with the effigy of Nero, the emperor under whom Sain Paul suffered the martyrdom of the beheading. Next, we will continue on a panoramic tour of Imperial Rome. We will stop at the Colosseum & Roman Forum, where we will have a guided tour. We will continue to the hotel for dinner and overnight in Rome. (B, D)

Day 8 - Sunday, September 24: Rome

This morning we arrive at the Vatican for Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Altar of Saint John Paul II. Following Mass, we will attend the “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and to the world) blessing with our Holy Father, Pope Francis and we continue on a guided tour of St. Peter’s Basilica, where we see a young Michelangelo’s wonderful Pieta followed by a visit to the Tombs of the Popes in the Vatican Grottos. Following free time for lunch near St. Peter’s Square, we will visit one of the great art collections in the world, the Vatican Museums. Our tour culminates with Michelangelo’s masterpiece, the Sistine Chapel, which was recently restored to its original splendor. Return to the hotel, dinner and overnight (B, D)

Day 9 - Monday, September 25: Rome

Following breakfast, we visit another of Rome’s major basilicas, Saint Mary Major, the most important church in the world devoted to Our Lady. Here we celebrate Mass. This afternoon we will enjoy a guided tour of the some of the other major basilicas of Rome. We will visit Holy Stairs so named because they are the steps which led to the praetorium of the Roman Procurator Ponzio Pilate. From there we will visit Basilica of St John Lateran which houses a fragment of the table on which Jesus consumed his last supper. Finally, we will visit the Basilica of Holy Cross in Jerusalem so named because it was built overspread earth brought from Jerusalem. Founded by St Helena AD320, this church houses the relics of the true cross where Jesus Christ was crucified upon. Here there is also a nail from Jesus's crucifixion, 2 thorns from his crown, pieces of the pillar to which he was tied, and the Titulus Crucis which, according to experts is perfectly compatible with the references in the Bible, in particular the Book of John "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews". Dinner and overnight in Rome. (B, D)

Day 10 - Tuesday, September 26: Rome

We begin our day after breakfast and head to the Piazza del Popolo, which is the entrance to one of the most beautiful places in the world, located at the top of a triangle of streets known as the Trident. We will enter the square through Porta del Popolo that will welcome us with a Latin message engraved by Bernini "Felici faustoque ingressui", "For a Happy and Propitious Entrance". We will walk along Via del Babbuino to reach the Spanish Steps. Then we will see the Column of the Immaculate Conception wanted by Pope Pio IX in the year 1854 to celebrate the approval of the dogma. Next, we will visit the Basilica of St Andrea delle Fratte to see the Miracle Chapel which contains the venerated icon of Our Lady who, in 1842, appeared to a young French Jew, Alphonse Ratisbonne. He immediately converted to Christianity from Judaism and later founded the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion. We will continue along Via del Corso to the Trevi Fountain, following tradition by tossing a coin into the fountain, promising to return to Rome. Following a short rest and lunch, we will visit the Pantheon and finally we reach Navona Square, to marvel at the sight of the Bernini’s fountain of the four rivers. We will celebrate Mass at the church of St Augustin, where we can see the Caravaggio’s masterpiece “Madonna de’ pellegrini” and where Santa Monica (St. Augustin’s mother) is buried. We will return to the hotel for a brief rest before heading out to a local restaurant for our ‘farewell dinner’. Overnight in Rome. (B, FD)

Day 11 - Wednesday, September 27: Rome / USA
We awake and head out after breakfast as we depart for Leonardo da Vinci Airport to board our flight home. (B)

Buffet Breakfast (B); Dinner (D); Farewell Dinner (FD)

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