Priests of Trenton - Italy

Registration Form

Full Package:
        $2,800 pp / Double Occ.
        Single Supplement  +$450

Land Only:   
        $1,900 pp / Double Occ.
        Single Supplement  +$450
        Flights not included in this price

Deposit:
         $300 to hold your reservation
         due at time of registration

Final Payment:
        Due by Friday, September 29, 2023

American Airlines:

Thursday, January 4, 2024
AA 718     PHL - FCO
6:40PM - 9:10AM   (January 5 arrival)

Friday, January 12, 2024
AA 719   FCO - PHL
12:00PM - 3:50 PM

Star Hotel Michelangelo

• Scheduled roundtrip transatlantic flights / Philadelphia Airport
• 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
• 1 Lunch / Wine Tasting
• Deluxe motor-coach for scheduled transfers and sightseeing
• First-class accommodations at hotel
• Admission fees for all included sightseeing
• Porterage for one suitcase per person
• Tips for all guides

• Travel Insrance
• Meals not mentioned
• Personal expenses

Day 1 - Thursday, January 4: Depart USA
Transatlantic flight to Rome, Italy

Day 2 - Friday, January 5:  Arrival in Rome
Welcome to Rome!  After meeting our guide, who will remain with us until the end of our pilgrimage, we depart the airport and begin our drive to the Eternal City.  Beginning with a visit to the first of the four major basilicas of Rome, the Basilica of Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls.  Upon arrival we celebrate Mass and 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 Saint Paul suffered the martyrdom of the beheading.  After our tour, we will continue onto our hotel where we will check in and have a much-needed rest prior to dinner.  Dinner at Lo Scarpone. (D) 

For those interested in continuing the evening, we will visit Navona Square.  This is a special night, by tradition Rome celebrates the Epiphany's Eve in the Piazza Navona. 

Day 3 - Saturday, January 6:  Rome
This morning we arrive at the Vatican for the Papal Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica.  Following Mass, we will 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 return to Navona Square and from here walk to the Pantheon and to the Trevi Fountain.  Dinner at the hotel.  (B, D)

Day 4 - Sunday, January 7:  Orvieto / Rome
This morning we depart for Orvieto, the small stunning city on a hilltop in the southwest of Umbria.  We will celebrate Mass at the 14th-centurary Cathedral of Orvieto, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.   While touring the Cathedral, we'll have the opportunity to venerate the Eucharistic Miracle of Orvieto (The Corporal of Bolsena, 1263) that is preserved within its walls.  It was this miracle that occasioned the proclamation of the Feast of Corpus Christi and inspired St. Thomas Aquinas to write the famous hymn 'Tantum Ergo'.  Taking time to tour the small town will round out our morning.  On our way back to Rome, we will stop for lunch and have a wine tasting in the Umbrian region.  Upon returning to Rome, the rest of the day is at leisure. Dinner at the hotel.  (B, L, D)

Day 5 - Monday, January 8: Rome

This morning we visit the Vatican Museums that contains a show of art, history and faith in comparison with all the "Divine feeling" of the world. If the Sistine Chapel explains how much Michelangelo wanted to leave a message of faith to humanity, until today and forever, the Raphael’s Rooms are an obligatory path in our history because we do not lose the thread between “fides et ratio”, between our faith and the reason. Two simple walls, two themes in comparison. We cannot reason if we do not possess the knowledge "causarum cognitio" taken from Cicero Divinarer Notitia (Knowledge of the Divine Things) – After break for lunch, we will visit the Vatican Scavi to see the tomb of San Peter. Dinner at the hotel.  (B, D)

Day 6 - Tuesday, January 9:  Assisi
After breakfast, we will have an early departure to Assisi. Our first stop is the valley of Assisi to visit to the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels. This is where St. Francis spent most of life. This Basilica is made up of two structures. The first structure, is the "Porziuncola", which is where St. Francis founded his order of the Friar Minor (Franciscans). The second, is the "Capella del Transito", which is the place of St. Francis' death. We will have the opportunity to visit the beautiful Rose Garden where St. Francis and other friars lived, as well as the cave where the Saint retired to pray. Here we will celebrate our Mass, then we reach the city centre. Break for lunch. In the afternoon, with our guide, we start our tour from the Basilica of St. Clare, the first and most important heroine of the Franciscan movement, view her remains and see the miraculous Crucifix- Walk down through the medieval streets, passing by the church of San Rufino, the Cathedral of Assisi, dedicated to “the other saint “, St Rufino – Continue way down to reach the Basilica of St. Francis, which is actually composed of two churches built one atop the other. Beneath both churches is the crypt that houses the tomb of St. Francis. The lower Basilica dates from 1228 to 1230, and is richly decorated with beautiful stained-glass windows, and paintings done by some of the most important artists of the 13th and 14th centuries. In the upper Basilica, built from 1230 - 1253, we will marvel at the monumental frescoes painted by Giotto, which depict scenes from the life of the saint. 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 at hotel.  (B, D)
 

Day 7 - Wednesday, January 10:   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 and where a reliquary contains wood from the Holy Crib of Our Lord. Here we celebrate Mass.  We will visit Holy Stairs so named because they are the steps which led to the praetorium of the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate. From there we will visit Basilica of St John Lateran, the Cathedral in Rome, and seat of the Bishop (the Pope) which houses a fragment of the table on which Jesus consumed his last supper.  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".   This afternoon we will have the Scavi Tour.  Dinner at the hotel.  (B, D) 

Day 8 - Thursday, January 11:  Rome

Full day at leisure.  Before everyone goes on their way, we will celebrate Mass in the Bishop's Chapel of St. Peter's Basilica in the Grottoes of the Popes.  We will gather again for our farewell dinner at a local restaurant. (B, D)

Day 9 - Friday, January 12:  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); Lunch (L); Dinner (D); Farewell Dinner (FD)

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