St. Philip Neri

Register HERE

Pricing:

$3,895 per person / Double Occ.

+$900 per person / Single Supplement
Single rooms are limited

$3,300 per person / LAND ONLY  (flights not included)

Deposit:

$300 non-refundable 
due at the time of registration

Final Payment:

Due by:  Friday, September 26, 2026

• Roundtrip transatlantic flights

•  Services of a professional Christian English-speaking tour escort/guide
• Daily Holy Mass
• All breakfasts, Welcome Dinner, Farewell Dinner
• Deluxe motor-coach for scheduled transfers and sightseeing
• Accommodations at Religious Guest Houses
• Admission fees for all included sightseeing according to itinerary
• Porterage for one suitcase per person 
• Service charges, government fees

• ETIAS Visa - Needed for all traveling from the USA to the EU. Info will be provided to you!
• Travel Insurance
• Medical Insurance
• Lunches / Dinners not mentioned
• Personal expenses
• Tips for guides/drivers/hotel staff

Join the Red Bank Oratory of St. Philip Neri

Day 1. Sunday, January 4: Transatlantic flight to Italy 

Day 2. Monday January 5:  Arrive in Italy 
Arrive at the airport and meet your Tour Escort, who will be with you for the whole tour. Collect your luggage and board your motorcoach. Travel to Florence (stop for lunch on the way). Check in to your hotel. Time at leisure for rest or strolling around before enjoying a delicious welcome dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight at your hotel in Florence. (WD)

Day 3. Tuesday, January 6: Florence
After breakfast, start your day with a walking tour of the major highlights of the city to discover why Florence was the undisputed cradle of the Renaissance era: see the heritage of the famous Medici family through their patronage of illustrious artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Botticelli. We will see the Baptistry of St. John (where St. Philip was baptized), which is the religious and historic jewel of the city, with Michelangelo’s Gates of Paradise, so-called because of its exquisite beauty. We will see Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral and Giotto’s Bell Tower (outside views), the Basilica of Santa Croce and Ponte Vecchio, a bridge covered since medieval times with goldsmith shops featuring Florentine handcrafted gold jewelry. Stop for lunch at San Lorenzo Market in the heart of the city. In the afternoon, visit the birthplace of St. Philip. Then walk to the church and museum of St. Mark (a trip often taken by St. Philip). Discussion about the life of the Dominicans and fra. Savanarola who had a great influence on the life of St. Philip. St. Philip credited the Dominican friars with his growth in faith. He once said, all that he knew he learned from the friars at St. Mark’s. If we have time, we will visit also the Complesso di San Firenze (Complex of San Firenze), which is a 17th-century Baroque-style complex consisting of a church, palace, and former oratory. The buildings were commissioned by the Oratorians of Saint Philip Neri. The interior of the church ceiling has a large canvas depicting the Glory of San Filippo Neri by Matteo Bonechi. The apse and altars of the church were designed by Fortini. He also completed the statues in the presbytery of Charity and Purity and the bas-reliefs of the Life of St Phillip Neri. Mass at a church associated with St. Philip or one that dates back to the 16th Century when St. Philip was living in Florence. Dinner is at leisure. Overnight in Florence. (B)

Day 4. Wednesday, January 7:  Florence / Rome
Breakfast at the hotel. Visit and Mass at the Florence Oratory. Head to Rome for the night, stop for lunch along the way and maybe do some of the trip on a road that was in existence in the 16th century and which would have been used by St. Philip to walk from Florence to San Germano (today Cassino). Check-in to your hotel. Dinner on your own and overnight in Rome. (B)

Day 5. Thursday, January 8: Day Trip to Gaeta / Monte Cassino
Breakfast at the hotel. Travel to Gaeta and visit the Sanctuario dell Santissima Trinità. Visit the chapel there dedicated to St. Philip. Mass at the Shrine if it's possible. Continue to Monte Cassino: St. Philip left Florence at 16 -18 years old and traveled to Cassino to work with his uncle. He stayed in Cassino for 1-2 years before heading to Rome. He was deeply influenced by the Benedictine monks, as is seen from the Oratorian ideals of stability and autonomy. Visit the monastery. Visit also the spot where the home of St. Philip’s uncle stood (Near the intersection with Via Pinchera, there once was the Neri palace, then Palazzo Mascioli, where the paternal uncle of S.Filippo N. carried out his business as a merchant). Return to Rome. Dinner on your own and overnight in Rome. (B)

Day 6. Friday, January 9:  Rome
Breakfast at the hotel. Today, we will start the pilgrimage of the 'Seven Churches', originally conceived by St Philip Neri in the 16th century, is one of the oldest Roman traditions. We will stop and visit all 7 churches. This pilgrimage will take us to some of the most incredible churches in Rome which were visited often by St. Philip and the first Oratorians. In fact, there is probably not a church you can enter in Rome which existed in the 16th Century that St. Philip did not pray in. He loved to visit churches and bring the fathers, brothers and Secular Oratorians. Begin with Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, the first of the churches, located in Vatican City. It is the heart of Christianity and one of the most important churches in the world Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the cathedral of the bishop of Rome, the Pope, and the oldest and most important of the four papal basilicas of Rome Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, one of the seven churches built by Constantine, it is known for housing the relics of the Passion of Christ. Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the four papal basilicas of Rome, it is one of the oldest Marian churches in the worldOvernight at your hotel in Rome. (B)

Day 7. Saturday, January 10: Rome
Breakfast at your hotel. Visit the catacombs of San Sabastiano: general tour of the catacombs with particular attention to where St. Philip experienced his Pentecost. Mass at San Sabastiano, hopefully in the section where St. Philip experienced his Pentecost (if possible). Stop at Quo Vadis Chapel along the Appian Way – get out along the way to see Roman ruins and other sites that St. Philip would have seen walking from downtown Rome to the catacombs where he lived an eremitical life. Continue the pilgrimage of the 'Seven Churches': Start with Basilica of St. Sebastian Outside the Walls (near the Catacombs) Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, which is one of the four papal basilicas of Rome, the largest after St. Peter’s in the Vatican. It stands on the Via Ostiense, where, according to tradition, the apostle Paul was buried after his martyrdom Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls, located outside the city walls and built by Constantine near the tomb of the martyr Lawrence. Overnight in Rome. (B)

Day 8. Sunday, January 11: Rome 
Breakfast at the hotel. Visit to St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. Lunch on your own around Vatican area. In the afternoon, visit other churches related to the life of St. Philip: · St Trinità Dei Pellegrini (Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims) and the adjacent building, where St. Philip founded the Archconfraternity de’ Pellegrini. · Basilica of San Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini, dedicated to the patron saint of Florence. San Filippo Neri was the rector of the basilica between 1564 and 1575. Dinner on your own. Overnight in Rome. (B)

Day 9. Monday, January 12: Rome 
Breakfast at the hotel. Visit the Hospital San Giacomo where St. Philip served and first met St. Ignatius and the Jesuits and Santo Spirito where St. Philip and the first Oratorians ministered to the pilgrims and the sick. Those who wish will walk from San Girolamo to Santa Maria in Vallicella to experience the wonderfully funny procession of St. Philip and the fathers, the day that St. Philip moved from San Girolamo to Santa Maria in Vallicella. Those who wish, will meet the others by bus at the Chiesa Nuova. Mass and Visit the Chiesa Nuova (Santa Maria in Vallicella) built by St. Philip and the first Oratorians, and which became the first home of The Roman Oratory. Then join a walking tour of the main highlights of the city, like Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, etc. Farewell dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight in Rome. (B, FD)

Day 10. Tuesday, January 13: Rome 
Early transfer to Rome Fiumicino airport for our flight home. (B)

Buffet Breakfast (B); Welcome Dinner (WD); Farewell Dinner (FD)