Holy Name Pilgrimage to Italy – Last Supper – David

Depart home to Milan, Italy. Dinner and breakfast are served on board the overnight transatlantic flight.

Upon arrival, you will meet the tour escort and transfer to the famous Duomo for Mass and a visit to this magnificent Cathedral of Milan. Afterward, you will have time to walk through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, named after the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. This splendid glass-covered arcade filled with luxury brand shops and cafes is the oldest shopping center in Italy, and possibly the world,  and is a major landmark in Milan.  The shopping center is beautifully embellished with mosaics and caryatids around windows and balconies and is also a great place for an afternoon coffee. Dinner and overnight in Milan.  

After breakfast today, you will enjoy a drive through the countryside to Vercelli, where you will have Mass and if the tour is scheduled during the feast day, join in the Feast Day celebrations for Blessed John of Vercelli, O.P., a Dominican Priest and Friar, Sixth Master General of the Order of Preachers, and Founder of The Society of the Holy Name. In the afternoon you will enjoy a Pranzo, a lavish lunch with samples of local wine from the Piedmont region of Italy, before returning to Milan. Overnight in Milan.

 This short video has a wonderful explanation of The Last Supper by Da Vinci.

This morning you will visit the former Dominican priory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, where you will have the opportunity to view Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece, “The Last Supper” which is painted on the refectory wall.  In 1980 the Last Supper, together with the church and the Dominican Priory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as “a unique artistic achievement, of an exceptional universal value that transcends all historical contingencies”. Among the reasons offered are that “The Last Supper has exerted a considerable influence, not only on the development of an iconographic theme but also on the destiny of painting” and “…this painting opened up a new era in art history”.

Afterward, you will travel to Florence, known as the “Cradle of the Renaissance.” Dinner and overnight in Florence.

Today you will enjoy a full-day walking tour of Florence beginning with the magnificent Franciscan church of The Holy Cross or Santa Croce. This church is a burial place for nobles, including Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli. You will continue walking through Piazza Signoria, passing by Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi, and Ponte Vecchio. Continue through Republic Square to Santa Maria del Fiore, a 13th-century cathedral known as the famous Duomo. You will visit the Accademia gallery to see “The David” carved by Michelangelo, and visit the San Marco Museum with its large collection of paintings by the Dominican known as Fra Angelico. Dinner and overnight in Florence.

Today you will visit the beautiful town of Siena, the birthplace of Saint Catherine and one of Italy’s loveliest medieval cities. Here you will visit St. Catherine’s birth home, where she was born and where she lived her austere early life as a Dominican tertiary. It has been converted into a sanctuary and consists of a series of chapels and contains numerous relics, including the crucifix through which she received the stigmata. Continue to the Basilica of St. Dominic, to admire the walls frescoed with scenes from the life of St. Catherine, in the chapel of St. Catherine. Here we venerate other relics, including her incorrupt head and thumb in ornate reliquaries, both of which were sent from Rome to Siena just a few years after her death. Enjoy a stroll in the Piazza Del Campo, one of Italy’s finest squares, followed by dinner and overnight in Italy.

 

After breakfast, travel through the Umbrian countryside to the hilltop town of Assisi, birthplace of St. Francis. Visit the 13th-century Basilica of St. Francis containing many of his possessions, a series of frescoes depicting his life, and the crucifix from which Jesus spoke to St Francis, asking him to rebuild His church. Afterwards, we will visit St Mary of the Angels Basilica where St Francis spent most of his life. Here we visit the Chapel, Portiuncola, the rose bush, and the cave where the saint retired for prayer. There will be time for lunch before traveling to Orvieto to visit the Cathedral where the Eucharistic Miracle of Bolsena, the Miraculous Host and Corporal are on display. Visit the Church of Santa Cristina in Bolsena before continuing to Rome for dinner and overnight.

This morning you will begin with Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina, the Mother Church of the Dominicans, and visit the adjacent convent where St. Dominic and many other saints and popes resided over the centuries.  Join pilgrims from around the world in St. Peter’s Square at noon for the Angelus and a Papal Blessing. In the afternoon, visit the Dominican Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, the burial place of Fra Angelico, and the body of St. Catherine of Siena. From here, enjoy a walking tour visiting the Trevi Fountain and the Piazza Navona. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

 

In 2024 Day 10 will take place on Day 9 and vice versa.        

Begin the day with an early Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, built on the site where St. Peter, the first Pope, and Bishop of Rome, was martyred. Visit the Vatican Museums to see the Tapestry Gallery, Raphael Rooms, and the Sistine Chapel to admire Michelangelo’s Masterpiece, the Last Judgment. At noon we will gather in St. Peters Square to join the Holy Father, Pope Francis, in Praying the Angelus and receive his Papal Blessing. In the afternoon, travel along the Appian Way to the Chapel of Domine Quo Vadis, the Dominican church that marks the place where Peter encounters Jesus. See the stone with the imprints “of His holy feet” before continuing to the catacombs of St. Callixtus.  Visit the Basilica of St. Paul, outside the walls, the burial place of Saint Paul the Apostle.  Dinner and overnight in Rome. 

In 2024 Day 10 will take place on Day 9 and vice versa.        

Begin with Mass in the Borghese Chapel at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, one of the oldest and most important shrines in the world dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. From here you will visit the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome where Pope Francis is the Bishop. Across the street, you will visit and have the opportunity to climb the Holy Stairs which are the very steps on which Jesus stepped leading up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate on His way to trial. Visit the Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, the Basilica of the Holy Cross, which houses the relics of the True Cross. Farewell Dinner and overnight in Rome.

              Early breakfast and transfer to the Rome airport for your return flight home.