Italy Pilgrimage to Rome – Great Shrines of Italy 2025 & 2026

Depart from your local airport for flights to Rome. Dinner and breakfast are served on board.

Meet your pilgrimage tour guide and transfer to your first-class four star hotel.  You will have the afternoon free to relax or explore Catholic Rome on your own.  Your tour guide will recommend some sights or walks for you to enjoy, such as the Trevi Fountain, the most famous fountain in Rome.  Later, return to the hotel for dinner and overnight accommodations.

Today, this is truly a day that will remain in your memories for many years to come.  This morning, we are heading to Vatican City to attend the weekly Papal Audience and blessing given by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.  After the audience, if available, we will visit the Vatican Museums, a collection of impressive buildings housing hundreds of galleries filled with art treasures.  You will see awe-inspiring relics and works of art donated over the centuries as tributes of faith.  Throughout the tour, you will explore the Tapestry Gallery, the Raphael Rooms, and the breathtaking Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s masterpiece featuring the restored mural of the Last Judgment.  Later, we will enter St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in Christendom, built on the site where St. Peter was martyred.  Undeniably beautiful, it serves as a monument to the long history of the Catholic Church, attracting pilgrims from around the world. Marvel at Michelangelo’s Pieta and Bernini’s stunning bronze canopy.  Before dinner, we’ll have some leisure time to explore on our own, shop, or sit in one of the outdoor cafes and watch the world go by.  Dinner and overnight in Rome.

In the morning, embark on a sightseeing tour of a lifetime!  The tour includes three major basilicas: St. Mary Major, one of the oldest shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, which houses a relic from the manger of the infant Jesus; the Basilica of St. John in Lateran, the former residence of the popes before their return to Rome in 1377; and St. Paul Outside the Walls, which contains the remains of St. Paul beneath its main altar.  You will also visit the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, where the 37-acre site once held the remains of 16 popes and 50 martyrs, including St. Cecilia, a noblewoman who is one of the most famous martyrs of Rome and the patroness of music.  She is one of seven women commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass, excluding the Blessed Virgin.  Enjoy dinner in a local restaurant and overnight accommodations for your final evening in Rome.

Travel southeast from the Eternal City and enjoy the scenic route to San Giovanni Rotondo.  You’ll stop in Monte Cassino to visit the Benedictine Abbey, founded by St. Benedict, a patron saint of Europe.  This stunning Abbey is situated on a hill overlooking the village of Cassino.  Established high in the mountains, the Abbey was founded by Saint Benedict of Norcia in the 6th century, where he created his first monastic community.  Having been destroyed four times, most recently during World War II, it continues to serve as a home for the Order of Saint Benedict.  St. Benedict is famous for the Rule of Saint Benedict, which outlines guidelines for his monks.  Heavily influenced by John Cassian’s writings, it resembles the Rule of the Master while also embodying a unique spirit of balance, moderation, and reasonableness, encouraging many monastic communities throughout the region to adopt it.  As a result, his Rule became one of the most influential religious guidelines in Western Christendom.  For this reason, Benedict is widely recognized as the founder of Western Christian monasticism.

We arrive in San Giovanni Rotondo, Padre Pio’s home, just in time for dinner and then overnight.

Today, you will visit the tomb of St. Padre Pio and tour the old Church of Our Lady of Grace.  You will see the crucifix from which he received the stigmata in 1918, as well as the confessional where Padre Pio spent countless hours guiding numerous pilgrims on their journey toward God.  Next, you will visit the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church, which houses the saint’s remains in the crypt.  This new church has a seating capacity of 6,500 people.  Both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have visited this shrine.

Enjoy a breathtaking view of the Gargano Peninsula and visit the Grotto of Saint Michael the Archangel.  Six different popes, St Francis, and at least four other saints have knelt in prayer at this grotto, seeking the protection of St Michael.  A panoramic view of the ocean and the surrounding countryside awaits you at this most celebrated shrine of early Christianity, a shrine consecrated by St Michael himself in 490.  Return to San Giovanni for reflection, dinner, and overnight.  Optional Candlelight Procession – From May to October, attend the weekly candlelight procession at the Sanctuary of St. Pio after dinner at 9:00 PM.

Today’s travels take you to Lanciano to see the eighth-century Eucharistic Miracle in the little Church of Lagontial. After expressing doubts about Christ’s true presence in the consecrated host, a monk found himself holding a host that had changed into flesh and wine that had changed into blood.  The blood type is AB, the same as other eucharistic miracles.

Next, journey through the stunning Italian countryside to the historic town of Manoppello. Here, you will celebrate Mass at the old Capuchin Monastery and view a miraculous image of Christ’s face on a veil, known as the “veronica” (true icon) in the Santuario del Volto Santo.  The image depicts a male face with long hair and a beard styled in bands.  Remarkably, it is the only instance in the world where the image is visible on both sides of the cloth; the colors are very light, the eyes gaze upward, and the pupils, though irregular, are fully open.  Scientific tests and observations under ultraviolet light and a microscope reveal no pigments or paintings on the veil.

After lunch, travel along the lush Adriatic coast to the great Marian shrine of Loreto, where you will visit the Holy House of Nazareth and the beautiful Madonna of Loreto.  More than 50 popes made a pilgrimage to the house, which angels transported to this hill in central Italy in 1294.  Tradition has it that this is the house where Mary prayed the Magnificat, Jesus grew to manhood, and the Holy Family lived.  Dinner and overnight are in Loreto.

After breakfast, we travel to the hilltop town of Assisi, the birthplace of Saint Francis, celebrate Mass, and visit St. Francis’s tomb in the Basilica of Saint Francis.  Explore the charming hilltop birthplace of St. Francis, which still retains some of the atmosphere from the early 1200s when he began his ministry.  Within the vast 13th-century Basilica of Saint Francis, you can find many of his possessions and a series of frescoes depicting his life.  You may kneel before the crucifix where Jesus spoke to St. Francis, asking him to rebuild His church.   We will visit the Santuario Della Spogliazione, where Blessed Carlo Acutis’ tomb is.  Carlo will be declared a Saint in April of 2025 and will be the first Millenial Saint.  St. Francis spent most of his life at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels.  Here, we will visit the Chapel, Portiuncola, the rosebush, and the cave where the saint retreated for prayer.  Stroll through the medieval streets of this compact town.  After stopping at an outdoor café with a view of an ancient Roman temple, we will head to the Basilica of St. Clare to see the saint’s incorrupt body.  The foundress of the Order of Poor Clares followed St. Francis’s teachings by living a life of poverty and humility.  Officially known as the Order of Saint Clare, they are the second branch of the Franciscans.  Today, over 20,000 Poor Clare nuns can be found in more than 75 countries worldwide.  Return to Assisi for dinner and an overnight stay.

This morning, you are off to Siena, the birthplace of Saints Catherine and Bernardino and one of Italy’s loveliest medieval cities. 

We will visit the Italian Neo-Gothic Basilica of St. Francis, which houses consecrated hosts that have remained miraculously intact since 1730.  Among the many distinguished visitors who have venerated these hosts is St. John Bosco.  They were also honored by Pope John XXIII, who signed the visitors’ album on May 29, 1954, when he was still the Patriarch of Venice.  Although Popes Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI, and Pius XII could not visit the miraculous hosts, they each expressed profound interest and admiration for them through official statements.

Here, we will stroll the Piazza Del Campo, one of Italy’s finest squares, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the sections resemble the folds in the Virgin Mary’s cloak, who is Siena’s patron saint and ultimate ruler.  

We will visit the magnificent Duomo, or Siena Cathedral, one of the largest churches in Europe and dedicated to Saint Mary of the Assumption.  It is one of Italy’s most important and stunning Romanesque-Gothic churches.  The cathedral features works by renowned artists, including Nicola Pisano’s pulpit, Donatello’s St. John the Baptist, Michelangelo’s Piccolomini altar, and Bernini’s Chapel of the Vow. 

A pilgrimage to Siena would not be complete without visiting the co-patron Saint of Italy, St. Catherine, who is also a co-patron saint of Europe.  We will tour St. Catherine’s house museum and then proceed to the Basilica of St. Dominic, where we can view her incorrupt head and thumb.  St. Catherine spent much of her life within the walls of this magnificent Basilica, the first dedicated to St. Dominic.  After the visit, we will return to Assisi for dinner and overnight accommodation.

Bid farewell to our new friends and a pilgrimage that will be in your memories and heart for a long time—early departure from Assisi for Florence or Rome Airport for our return flights home.

After a brief drive through the beautiful Tuscan countryside, we arrive in Florence. A paradise for art lovers, Florence drew to itself the greatest artists of the Renaissance: Dante, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Donatello and many others. Dinner and overnight.

After Mass, enjoy a guided tour of Florence which includes the magnificent Franciscan church of The Holy Cross or Santa Croce with its beautiful facade.  The church is a burial place of nobles, among which are Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli. Walking tour through Piazza Signoria, pass by Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi, and Ponte Vecchio. Continue through Republic Square to the Santa Maria del Fiore 13th-century cathedral.

The next stop is Padua, where St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost things, is honored.  After Mass at the Basilica built in his honor, we continue on a sightseeing tour that includes one of the oldest universities, the Tomb of St. Anthony, and his relics.  We pass by Pratto Della Valle, one of the largest squares in Italy, and the Basilica of Santa Giustina.  There will be some time to relax before dinner.  We will spend the night in Padua.

After breakfast, leave for Venice, which is only 25 miles away, for a tour of some of the greatest sights you’ll ever see: St. Mark’s Square, the Golden Basilica of San Marco, the Bridge of Sighs, and the extraordinary Doge’s Palace.  After the tour, you will have some free time to shop, explore Venice on your own, and perhaps take an optional gondola ride or enjoy an afternoon at a charming café.  Return to Padua for dinner and overnight accommodations.

Bid farewell to your new friends and a pilgrimage to Italy which will be in our memories and hearts for a long time. After breakfast depart from the hotel to Venice Airport for your return flight home.