St Ignatius Pilgrimage visiting Ignatian Pilgrimage Sites

Depart aboard overnight flight(s) to Madrid to begin your Ignatian pilgrimage. Breakfast and dinner are served aboard the transatlantic flight.

Upon arrival in Madrid, you will meet your local tour escort and transfer to your hotel located in the heart of Madrid’s historic center. Tonight you will walk through the Plaza Mayor.  Overnight in Madrid with Dinner.

This morning you will depart for Burgos, the historic capital of Old Castile and the hometown of the most important converso in the Society of Jesus, Juan Alfonso de Polanco, who served as the order’s secretary and Ignatius’s collaborator in composing the Constitutions. You will have Mass at the Santa Maria Cathedral, the burial place of Spanish Kings, and El Cid Spain’s famous hero. He is buried in the Cathedral of Burgos, the third largest church of Spain and one of the country’s most striking for its beautiful Spanish gothic style. Everyone is free to enjoy lunch in this charming medieval city, before making their way to Loyola, where in 1491 St. Ignatius Loyola was born in the Castle of Loyola. Dinner and overnight in Loyola.

In Loyola, you have a guided tour of Ignatius’s childhood home. The tour culminates with Mass and a private visit to the room where Ignatius experienced his spiritual conversion. The readings include some of the very texts that Ignatius read leading up to his conversion as well as accounts of how Ignatius later assisted others through spiritual conversation. You will also visit the basilica adjacent to the castle—together forming much of the Sanctuary of Loyola—as well as the Loyola family archives. In the afternoon, you venture into the town Azpeitia to visit the church in which Ignatius was baptized as well as the church outside of which he preached and the hospital in which he lived and worked upon his return after his studies in Paris. In the afternoon you travel to the Hermitage of Olatz and to Aranzazu, a popular shrine to Our Lady at the time of Ignatius, where we know Ignatius prayed for strength to overcome his former temptations.  Dinner and overnight in Loyola.

This morning you will travel to Pamplona, the birthplace and childhood home of St. Francis Xavier the great Evangelist of the 16th century. After the battle of Pamplona, young St. Francis Xavier was sent to the University of Paris where he would meet his roommate, Ignatius, with whom he would later co-found the Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits. Visit the site where Ignatius was wounded defending the city against the French in 1521 visit Xavier (Navarre) where you will tour the castle in which Francis Xavier was born and which contains a sculptured Crucifix, The Smiling Christ. Continue to Zaragoza for dinner and overnight.

Begin the day with Mass and a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar, built to commemorate the place where the Virgin Mary standing atop a pillar carried by Angels, appeared to St. James. The basilica’s small, wooden statue of Our Lady of Pilar has been a regular stopping point for pilgrims, both now and during Ignatius’s life. Continue to Montserrat, stopping along the way in the small town of Verdú, the birthplace of St. Peter Claver, SJ, who dedicated his life to the aid of enslaved people in the New World. Upon arrival in Montserrat, you will settle into your hotel for dinner and overnight.

This morning you will travel to Manresa, a place of profound conversion for Ignatius. and visit the Cave of Saint Ignatius where the saint retired to meditate and write his Spiritual Exercises. You will see the Chapel of the Rapture where St. Ignatius remained motionless in ecstasy for eight days and visit the Basilica of la Seu, the large Gothic Church that has come to symbolize Manresa. You will enjoy an audiovisual presentation and a tour of the museum at Manresa. Ignatius remained in Manresa for about a year and a half before continuing his journey to Barcelona.
In the afternoon you will make your way back to Montserrat, home to the dramatically set Benedictine monastery known as Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey.  On a rugged mountainside, you will visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat. Since the 12th century, pilgrims have been drawn to the mountain to venerate the miraculous statue of the Black Madonna. According to Catholic tradition, the statue of the Black Virgin of Montserrat was carved by St. Luke around 50 AD and brought to Spain. It was later hidden from the Moors in a cave, where it was rediscovered by shepherds in 880 AD. They saw a bright light and heard heavenly music that eventually led them to the grotto and the statue. The Bishop of Manresa, present at the discovery, suggested that it be moved to Manresa, but the small statue was discovered to be so heavy it could not be lifted. Thus the Virgin had indicated her will to stay in Montserrat to be venerated there. In the 11th century, the abbot-bishop Oliba founded a monastery on the mountain of Montserrat next to one of the chapels, where the Benedictine Abbey is still preserved.  It is believed that the founding of the Society of Jesus by St. Ignatius of Loyola was inspired by the Black Madonna’s apparition to St. Ignatius during his pilgrimage to the Shrine of Montserrat. Visit the museum containing works by great artists such as Caravaggio, El Greco, Rusiñol, Cases, Picasso, and Dalí, and celebrate Mass in the Basilica housing the image of La Moreneta, Our Lady of Montserrat, the patron saint of Catalonia. Dinner and overnight in Montserrat.

This morning you will depart Barcelona airport for your non-stop flight to Rome, the Eternal City! Enjoy a Panoramic tour on the way to your hotel. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

Today is truly a day that will be in your minds for many years to come. This morning you will go to Vatican City to attend the weekly Papal Audience and Blessing given by His Holiness Pope Francis. After the Audience, you will proceed to the Chapel at La Storta, which commemorates the place where, on his way to ask the Pope for permission to begin the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius had a vision telling him that Jesus would take care of him in Rome. After time for lunch, head to il Gesu, the main Jesuit church in Rome and the prototype of baroque churches that the Jesuits built in Europe, India, and South America. Here you will visit the burial site of St. Ignatius and the original restored rooms of Ignatius, where he wrote the Constitutions of the Society, and governed the new Jesuit Order for 17 years. From here you will walk to the nearby church of San Ignacio which was built in 1626 and is where Sts. Aloysius Gonzaga, John Berchmans, and others lived. From here you will enjoy a walk through the historic center of Rome to see such famous sites as the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Piazza Navona. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

Enjoy a leisurely day to visit some of the other sights of Rome such as the Colosseum, the Vatican Museums, or some of the other Major Basilicas such as St Mary Maggiore, St. John Lateran, or St. Paul Outside the Walls. Special Farewell Dinner and overnight in Rome.

After an early breakfast, depart for the Rome Airport for your return flight(s) home.