St Ignatius Pilgrimage visiting Ignatian Pilgrimage Sites 2024

Depart from the USA 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 Order of the Society of Jesus. 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 on 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 pilar 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. 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 we will depart for Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia where you will enjoy a guided walk through the
Gothic Quarter to have Mass and visit the cathedral. In the afternoon, you will enjoy a guided tour of the famous basilica designed by Antoni Gaudí, La Sagrada Familia followed by some free time to explore life and markets along Las Ramblas.  Special Farewell Dinner and overnight near Las Ramblas in Barcelona.

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