Our second day in Assisi will begin with Mass at Our Lady of the Angels church (built over the Portiuncola that was built by St. Francis).  Brother Alessandro always welcomes us with his beautiful smile, joined, perhaps with a delightful song.  His story is amazing and his angelic voice has become well-known worldwide.  After Mass we will take a walking tour through the historic center of Assisi and enter several important churches along the way, including San Rufino where both St. Francis and St. Clare were baptized.

Lunch, on your own, in the Piazza del Comune, the main piazza in Assisi.  Thereafter, we will meet with the Bishop of Assisi at his residence, if available.  Dinner will be at one of our favorite restaurants in Assisi.

Overnight in Assisi. Breakfast and Dinner are included. Lunch is on your own.

After an early breakfast in St. Anthony's Guesthouse, we depart for Florence, about a 2-hour drive.  Florence (Firenze in Italian) is the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance that spread throughout the western world and abounds in beautiful sacred art and religious buildings.  We will visit some of the most famous churches - the Baptistry with its elaborate bronze doors by Ghiberti which date from the late 11th or early 12th centuries and depicts Old Testament scenes; the Church of the Holy Cross, the Santa Croce, where many prominent historical figures are buried, such as Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli.

On our walking tour through Piazza Signoria we will pass by Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi and Ponte Vecchio and continue through the Republic Square to the Santa Maria del Fiore, a 13th-century cathedral.  This is the Cathedral (Duomo) of Florence and has a distinctive dome that was designed by Burnelleschi.  In Florence, we will attend a private Mass.  The afternoon is free time for lunch and exploring Florence on your own.  Depart Assisi in the late afternoon.

Overnight in Assisi. Breakfast and Dinner are included. Lunch is on your own.

This morning we will attend a private Mass in the Basilica of St. Francis.  It is a leisurely walk downhill through the streets of Assisi to the basilica.  Our friends who oversee the basilica, the Franciscan Friars, will greet us and give us a private guided tour after Mass.

After lunch, we will board our bus and depart for Norcia.  The region around Norcia, in central Italy, is filled with rugged mountains and steep valleys.  This makes it a perfect area for hiking and breathing fresh, clean air, far from the crowded cities of Italy and the rest of Europe.

After Christian monasticism began to flourish in the desert areas of Egypt and then Syria - in the Christian East - during the 300's and especially during the 400's, some monks gradually began to travel westward, to Italy and southern France.  During the time of St. Augustine (354-430 AD), in the decades just before the birth of St. Benedict in 480 AD, the valleys and mountains around Norcia began to be populated by dozens of these monks.  Many were hermits living a solitary life; others lived in more or less interconnected, small groups, which provided an early model for what would become the communal life of St. Benedict's monks.

Today, strikingly, there is a return to Norcia of Benedictine monasticism, in the community which was begun by an American monk, Father Cassian Folsom, whom you will meet!

Overnight in Norcia. Breakfast and Dinner are included. Lunch is on your own.

After breakfast, we will attend Mass with the monks at the Benedictine monastery on the side of a mountain overlooking Norcia.

Lunch will be at the Agriturismo, a farmhouse resort, that overlooks the town of Norcia from the hillside of the Sibilini Mountains.  Father Cassian, prior emeritus of the monastery, will be our special guest and give us a spiritual reflection.  In 1988, Fr. Cassian came to Norcia with two companions, and on their own, with no help, they restored the ancient monastery and the Basilica of St. Benedict.  Bit by bit, what they were doing began to be noticed, and other young men came to join them.  Today, there are more than 16 monks in Norcia, and the monastery has gained a worldwide reputation for restoring the Faith.

In the afternoon, we depart for Loreto, which overlooks the Adriatic Sea, about a two-hour drive.  Dinner will be at our hotel there.  We hope to meet with the Bishop of Loreto after dinner, if available.

Overnight in Loreto. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are included.

After breakfast, we will attend Mass at the Holy House of Loreto and then have time to pray in this sacred site.  This house of the Holy Family, according to tradition, was miraculously flown by angels from Nazareth to Loreto before the expulsion of the crusaders from the Holy Land in the 13th century.  Scientists are said to have confirmed the materials to be the same as those fund in Nazareth and the house lacks a normal foundation.

The Holy House of Loreto is one of the most revered Marian shrines in the world, and numerous miracles and healings have been reported there.  It is a holy place defined by Pope John Paul II as "the true Marian heart of Christianity."  The sanctuary has been one of the most important pilgrimage sites for the Catholic faithful for centuries, having been visited by approximately 200 saints and beatified persons, as well as by numerous popes.

After lunch, we depart for Manoppello, about a 2-hour, beautiful drive along the Adriatic Coast of Italy.

The Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello contains a mysterious cloth bearing the image of a man with wounds on his face - an image some believe is the actual face of Christ formed at the moment of his Resurrection.  Pope Emeritus Benedict visited this shrine in 2006 to venerate the Holy Face of Manoppello.  Our friend, Sr. Petra-Maria will give an explanation of the history and traditions related to the Holy Face of Manoppello.  After our visit we head westward to Rome and to our home for the next 5 nights, the Maronite monastery in Rome, Villa Serenella.

Overnight in Rome. Breakfast and Dinner are included.

After breakfast in the monastery, we travel to the Churches of Sts. Prassedes and Pudentiana.  These sisters were the daughters of St. Pudens, a Roman senator converted and baptized by St. Paul.  It is said that St. Paul stayed in their home.  St. Paul refers to Pudens in the second letter to Timothy, chapter 4, verses 19-22:

Final Greeting: Greet Prisca and Aquila and the family of Onesiphorus.  Erastus remained in Corinth, while I left Trophimus sick at Miletus.  Try to get here before winter.  Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers send greetings.  The Lord be with your spirit.  Grace be with all of you.

It is believed that St. Peter lived here for 7 years.  This is also the site of a Eucharistic Miracle that occurred in 1610.

Then we will visit two of the patriarchal basilicas in Rome: St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran.  Each of these churches is a glorious monument to the Faith and contains treasures of art and faith that can take one's breath away.

In St. Mary Major, for example, there is a painting of Mary, which is believed to have been painted by St. Luke, making it the oldest painting of Mary in the world.  It is called the Salus Populi Romani (English: the Protectress of the Roman People).

A few blocks away stands the lofty Victorian-gothic church of San Alfonso.  There we will view The Miraculous Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help displayed above the altar in the sanctuary below a beautiful mosaic of the Holy Family.

St. John Lateran is the oldest and ranks first among the four Papal basilicas of Rome, since it is the cathedra of "seat" of the Bishop of Rome.  This became the second papal residence in Rome and the Popes lived here for centuries.

We will also visit the Holy Stairs, located near the Basilica of St. John Lateran.  These were the steps of Pontius Pilate that Jesus ascended in Jerusalem when He was condemned to die.  these stairs were moved from Jerusalem to Rome by St. Helena in the 4th century.  Also located near the Basilica of St. John Lateran is the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (English: Holy Cross in Jerusalem).  This basilica contains many relics of Jesus' Passion, including a few thorns from His crown, the nails from His cross, and the sign Pilate fastened above Christ's head.  We will visit this church to venerate these sacred relics.

Overnight in Rome. Breakfast and Dinner are included. Lunch is on your own.

After breakfast in the Villa Serenella, we will attend a private Mass and tour in the Catacombs of Callixtus, an ancient underground Christian burial site.  Callixtus is one fo the many catacombs in Rome and is most notable for containing the Crypt of the Popes, which once contained the tombs of several popes from the 2nd to 4th centuries.  After exploring the catacombs we will continue to make our way south of Rome to journey along the Appian Way.  First constructed in 312 BC, the Appian Way is an ancient road that extended from Rome to the boot of Italy.  We will visit many important shrines and churches along the way, including St. Sebastian's, the patriarchal church St. Paul's-Outside-the-Walls, and, time permitting, the famous Domino Quo Vadis church where Christ appeared to Peter and convinced him to return to Rome to preach and eventually face martyrdom.

St. Paul's-Outside-the-Walls holds the tomb of St. Paul and is dedicated to St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, who was beheaded in Rome.

We then proceed to the Church of St. Paul at the Three Fountains (Chiesa del Martirio di San Paolo alle Tre Fontane), one fo Rome's earliest churches and the site of the martyrdom of St. Paul.  Tradition tells us that, because he was a Roman citizen, he was beheaded rather than crucified.  The story was passed down that his head bounced three times on the ground, and at each spot a spring appeared.

Inside, you can see a pillar where St. Paul was, it is said, bound before being martyred.  If the gatekeeper is available, the gate may be opened so we may enter and venerate the pillar.  The original church was built in the 5th century; the one standing there today dates from the 16th century.  The grounds of the Three Fountains are beautiful, prayerful and quiet.  Also, we will visit the prison cell of St. Paul in the crypt of another church on the grounds, where he was held before his martyrdom.

Our next encounter will be at the site of the Grotto of Our Lady of Revelations.  It was here in 1947 that Our Lady appeared to the bitter anti-Catholic, Bruno Cornacchiola.  During the apparition, Our Lady taught Bruno many truths about salvation; one of them was that in our moments of doubt and discouragement, we should turn to her for help.  Bruno experienced a reversion, returning to his Catholic faith and beginning a life of evangelization.

There have been at least two miracles of the sun (similar to the way the sun "danced" in the sky over Fatima, Portugal in 1917) reported at this site on the 33rd and 35th anniversaries of the Virgin's visit here.  We will stop for lunch, on your own, along the way and return to the monastery for dinner in the evening.

Overnight in Rome. Breakfast and Dinner are included. Lunch is on your own.

We will have breakfast at the Villa Serenella before departing for Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.  After Mass, Dr. Robert Moynihan will point out select items of spiritual interest inside St. Peter's Basilica.  After which, we will gather in St. Peter's Square to hear the Angelus message delivered by Pope Francis and to pray the Angelus together with pilgrims from around the world.  A meeting in the Vatican will follow after the Angelus, a special encounter in which we will discuss issues impacting the Church today.

Lunch will be at one of our favorite restaurants near the Vatican.  After lunch and free time, we will journey to the Spanish Steps where Dr. Moynihan will guide us along our walking tour of Baroque Rome - the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona.

Along the way, Dr. Moynihan will point out many interesting places, peeling away the layers of Roman and Church history.

In addition, we will visit several special places to view famous paintings by Caravaggio, including The Calling of Matthew, Crucifixion of St. Peter, and Conversion on the Way to Damascus.

Another important stop along our way is the Basilica of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, which has a very special side chapel.  In fact, it is so special that many come to Rome just to pray at this altar.  Our Lady appeared here to Alphonse Ratisbonne, an avowed anti-Catholic Jew, in 1842, manifesting herself exactly as she appears on the Miraculous Medal, effecting his miraculous, instantaneous conversion.

The first Miraculous Medals were struck in 1832 and, while the Miraculous Medal devotion was already circulating throughout France after Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine Laboure, this miraculous apparition to Ratisbonne provided the impetus to bring the Miraculous Medal to Italy.

Many pilgrims from all over the world travel to Rome just to visit this shrine in devotion to the Miraculous Medal.  But this special chapel is also where the great Polish martyr, St. Maximillian Kolbe, offered his first Mass on April 29, 1918.

Overnight in Rome. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are included.

We will be up early to be at the door of the Vatican Museum when they open, and there will likely be a crowd of hundreds already lined up to get in.  We will bypass this line for our private tour with Sr. Emmanuela, the nun who wrote the guidebook for the outstanding "Faith and Art" tour at the Vatican museum.  Our morning will finish with a tour of St. Peter's Basilica.

Lunch will be on your own at one of our favorite restaurants near the Vatican, followed by free time to shop, explore, or enjoy an espresso.

Our farewell dinner, hosted by Dr. Robert Moynihan and Deborah Tomlinson, will be a celebratory feast, and special friends and guests of Inside the Vatican magazine will be joining us as we bid a fond farewell to new friends.

Overnight in Rome. Breakfast and Dinner are included. Lunch is on your own.

After an early Mass, breakfast, and last goodbyes, transfers will be scheduled to Rome's Fiumicino airport for your return home.  Farewell to all our fellow pilgrims and friends until we meet again...

Breakfast is included.