DAY    1            DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight to Milan.

DAY    2            MILAN - PADUA - VENICE AREA (2 NIGHTS)
You will be met at the airport by our Casterbridge Tour Manager/Guide where we will board our own private coach and transfer to our hotel in the Venice area. En route we will visit Padua, forever associated with one of the Church's dearly loved saints, St. Anthony. Most people know him as the patron invoked to find lost objects. However, in his lifetime he was known not only as a holy Franciscan priest, but also as a powerful and eloquent preacher. Our tour begins in the Basilica of St. Anthony where will view the saint's tomb, as well as the Chapel of Reliquaries which contains many precious items used by the saint in his lifetime. Of particular interest is the reliquary that contains St. Anthony's incorrupt tongue that he used so persuasively to preach the gospel. We continue onto our hotel in the Venice area.

DAY    3            VENICE (LA SERENISSIMA)
Our day in Venice begins with a Vaporetto Ride along the Grand Canal, which has been described as the world's finest street. We will view the Rialto Bridge, the most elegant and famous of the bridges that span the Grand Canal, as we make our way to St. Mark's Square. We will visit St. Mark's Basilica, featuring interior walls encrusted with spectacular gold mosaics. Our visit will also include an ascent to the Galleries to see the original bronze horses, which once adorned the facade, and a stunning view of St. Mark's Square. We continue next door with a visit to the Doges' Palace, residence of the rulers of the Serenissima Republic. We will explore the ornate and grandiose rooms of the palace, including a walk across the famous Bridge of Sighs to the cells, where Casanova was once imprisoned, as well as the Grand Council chamber, featuring Tintoretto's Paradise, said to be the world's largest oil painting.

DAY    4            VENICE AREA - BOLOGNA - FLORENCE AREA (1 NIGHT)
After bidding goodbye to Venice, we will make our way to Corpus Domini Church, the shrine of the mystic St. Catherine of Bologna. She began her vocation as a third order Franciscan, and eventually became a Poor Clare nun renowned for her mystical gifts. She was also a talented painter and manuscript illuminator. We will attend Mass (subject to availability) in the chapel that contains her body, which has remained incorrupt since her death in 1463. Later we travel on to Florence, a city that is a living gallery of man's greatest work of art, sculpture and architectural forms. We will view the massive and detailed façade of the Duomo, before viewing the Baptistery's bronze doors by Ghiberti, which Michelangelo commented were worthy to be the "Gates of Paradise." After a brief visit inside the Duomo, we will have the opportunity to do one of the following: ascend the Bell Tower, climb the narrow steps to the top of the Red Dome, or visit the spectaclar interior of the Baptistery (One admission included).

DAY    5            FLORENCE AREA - CASCIA - SIENA - ASSISI AREA (1 NIGHT)
After an early morning departure from Florence, we will visit Cascia, home to one Italy's most inspiring saints, St. Rita, known as the patron saint for impossible situations. Devoted to the Passion, she prayed to suffer as Christ did, and received a chronic head wound that appeared to have been caused by a crown of thorns, and which bled for 15 years. We will attend Mass at the Augustine Monastery where her incorrupt body is kept for veneration by the faithful. Our next stop will be in Siena where we will visit the Sanctuary of St. Catherine, which was the home to one of the greatest female mystics who ever lived, having had her first mystical experience at the age of 6. St. Catherine was graced with many spiritual gifts such as the stigmata and was a counselor to two popes. We continue to Assisi, the city as charming as the beloved Sts. Francis and Clare, who were born there. Your guide will be pleased to take you on some introductory sightseeing of the city before we visit the Basilica of St. Francis, which houses the relics of the "poor man of Assisi."

DAY    6            ASSISI AREA - LANCIANO AREA(2 NIGHTS)
After Mass in the morning, we will visit, Convento di San Damiano, which contains the crucifix that spoke to St. Francis. As he was praying one day, St. Francis heard Christ's command to rebuild His Church. Taking this instruction literally he began to renovate the debilitated structure. We will continue on to St. Mary of the Angels Bascilica and Porziuncula, where St. Francis spent his last days being nursed by St. Clare before surrendering his soul to God. Ample time will be provided for private prayer and meditation. We continue on to Lanciano, the scene of one of the most astounding Eucharistic miracles. In the eighth century a priest began to doubt the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. As he pronounced the words of consecration, the Host he held had turned to flesh and the wine in the chalice into blood. Even without the scientific investigations that have confirmed that the miracle, the message of what occurred at Lanciano is unmistakable. Ample time will be provided for private prayer and meditation.

DAY    7            DAY TRIP TO SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO
Today, we will take a day trip to the town of San Giovanni Rotondo to visit Our Lady of Grace Friary, where the greatest mystic of the twenty-century lived and worked, Blessed Padre Pio. Besides being the first stigmatized priest in the history of the Church, there are numerous reports of his bilocation, prophecy, and the ability to read hearts. After Mass (subject to availability) at the friary we see the cell in which Padre Pio lived and the confessional in which he heard confessions often up to eighteen hours a day. In the chapel we will view the crucifix from which Padre Pio received the stigmata. Ample time will be provided for prayer before his tomb. We return to Lanciano for the night.

DAY    8            LANCIANO AREA - ROME (4 NIGHTS)
In the ancient world it was said that all roads lead to Rome, and over the centuries many have found truth in that statement, both literally and spiritually. Upon arrival in the "Eternal City" our Casterbridge Tour Manager/Guide will pleased to take you on some introductory sightseeing. We will begin our visit with a Walking Tour from the Castel Sant'Angelo over the River Tiber to Piazza Navona. As you enjoy Bernini's magnificent fountains and the local artists' works, you may choose to sample the world famous 'tartufo' ice cream that originated in a cafe bar on this square, for your first 'taste' of Rome!

DAY    9            ROME (CITY OF THE POPES)
Today we will explore the Vatican, the world's smallest independent nation, and the center of the Christian world. Our day begins with a specialist-guided tour of the Vatican Museums, which house one of the most impressive collections of art in the world. Our tour will include the map rooms, the tapestry rooms, and the magnificent Raphael Rooms, as well as the spectacular Sistine Chapel, highlighted by Michelangelo's ceiling and his Last Judgment. We continue with a visit to St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the western world and the most important point of pilgrimage in the Catholic world. Highlights of our visit will include: The Pieta by Michelangelo, the tomb of St. Peter, and Bernini's magnificent Baldacchino. If possible, we will arrange a Papal Audience (subject to availability and the Holy Father's schedule). We will also attempt to arrange a visit to the Necropolis to see the original Tomb of St. Peter. We will have Mass today at St. Peter's Basilica.

DAY    10          ROME
Today we take the Ancient Appian Way, the first and most important of the great roads that the Romans built to visit the little Chiesa di Santa Maria in Palmis, or Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis, where, according to tradition, St. Peter spoke with Jesus when St. Peter was fleeing Rome in order to escape Nero's persecution. Peter asked "Domine, quo vadis?" meaning "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus reproached him, inviting him to retrace his steps, even if it meant he would be crucified. Then we will explore the Catacombs where the Early Christians of ancient Rome were buried underground. In the afternoon we will visit the Church of St Peter in Chains, which, according to tradition, house the chains that bound St. Peter. We will continue to the huge Gesù, the principal church of the Jesuits, the order founded by Basque soldier Ignatius Loyola in the 1530s. Along with St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, St. Ignatius is considered one of the great saints of the Counter-Reformation. Much more than just a founder of a religious order, St. Ignatius was a mystic and spiritual director par excellence. His "Spiritual Excercises" are still recommended to this day as a means for growing in holiness. Outside the church, at Piazza del Gesù, we will visit the Rooms of Saint Ignatius, where the saint lived and worked while in Rome.

DAY    11          ROME
Our day will begin with a visit to St. John Lateran and the Holy Steps, which according to tradition were brought back by St. Helena from the Holy Land and are the steps that Christ was ascended as He was condemned by Pilate. Afterwards, we will visit the Shrine of our Lady of Perpetual Help, where we will view the original miraculous image. Ample time will be provided here for personal prayer and meditation. We will continue with a visit to Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome's four patriarchal basilicas that dates back to the 5th century. The main facade was added in the 18th century, preserving the glorious 13th century mosaics of the earlier facade. With a Baroque interior and a Romanesque bell tower, the basilica's most notable feature is a cycle of mosaics from the 5th century that decorate the arch and nave, depicting biblical scenes. On your final evening in Rome, we will take a walk to the Spanish Steps before winding through the narrow streets that lead to the Trevi Fountain, where it is traditional to toss a coin into the fountain to ensure a return to the Eternal City.

DAY    12          DEPART ROME
Your enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as our Casterbridge Tour Manager/Guide accompanies you to the airport for the return flight home.