Dear Blessed Sacrament Parishioners,
Praised Be Jesus Christ! As we continue to prepare for our 100th Jubilee, I want to invite you to a special pilgrimage to Italy - Eucharistic Miracles and Saints of Italy. On our pilgrimage we will visit the special churches of Orvieto and Lanciano, two of the most famous Eucharistic miracles ever. We will also visit the places linked with great saints: Sts. Francis and Clare, St. Carlo Acutis, St. Padre Pio, Sts. Benedict and Scholastica. No visit to Italy is complete without a stay in the Eternal City to visit Sts. Peter and Paul, and so many other saints that are buried in Rome. is pilgrimage will be an opportunity to grow in our love of our Catholic Faith as well as a great way to celebrate our special jubilee year.
Peace in Jesus and Mary,
Fr. Borkenhagen
Itinerary
See the online flier here. REGISTER NOW!
Monday, Oct. 4 - Feast of St. Francis - Day 1 - Depart USA
Today we depart Wichita to connect with our overnight flight to Rome aboard a wide-body jet. We enjoy in-flight movies, dinner, and breakfast aloft.
Tuesday Oct, 5 – DAY 2 – ROME
We arrive in Rome this morning, and we start our day at one of the Catacombs, burial place of early Christians. We celebrate Mass here and view the 2nd and 3rd century fresco paintings. We have free time for lunch on our own, and then we have a walking tour of the Roman Forum, the Arch of Constantine, and the Colosseum. Continue to our hotel for dinner and overnight in Rome.
Wednesday, Oct 6 – DAY 3 – VATICAN CITY/ROME
This morning after breakfast, we make our way to St. Peter’s for an audience with Pope Leo XIV if he is in residence. After lunch on our own, we continue our tour with a visit to the Holy Stairs and the Basilica of St. John Lateran. The Holy Stairs were taken from Jerusalem to Rome by St. Helen, the Emperor Constantine’s mother. These are the stairs that Jesus climbed to be sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate after being mercilessly scourged. Many pilgrims climb these stairs on their knees in prayer. We also visit St. John Lateran Basilica, which served as the Pope’s home church until the 14th century, when it switched to St. Peter’s Basilica. We celebrate our Mass here. If time and energy permit, we visit St. Paul’s Beyond the Walls, where St. Paul is buried beneath the main altar. We return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.
Thursday, Oct 7 – Our Lady of the Rosary – DAY 4 – VATICAN CITY/ ROME
This morning, we begin our day celebrating Mass in the crypt of St. Peter’s. After Mass, we pray at the tombs of St. John Paul II and St. Peter the Apostle. Back upstairs in the main sanctuary, we view the treasures of St. Peter’s, including the Pietà, Bernini’s “Window of the Holy Spirit” made from alabaster, as well as his famous altar columns in St. Peter’s. One altar column contains the spear of St. Longinus. St. Longinus, the Roman centurion who pierced the side of our Savior, was converted by the blood and water that flowed from Christ’s Sacred Heart. We visit the Vatican Museums, which culminate in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. After lunch on our own, we mark the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary with a tour of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the largest church dedicated to Mary in the world and the place where Pope Francis is buried. St. Mary’s holds relics of Christ’s Holy Manger from Bethlehem and a piece of the true cross from Golgotha. The golden ceiling of St. Mary’s is decorated by the rst gold brought back from the New World by Christopher Colombus. The Spanish Catholic Kings—Ferdinand and Isabel—gave the gold as a gift to the Pope. We may take time for personal prayer or perhaps a group rosary to honor our Blessed Mother. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Friday, Oct 8 – DAY 5 – ROME/ORVIETO/ ASSISI
Following an early morning departure from Rome, we travel north through the Umbrian countryside. We stop at Orvieto for a visit and Mass at the breathtaking Cathedral, which is known as the jewel of Italian architecture. Inside the Cathedral is the Chapel of the Corporal, which houses the chalice cloth involved in the Eucharistic Miracle, which occurred in nearby Bolsena. In the 13th century, a pilgrim priest named Peter of Prague was celebrating Mass at the crypt of St. Christina. He was having a faith crisis concerning the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and while speaking the words of the consecration, blood started to drip from the consecrated Host. Subsequently, Pope Urban instituted the Feast of Corpus Christi. Afterward, we continue to Assisi. Our first stop is in the lower town for a visit to the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, and the Portiuncula, Francis’ Church of the Little Portion. We then proceed to the hilltop village of Assisi for dinner and overnight at our hotel.
Saturday, Oct 9 – DAY 6 – ASSISI
This morning, we begin at the Basilica of St. Francesco with Mass. After our visit of the Basilica and the tomb of St. Francis, we begin our walking tour of the village with a stop at the Church of St. Clare to view the famous San Damiano cruci x. From this cross, Christ spoke to St. Francis telling him to “rebuild my Church.” Afterward, we visit the resting place of newly canonized St. Carlo Acutis, who was 15 years old when he died in 2006 from leukemia. Acutis’ tomb is in Assisi’s Sanctuary of the Renunciation, the spot where a young St. Francis of Assisi is said to have cast o his rich clothes in favor of a poor habit. This afternoon, following lunch on our own, we take time for prayer, shopping, and quiet appreciation for this picturesque hillside village on our own. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
Sunday, Oct 10 – DAY 7 – LORETO/ MONTESILVANO
Today we drive east towards Ancona and visit and celebrate Mass at Loreto, the site of the Santa Casa, the Blessed Mother’s childhood home and where St. Joseph and Mary may have lived with the child Jesus. Ancient tradition tells us angels carried the house of the Holy Family from Nazareth to Loreto as it was about to be destroyed by Holy Land invaders. After our visit, we continue southwards via the coastal highway to the Montesilvano Pescara area for dinner and overnight at our hotel on the shores of the Adriatic Sea.
Monday, Oct 11 – DAY 8 – LANCIANO/ SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO
This morning we visit and pray at Lanciano, the site of the oldest Eucharistic Miracle certified by the Church. After almost eight centuries, the Body and the Blood still maintain all the characteristics of fresh human material. We continue south to San Giovanni Rotondo where we celebrate Mass and visit the sanctuary. We transfer to our hotel for dinner and overnight.
Tuesday, Oct 12 – DAY 9 – SAN GIOVANNI/SUBIACO/ROME
We depart late in the morning for Subiaco. It was here that Saint Benedict and his sister Scholastica retired at the end of the 5th Century and built ve little monasteries. We visit the Monastery of St. Benedict, which dates from the 13th and 14th centuries. We visit the Sacred Cave where Benedict lived as a hermit for three years. The staircase holds the earliest portrait of St. Francis without his halo or stigmata. We celebrate Mass here. Continue to Rome for dinner and overnight at our hotel.
Wednesday, Oct 13 – DAY 10 – ROME/USA
This morning we transfer to the airport for our flight to the U.S., arriving the same day.
