1226UA4 - Holy Year Holy Doors Pilgrimage 5 days from Newark

Today, we depart Newark for our overnight flight to Rome aboard a wide-bodied jet. We enjoy dinner and breakfast aloft.

On arrival in Rome, we will be met and board our motor coach. In the city we have a walking tour of the Roman Fora, the Arch of Constantine and the Coliseum. We cap off our morning with a tour of the Holy Stairs and Basilica of St. John Lateran. While there, we pass through the 1st set of “Holy Doors” on our Holy Year pilgrimage. First built in the fourth century, St. John’s was the site of five ecumenical councils and the Popes’ residence until 1304. This afternoon, following a break for lunch on our own, we tour the Basilica of St. Mary Major, and pass through our 2nd set of doors. On this Marian Feast of the Immaculate Conception, our Mass will be at this church that celebrates the “Theotokos”, the mother of God. We check into our hotel for our “welcome” dinner and overnight.

We begin our day at the Callistus Catacombs, a burial place of early Christians. We celebrate Mass here and view the 2nd and 3rd century fresco paintings. After lunch on our own, we continue to the site of St. Paul’s martyrdom, The Abbey of Tre Fontane, where Paul was beheaded for the faith. We conclude our day with a stop at St. Paul’s tomb, the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls for the 3rd of “Holy Doors”. This huge, imposing Basilica, second only to St. Peter’s and one of the largest churches in the Christian world, contains an unusual gallery of papal portraits: 268 tablets portraying the popes of the past. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

Today, we visit Vatican City where we celebrate Mass in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica. Afterwards, we view the treasures of the Vatican Museum including Michelangelo’s restored frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. In St. Peter’s Basilica, we take in the world-renowned altar columns created by Bernini. Tradition holds that Bernini engraved his own Rosary on one of the columns while another column is said to contain the spear of St. Longinus, the Roman centurion who pierced the side of our Savior and was healed by the blood and water that flowed from it! While here, we pass through the 4th and last of the “Holy Doors”, completing our Holy Year Pilgrimage. We conclude our day as we celebrate our “farewell” dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight at the hotel.

This morning, we make our way home to New Jersey with memories of a lifetime.