1102BA6 - Eucharistic Miracle Pilgrimage in Italy 12 days from Denver

Today we depart Denver airport to connect with our overnight flight to Rome aboard a wide-bodied jet. We enjoy in-flight movies, dinner and breakfast aloft.

We arrive in Rome later this morning, where we are met by our Unitours Tour Manager and transfer to our bus for our short ride to the Catacombs, burial place of early Christians, where we celebrate our first pilgrim’s Mass and view the 2nd and 3rd century fresco paintings. We continue to our hotel for our “welcome” dinner and a restful overnight.

This morning, we make our way to St. Peter's for an audience with Pope Francis (if he is in residence). After lunch on our own, we travel south to the Town of Alatri, where in 1228AD, according to Vatican documents, a woman was asked to “steal” a host from her church by a sorceress who promised she could restore the woman’s lost love. As she received the Holy Eucharist, she held it on the side of her mouth until she could remove it and place it in a handkerchief. When she reopened the handkerchief a few days later, the host had been transformed to a piece of bleeding flesh! The blood-stained handkerchief remains protected in a reliquary at the Cathedral of St. Paul, the Apostle. We drive to nearby Veroli for the Church of Erasmus. In 1570AD, during a public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as part of Forty Hours devotion, Giacomo Meloni witnessed the following: a brilliant star appeared at the base of the chalice on the altar, immediately above the star was a large Host with the image of the Infant Jesus on its face. Then, angels surrounded the Blessed Sacrament. The image faded after a while but was well documented and attested by the Vatican. We return to Rome for dinner and overnight.

Today, we enjoy a walking tour of the Roman Fora, the Arch of Constantine, and the exterior of the Flavian Amphitheater, more commonly known as “the Coliseum”. We then visit St. John Lateran and Holy Stairs. We finish our morning as we proceed to St. Paul’s Beyond the Walls. 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: 265 tablets portraying the popes of the past. We celebrate Mass while there. This afternoon, following a break for lunch on our own, we drive to the Basilica of St. Pudenziana, the daughter of a Roman Senator who befriended the Apostle Peter. Both his daughters were known to reverently wipe the blood of the martyrs in the nearby arenas. On the floor of this church, near the altar steps, is a permanent stain of blood left by a host the celebrant carelessly let fall. Since he was having a crisis in believing the real presence of Jesus, the blood stain was a reminder for all. It is still visible to this day! We then proceed to the Church of the Sacred Heart of Suffrage and the “Museum of the Holy Souls in Purgatory,” which houses a unique collection of articles collected by a French missionary, made up of various articles that have been “marked” by Souls in Purgatory. Though the collection is not large, it is incredibly unique and thought provoking. We conclude our day at our hotel for dinner and overnight.

This morning, we stop at Tre Fontane “Grotto of the Three Fountains,” marking the place where St. Paul the Apostle was martyred in the first century. It was said that when he was beheaded, it bounced three times, each time creating a fountain of water from the ground! On April 12, 1947, Bruno Cornacchiola, was in the park area nearby when his son’s ball was lost. Assisting his son to retrieve it, he found one of his other children transfixed at the entrance to a cave, repeating the words “Beautiful Lady,” over and over. His two other children soon were also kneeling transfixed on the same scene. Our Blessed Mother appeared under the title “Virgin of Revelation” and instructed Bruno to sin no more, return to the Catholic church, and to invite others to this site, which will produce many miracles. It has, over the decades since, including on anniversary day, April 12th, when the sun changed forms multiple times. We make our way to our next stop, the Basilica of St. Anastasia, to view the relics of the Mantel of St. Joseph and the colorful Veil of our Blessed Mother! Both brought to Rome from the Holy Land by St. Jerome in the fourth century AD, before his martyrdom. Both relics were left in the care of the church of St. Anastasia since it was one of the oldest “original” churches in Rome at that time. Mother Mary conferred a specific blessing on the mantel and versions of that blessing have been handed down throughout the history of the church. We enjoy our last day in Rome with free time before we return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Today, following an early morning departure from Rome, we travel north through and stop at Orvieto for 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. We continue to Assisi, stopping in the lower town at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, and the Portiuncula, Francis' Church of the Little Portion, before proceeding to the hilltop village of Assisi for dinner and overnight.

This morning, we begin with Mass at the Basilica of St. Francesco. We then begin our walking tour of the village, visiting the Church of St. Clare, where we view the San Damiano crucifix that spoke to St. Francis. This is also the site of a Eucharistic miracle in 1240AD, when a band of Saracen soldiers were attacking Assisi and had reached the cloistered convent of a now sickly St. Clare. In fear that the soldiers would harm her sisters, she prayed in front of the Blessed Sacrament for protection. Tradition tells us that Our Lord assured her His protections and when she held the monstrance in front of the soldiers, they fled! We proceed back down the hill and travel to the Church of St. Mary Major and the Shrine Sanctuary of the Renunciation, which marks the spot where young Francis was said to have disrobed from his “rich man’s clothes” to adopt a simple robe which would become the symbol of the Franciscan Order. This site also holds the glass sarcophagus of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the first “Millennial Saint” to be canonized. It is by Blessed Carlos’s handiwork that we are enjoying so many Eucharistic Miracle sites. Following a break for a late lunch on our own, we return to our hotel with the remainder of the day to relax before dinner and overnight.

Today, we drive southeast to the Town of Cascia, making a brief stop at the Basilica of St. Rita. The Basilica not only contains her glass sarcophagus but also the relic of the Eucharistic Miracle of Cascia. In 1330AD, a local priest was called to visit an ill woman and bring her the Holy Eucharist. Oddly, rather than carry it reverently, he simply placed the host between a few pages in his prayer book. When he arrived to give her communion, the host had turned to blood and the blood stained both pages between which it was placed! We continue towards Ancona and celebrate Mass at Loreto, the site of the Santa Casa or Holy House. 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. We stop for lunch on our own before continuing south along the coastline of the Adriatic Sea, concluding our day with dinner and overnight.

This morning, we visit 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 north along the coastline, stopping for lunch along our route before reaching the Temple of the Most Holy Eucharist for a unique Eucharistic Miracle performed by St. Anthony of Padua. In 1227AD a local heretic in the town of Rimini challenged St. Anthony to prove the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. The man, Bonovillo, suggested that he would starve his mule for three days, and bring it to St. Anthony, who would expose the Blessed Sacrament to the starving donkey. On the third day of the challenge the man brought the starving donkey to the town Square named “Three Martyrs Plaza” and as St. Antony proceeded toward the donkey with a monstrance, he recited a prayer, and the animal bent its front legs forward and kneeled before it reverently. Bonovillo was so moved that he kneeled at St. Anthony’s feet and recanted his old ways, and he would now follow St. Anthony! We conclude our day with dinner and overnight.

Today, we head to Padua, where we celebrate Mass, tour the Basilica of St. Anthony, and view the largest bronze work of Donatello. We also stop nearby to view the holy relics of Saint Luke, taken from Constantinople and brought to Padua. While the sarcophagus here contains most of St. Luke’s remains, his skull is now in Prague, in the Czech Republic. We continue to our hotel in Mestre, some time to relax before our dinner and overnight.

This morning, following Mass, we begin by walking the sights of Venice: the Piazza San Marco, and the Byzantine Basilica of San Marco. This afternoon is free time before we later enjoy our “farewell dinner” and overnight.

This morning we transfer to the airport for our flight to the U.S. arriving the same day.