Day 1: Depart home country
Overnight flight to Rome. Begin reading the lives of Padre Pio and St Francis.
Opening commissioning prayer at the gate.
Day 2: Arrive Rome
Arrive and settle in; gentle orientation walk and an early night.
Opening Mass / devotional service.
Day 3: Vatican City & St Peter's
The Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel (three to four hours) and St Peter's Basilica over the Apostle's tomb. Book timed entry.
Mass within St Peter's Basilica; prayer at the tomb of St Peter.
Day 4: Papal Rome
The major basilicas — St John Lateran and the Holy Stairs, St Mary Major, St Paul Outside the Walls — and the Catacombs of the martyrs.
Climb the Holy Stairs in prayer; Mass at St Mary Major.
Day 5: Rome to Assisi
Drive north to Assisi: the Basilica of St Francis with the saint's tomb, and the Basilica of St Clare with the San Damiano crucifix.
Mass at the tomb of St Francis; pray the Peace Prayer at San Damiano.
Day 6: Assisi to Loreto
Continue to Loreto on the Adriatic, home of the Holy House — believed to be the Nazareth home of the Virgin Mary, enclosed within a great basilica.
Mass in the Holy House of Loreto; pray the Litany of Loreto.
Day 7: Loreto to San Giovanni Rotondo
Travel south along the coast to San Giovanni Rotondo, the shrine of St Padre Pio: his friary, the old and new churches, and his tomb. A full devotional afternoon.
Pray at the tomb of Padre Pio; Mass at the sanctuary.
Day 8: Lanciano & the Eucharistic Miracle
Visit Lanciano, where the 8th-century Eucharistic miracle — flesh and blood from a consecrated host — is venerated and displayed. A profound stop for Eucharistic devotion.
Adoration before the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano; Mass.
Day 9: Return toward Rome
Travel back across the Apennines toward Rome, with a reflective stop as time allows. Final evening together.
Thanksgiving service for the shrines of Italy.
Day 10: Depart from Rome
Morning transfer to the airport for the journey home.
Closing Mass and a blessing before departure.
