HOLYLAND – TURKEY – ASSIS & ROME – OCT/2022

Depart USAto Tel Aviv. Dinner and night on board

Arrive Tel Aviv. Meeting with our representative at Ben Gurion airport and transfer by bus to Nazareth. Rest of the day is at leisure Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Visit the Mount of Beatitudes, where do our personal meditation. Visit Capernaum, celebration of Holy Mass on the ruins of the house of San. Peter, visit to the ruins of the ancient synagogue. Continue to Tabgha, the site of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, then we embarked for a cruise through the Sea of Galilee, and in the middle of the sea, we will make the corresponding readings. Visit the Primacy of Peter where Jesus tells his disciples that they are returning from fishing, “Boys, bring some fish just caught“, there’s a rock on which Jesus had prepared the fire, and waited, then asked Peter, you love me more than these?. We will go to the Jordan River to renew our Baptismal promises. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Depart this morning to Nazareth where the Son of God became incarnate in the Blessed Lady. We will visit the Basilica, then we go to the grotto of the Holy Family, and continue to Cana of Galilee where Jesus performed his first miracle (Holy Mass). For those who are married, opportunity to renew the Sacrament of Marriage. We continued to climb Mount Carmel, to find the Grotto of the Prophet Elias and contemplate the Bahaí Temple and its beautiful Persian Gardens, from where we will obtain a unique panoramic view of the entire city. Back to the hotel. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Departure to Mt. Tabor and ascent by taxi to visit the Church of the Transfiguration. Traveling through the Jordan Valley we will pass through Jericho, the oldest city in the world. Upon entering Jericho, there is a sycamore that Zacchaeus reminds us, here we will do the corresponding readings. Continuation to Jerusalem, where we will arrive singing the psalm and in a high part of Mount Scopus, we will make a toast, as we have reached the Holy City. Arrival in Bethlehem. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Depart to Ain Karen to visit the Church of St. John the Baptist and the place where the Blessed Virgin visited her cousin Elizabeth. From here we went up to Mount Zion to visit the Church of San Pedro Gallicantu, where Peter denied Christ and where Jesus was a prisoner. Then we will go to King David’s tomb. We continue to visit the Cenacle, the place where Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Priesthood and the Eucharist. Return to Bethlehem. Visit to the Basilica of the Nativity (Holy Mass), the Church of Santa Catarina, the Grotto of St. Jerome and the Grotto of the Milk. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Early this morning, we’ll leave to the Old Town, to start the Via Crucis, reaching Golgotha, celebrating Holy Mass there. We went to the Holy Sepulcher, then to the grave of the Crosses, where tradition tells, St. Helena found the Cross of the Lord. We will visit the Wailing Wall, the most important place for the Jewish religion. After lunch we headed to the Mount of Olives, the place of the Ascension of our Lord. To the Cave of the Our Father, to the Chapel of Dominus Flevit, where Jesus wept for Jerusalem. Then we visit the Basilica of Getsemani (Holy Mass) where Jesus died and a few meters from there is the Grotto of betrayal where Judas delivered him. Back to the hotel. Tonight we will have our farewell dinner and delivery of Pilgrimage certificates. Overnight.

After breakfast transfer to with our private bus to Ben Gurion airport of Tel Aviv to board our flight to Istanbul. Arrival in Istanbul. Meeting with our representative at the airport and transfer by Bus to the hotel. The rest of the day will be free. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Full day tour of the city. In the morning, visit Santa Sophia, the most significant monument in Istanbul. From there, visit the Topkapi Palace, where the sultans lived between 1478 and 1856. We continue with the famous Blue Mosque and the Roman Hippodrome. We end the day with free time to shop at the Gran Bazaar. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Transfer from the hotel to the airport in time to board our flight to Izmir. Arrival and departure on our bus to Ephesus, the best preserved Greco-Roman city in Asia Minor since the 1st and 2nd centuries. The Temple of Artemis – one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World -, the Temple of Hadrian, the Roman Baths, the Library of Celsus and the Odeon. Visit to the House of the Virgin Mary, and today it is a pilgrimage site. Then we will give way to Kusadasi, the “Island of the birds”, which opens up beautiful views of the port of the bay. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel and transfer with our private bus to the airport to board our flight to Rome. Arrival in Rome. Meeting with our representative at Leonardo da Vinci airport and transfer by bus to our hotel. Rest of the day free. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Transfer from the hotel with our motorcoach to the Vatican to participate at the Papal Audience with the Holy Father Francis. After the ceremony, free afternoon to visit on your own the Basilica of St. Peter. Return to the hotel on your own. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Departure from the hotel by our Bus for a half day city tour with a local guide who will take us to know: Imperial Rome with the Colosseum (entrance not included), the Roman Forums (entrance not included), Venice Square with its monument to the unknown soldier, the famous Via Veneto. In the afternoon we will visit the most emblematic Basilicas of Rome. We start with the Basilica of St Mary the Major (Holy Mass), also known as the Basilica di Santa Maria della Neve and the Liberian Basilica. Built on a pagan temple of Cibeles, is the only Roman church that preserves the strictly basilica plan and the primitive paleo-Christian structure. The Church of San Alfonso. Here we will visit the original Icon of the Virgin of Perpetual Help. Basilica of St. John Lateran, better known as Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, is the cathedral of the diocese of Rome, where the episcopal see of the bishop of Rome (the Pope) is located. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Departure from the hotel with our private Bus to Assis. Meeting with our local guide for a visit of the Basilica of St. Francis, where we will visit the Tomb of St. Francis. We will also enjoy a walking tour of town, including the Church of San Rufino (with St. Francis’ baptismal font), and the Basilica of St. Clare (where her incorrupt body lies in repose.), After lunch (not included), we’ll continue our visit to St. Mary of the Angels, we visit the Basilica with inside the famous Porziuncola, work of San Francis (Holy Mass). From there we will visit the Rosebush without Thorns. Late in the afternoon back to Rome. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Transfer by our private motorcoach to Leonardo Da Vinci airport in time for departure of our flight back Mexico or USA.