Itinerary

• DAY 1:

  USA / LISBON

  Depart on your overnight transatlantic flight to Portugal.

• DAY 2:

  LISBON

  Arrival in Lisbon where you will be met by your Homeric Tours representative and begin your city tour. Visits include the Cathedral, St Jeronimo’s Monastery, Saint Anthony’s Church (the patron saint of lost objects), Belem Quarter, the Belem Tower, 25 April Bridge, and Discoveries Monument. Dinner and overnight.
  Dinner included

• DAY 3:

  LISBON / SANTAREM / FATIMA

  After breakfast, depart for Santarem, one of the oldest cities in the world. Walk its narrow streets to the Church of St. Stephen, containing the oldest recorded Eucharistic miracle. This miracle has been on display since 1269 A.D. Celebrate Mass at this holy site. Continue to Fatima, where the Blessed Mother appeared in 1917 to three simple shepherd children. Dinner and overnight in Santarem.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 4:

  FATIMA

  We depart for Salamanca, Spain after breakfast. Visits include the grand Plaza Mayor, the hub of Salmantine life; the vast Baroque church of La Clerecía; the Casa de las Conchas (House of Shells), named after the rows of carved scallop shells, symbol of the pilgrimage to Santiago which decorate its façade; the University, the cathedrals, the Roman Bridge, San Marcos and San Martin churches. After dinner in a local restaurant, we head to our hotel for overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 5:

  FATIMA / SALAMANCA

  We depart for Salamanca, Spain after breakfast. Visits include the grand Plaza Mayor, the hub of Salmantine life; the vast Baroque church of La Clerecía; the Casa de las Conchas (House of Shells), named after the rows of carved scallop shells, symbol of the pilgrimage to Santiago which decorate its façade; the University, the cathedrals, the Roman Bridge, San Marcos and San Martin churches. After dinner in a local restaurant, we head to our hotel for overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 6:

  SALAMANCA / ALBA DE TORMES / ÁVILA / BURGOS

  After breakfast, depart for Alba de Tormes. Celebrate Mass at the Carmelite Monastery, where Saint Teresa died and is buried. In the little museum of the Carmelite Monastery we view the incorrupt heart and left arm of St. Teresa. Continue to Ávila. The preserved eleventh-century walls surround the old town where the mystic writer Santa Teresa was born and whose shrines are a must see for all pilgrims. Santa Teresa was the first woman to be named a Doctor of the Church, to whom the city is dedicated. The tour of Ávila includes the Cathedral and San Vicente church. Visit the Incarnation Convent, where St. Teresa became a nun, and the museum’s dedication to her life. Visit La Santa Monastery, built on the site where she was born, and San José Convent, the first monastery founded by the Saint. We then depart for Burgos, the historic capital of Old Castile. Dinner and overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 7:

  BURGOS / LOYOLA / LOURDES

  After breakfast, depart for Loyola, the birthplace of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. See the 17th-century Basilica dedicated to St. Ignatius. Also visit his family home located behind the sanctuary. Time for prayer at the most venerated room where Ignatius, at age 30, was brought following his serious wounding at the Battle of Pamplona. Afterward travel through the Pyrenees Mountains. Nestled in the mountains stands Lourdes, the birthplace of St. Bernadette to whom Our Lady appeared in 1858 near the Grotto of Massabielle. Dinner and overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 8-9:

  LOURDES

  During your trip, attend Mass at the Grotto, watch a video presentation telling the story of Lourdes, and walk in the footsteps of St. Bernadette. See Boly Mill where St. Bernadette was born, and the “Cachot,” an abandoned prison where Bernadette’s impoverished family lived. Join your prayers with other pilgrims as you pray for the sick, drink water from the miraculous spring or submerge yourself in the healing baths. Experience Jesus’s love as you walk the life-sized Stations of the Cross overlook-ing the holy Grotto. Kneel in the chapel built on the very rock of the Grotto, in obedience to the request of the “Immaculate Conception.” Evenings are free for optional Blessed Sacrament Procession before dinner. Your role in the universal church will have new meaning as you join the candlelight procession and group rosary. (Candle light procession and group rosary April through October only).
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 10:

  LOURDES / TOULOUSE / ROCAMADOUR

  After an early breakfast, we travel to Toulouse, a town full of religious and historical treasures. The Basilica of St. Sernin, one of the finest Romanesque churches in France. St. Thomas Aquinas is buried in the Eglise des Jacobins. After the tour, continue to Rocamadour, home of an early Christian hermit named, Zaccheus of Jericho, who died in 70 A.D. and had conversed with Jesus himself. Zaccheus was the husband of St. Veronica, who wiped the face of Jesus as he climbed to Calvary. Visit one of its most important sites: the Shrine of Our Lady of Rocamadour. A complex of religious structures centered on a miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary and the tomb of an ancient saint. Dinner and overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 11:

  ROCAMADOUR / PARAY LE MONIAL

  After breakfast, continue onto Paray-le-Monial, to visit the Chapel of the Visitation where Jesus exposed His Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque during a number of apparitions and to the Reliquary of St. Margaret containing her relics, located underneath a wax figure of the saint. You will have the remainder of the day free to spend at your own leisure. Dinner and overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 12:

  PARAY LE MONIAL / TAIZE / PARAY LE MONIAL

  Today depart for Taize, one of the world’s most im-portant sites of Pilgrimage, which is visited by over 100,000 young people from across the world every year. The Taize Community was founded by Frere Roger in 1940 when he pondered what it really meant to live a life according to the Scriptures. He then began a quest for a different expression of the Catholic life. In 1940, he purchased a small house that would eventually become the Taize Community to which people travel each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work. The community is currently led by Brother Alois, a German-born Catholic, who had been appointed by Brother Roger before his death in August 16, 2005. Return to Paray Le Monial for dinner and overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 13:

  PARAY LE MONIAL / NEVERS / CHARTRES / LE MONT SAINT MICHEL

  Breakfast, then depart for Nevers. After taking the veil in 1867, St. Bernadette lived for 12 years as a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Nevers. View St. Bernadette’s incorrupt body at the convent of St. Gildard, miraculously preserved since her death in 1879. Continue on to Chartres to visit the famous Cathedral Notre Dame de Chartres, one of the greatest achievements in history of architecture. Proceed to Le Mont Saint Michel in time for dinner and overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 14:

  LE MONT SAINT MICHEL

  After breakfast, tour Le Mont Saint Michel, classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. It was here, Aubert, Bishop of d’Avranches, founded a sanctuary on Mont-Tombe, after three successive appearances by the Archangel Michael. Consecrated in 709, the church has attracted pilgrims from all over. It was turned into a prison from the time of the French Revolution up until the time of the Second Empire, and became the responsibility of the Historical Monuments Department in 1874. Since 1969 the Abbey has been home to a monastic community, ensuring the continuation of a spiritual presence. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 15:

  LE MONT SAINT MICHEL / LISIEUX / PARIS

  After breakfast, depart for Lisieux, enjoy a tour of the home of St. Therese whom Pope Pius X called “the greatest saint of modern times.” Her love for God and service to humanity becomes evident as you visit the Basilica of St. Therese, one of the largest and magnificent religious structures built in the 20th-century. Mass will be celebrated while in Lisieux. Visit to Les Buissonets, St. Therese’s family home. There on display are relics, clothing, and personal objects belonging to the “little flower.” Before leaving, tour the ancient Cathedral of St. Peter and the Carmelite Convent. We continue on to Paris dinner and overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 16:

  PARIS

  After breakfast depart for Paris. Begin with holy Mass at the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal. View the incorrupt body of St. Catherine Labouret whose guardian angel led her to the chapel where the Blessed Virgin displayed a vision of the miraculous medal and later the green scapular. The Virgin promised bountiful graces for all who wore these. Next depart for your sightseeing tour which includes the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, L’Arc de Triomphe, and Champs Elysees. Enjoy other sights on this mostly panoramic tour. Dinner at a local restaurant. Dinner and overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 17:

  PARIS / USA

  After breakfast, transfer to Paris Airport for your return flight home.
  Breakfast included