Day 1: USA - LISBON – 8 April

Depart for our overnight flight to Lisbon, Portugal. We are served dinner and breakfast during our international flight.

Day 2: LISBON - 9 April

Upon arrival, we will start our journey in the birthplace of St Anthony of Pauda. We will visit Placa dos Rossios and Placa dos Restauradores. We will continue then with the Cathedral of Lisbon and the Church of Nossa Senora de Conceicao Velha. We will pass by Avenida de liberdade and we will have a walking  tour of the quarter of Alfama and the Castle of St Jose. In the afternoon,  we will visit the Monastry Dos Jeronimos, the Belem tower and he Church of St. Antony where we will celebrate Holy Mass.  Dinner and overnight in our hotel in Lisbon.

Day 3: LISBON- SANTAREM - FATIMA – 10 April

Today after breakfast, we will complete our visits of Lisbon and we will travel to Fatima.  Our first stop will be in Santarem. An unhappy woman lived in Santarem between the years of 1225 and 1247, because she was convinced that her husband was unfaithful. She tried all the possible means to bring back her husband without any results. Desperate from her situation, she turned to sorcery visiting the sorcerer of the town.  The sorceress promised her that her husband would again love her like before, but with the condition that she would pay her with a consecrated Host.  After receiving communion in her parish church of Saint Stephen, she did not consume the Host but left the church immediately took the Host out of her mouth and placed it in her head scarf. On her way to the sorceress house, the Holy Host started to bleed.  She hid the Host in her dresser and in the darkness of the room, a great miracle occurred. From the chest brilliant rays of light shined through, allowing the couple to awakened.

They saw a spectacular vision of angels adoring the Holy Host bleeding.
The next morning they informed the parish priest. He went to the house and heard the story from the woman. The priest returned the Host to the Church of St. Stephen in a solemn procession, accompanied by many priests and lay people. The Host continued to bleed for three days.  Finally, it was decided to place the Holy Host (still bleeding) in a reliquary made of beeswax.  The Holy Host remained there until a second Miracle occurred. When the priest opened the tabernacle door, the beeswax reliquary disintegrated in small pieces. In its place was a recipient made of glass that contained the blood of the Host together with the beeswax.  We can contemplate it together with the main reliquary that dates from 1782. Since the XVIII century, this reliquary remains in the Eucharistic throne on the mayor altar. Today, it is known as the Sanctuary of the Holy Miracle. Through the centuries, the Host has bleed repeatedly and several images have been seen in the host, images of our Lord Jesus. Among the many witnesses, is Saint Francis Xavier, the missionary apostle of India who saw the sanctuary of the miracle before departing to the missions. It is known that an Archbishop of Lisboa broke the glass reliquary trying to detain the blood flow. After the Holy Mass, and the visit of the church we will continue to Fatima. Accommodation in our hotel and time for personal prayer. Dinner, Torchlight procession and overnight in Fatima. .

Day 4: FATIMA – 11 April

After breakfast, we will visit of Adjustrel and Os Valinhos birthplaces of Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia to whom the Virgin appeared for the first time on May 13th, 1917. Via Crucis in Os Valinhos, up to Loca do Cabeco, place of the 4th appearance of Our Lady. This afternoon is dedicated to visiting the Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. Visit of the exipition: “ Faces of Fatima” where is conserved the crown with the bullet that wounded Pope John Paul II. In the evening, we join the Rosary and candlelight procession. Dinner and overnight at our hotel in Fatima. Celebrate Mass TBD.

Day 5: FATIMA-COIMBRA-CIUDAD RODRIGO - SALAMANCA – 12 April

This morning after breakfast, we will leave Fatima and we will travel To Coimbra. We will stop to visit of St Teresa Covent. As a Discalced Carmelite Convent, this is similar to many other Carmelite convents; however, there has been one notable occupant of the convent: Sister Lucia, one of the visionaries of Fatima. The Fatima apparitions took place in 1917, and Sister Lucy moved to Porto in 1921.  In 1925, she entered the Institute of the Sisters of St. Dorothy as a postulant in the convent in Tui, Spain, just across the northern Portuguese border.  In 1948, she entered the Carmelite convent in Coimbra and took her vows on May 31, 1949, taking the religious name Sister Maria Lúcia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart. As a cloistered nun, she had little contact with the outside world (perhaps her most famous visitor was Pope John Paul II).  She lived here until her death in 2005. We will then visit the ancient University and the Library. After the visit, we transfer to Ciudad Rodrigo. The main defining feature of the city is the imposing medieval wall that surrounds it. This was constructed in the 12th century during the reign of Ferdinand II, although alterations were subsequently carried out during the 18th century. The walled enclosure has a perimeter in excess of 2 kilometers and seven gates, the oldest of which are the Puerta del Sol and the Puerta de Santiago. We will Continue the to Salamanca for dinner and overnight.  Celebrate Mass TBD.

Day 6: SALAMANCA/AVILA– 13 April

After breakfast in hotel, we enjoy a guided tour of Salamanca. As the first Spanish city to found a university, Salamanca is filled with students especially in the historic district. The past is visible in the Old Cathedral, the huge Plaza Mayor and the Monterrey Palace, all splendid buildings that rightfully earned the city a place on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1988. At the end of the visits, we transfer to Avila for dinner and overnight. Celebrate Mass TBD.

Day 7: AVILA/MADRID– 14 April

After breakfast, we begin with a visit of the City of Avila of St Teresa. St. Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, original name Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, (born March 28, 1515, Ávila, Spain—died October 4, 1582, Alba de Tormes; canonized 1622; feast day October 15), Spanish nun, one of the great mystics and religious women of the Roman Catholic Church, and author of spiritual classics. She was the originator of the Carmelite Reform, which restored and emphasized the austerity and contemplative character of primitive Carmelite life. St. Teresa was elevated to doctor of the church in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. We will visit the Medieval walls, 2.5km long, that are punctuated by 88 turrets and 9 gates, Puerta de San Vicente and Puerta de Alcázar being the most impressive of those guarding the Romanesque defensive rampart. You can walk along the entire perimeter of the city walls on the outer side. The apse of the Cathedralactually forms part of the walls, which reminds us of its defensive nature. The interior contains Romanesque sections, while the newer ones show a Gothic style. In fact, Ávila was among the first Castilian towns to use Gothic elements.  At the end of the visits,  we depart to Madrid for dinner and overnight. Celebrate Mass TBD.

Day 8: MADRID/ESCORIAL– 15 April

Breakfast in hotel. In the morning, we will visit The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Located in the heart of the Sierra de Guadarrama (on the side of Mount Abantos), just 50 kilometers from Madrid, the Monastery and Real Sitio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

Inside the monastery is kept the Relic of the Eucharistic Miracle of Gorkum. Some Protestant mercenaries entered into the Catholic church in Gorkum and plundered it. As a sign of insult, one of the mercenaries trampled a consecrated Host with a spiked boot, which broke the Blessed Sacrament into three pieces. Live Blood immediately began to drip from these piercings, which in the Hosts formed themselves like three small wounds in the shape of a hoop that is possible to contemplate even today. We will celebrate Holy Mass. We will return to Madrid and we will visit the Church of St. Teresa and St. Joseph, the Church of St. James and St. John and the Pontifical Basilica of St. Michael. We will continue then to Plaza Mayor and La Puerta de sol. Dinner and overnight in Madrid.

Day 9: MADRID /BURGOS/LOYOLA/SAN SEBASTIAN – 16 April

After breakfast, we transfer to San Sebastian. During this trip (463 km) we will stop in Burgos to visit the center of the city and to admire the Cathedral. The Burgos Cathedral is based on a Latin Cross of harmonious proportions of 84 by 59 meters. The three-story elevation, the vaulting, and the tracery of the windows are closely related to contemporary models of the north of France. The portals of the transept (the Puerta del Sarmental to the south and the Puerta de la Coronería to the north) may also be compared to the great sculpted ensembles of the French Royal Domain, while the enamelled, brass tomb of Bishop Mauricio resembles the so-called Limoges goldsmith work. Undertaken after the Cathedral, the two-storied cloister, which was completed towards 1280, still fits within the framework of the French high Gothic. After the visit we will drive to Loyola to visit and celebrate Mass at the Monastery of St. Ignatius. Dinner and overnight in San Sebastian.

Day 10: SAN SEBASTIAN /LOURDES - 17 april

After breakfast, we transfer to Lourdes. At our arrival in Lourdes, we visit the Grotto to celebrate Holy Mass and enjoy lunch. In the afternoon, free time for personal devotion. Dinner in hotel, then rosary and candlelight procession. Overnight in Lourdes.

Day 11: LOURDES – 18 april

Breakfast in hotel. Afterward, we concelebrate Holy Mass at the Grotto and enjoy a walking tour that takes us to Boly Mill (the Birthplace of St. Bernadette), the Cachot (the former jail, where she lived during the apparitions) and the local parish church. Free time for personal devotion in Lourdes. Dinner in hotel, then rosary and candlelight procession. Overnight in Lourdes.

Day 12: LOURDES/TOULOSE/USA - 19 April

Breakfast in hotel, then we  transfer to Toulose and depart with flight to the USA.

We will treasure memories of a joyful and beautiful pilgrimage for years to come.