Day 1: USA – Lisbon – 1 AUGUST

Pilgrims will depart to Lisbon. Dinner and breakfast will be served aboard the flight.

Day 2: Arrival Lisbon – 02 AUGUST

Upon arrival in Lisbon, we meet with our guide and driver and start with an orientation tour of the city. Transfer to our Hotel. Accommodation, and overnight

Day 3: World Youth Day - Lisbon – Fatima – Lisbon – 03 AUGUST

This Morning, we will transfer to Fatima. We will start with the visit of Aljustrel, the hometown of the three shepherd children, Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco. We will then continue to Valinhos, the site of Our Lady’s August 1917 apparition, and the first and third apparition of the angel. We will celebrate the Stations of the Cross and will have a moment of meditation on the Fatima messages, then continue to Fatima where we will have lunch. In the afternoon, we will celebrate Mass at the Chapel of the Apparition and we will visit the Exposition “Faces of Fatima: Images of a Spiritual Setting, that will end with the Crown of Our Lady where the bullet that wounded St. John Paul II is preserved. Return to Lisbon. In the evening, welcoming ceremony with our Holy Father.

Day 4: World Youth Day Lisbon – 04 AUGUST

Today, we will start with the visit of Santarem. We visit the Church of St. Stephen and have Mass there. In this church is conserved the Relic of the Eucharistic Miracle of Santarem. The Eucharistic miracle of Santarém, together with that of Lanciano, is considered among the most important Eucharistic miracles. Numerous studies and canonical analyses were carried out on the relics. The Host changed into bleeding Flesh and Blood flowed out of the Blessed Sacrament. We will continue then with the visit of Santarem. Return to Lisbon where we will visit the Monastry Dos Jeronimos, the Belem tower and the Church of St Anthony. In the evening, participate in the Stations of the Cross of World Youth Day.

Day 5: World Youth Day Lisbon – 05 AUGUST

Enjoy organized World Youth Day events in the different languages. In the evening, vigil with our Holy Father.

Day 6: World Youth Day Lisbon - Caceres – 06 AUGUST

Today we will have the World Youth Day Mass. The Mass will be concelebrated by the Pope with thousands of bishops and priests from all over the world. Meeting with all the participants of the WYD. After the Mass, we depart to Caceres where we will arrive after 4 hours. Accommodation in our hotel, dinner and overnight in Caceres.

Day 07: Caceres – Alba de Tormes - Avila – 07 AUGUST

Breakfast at the hotel. After Breakfast, we will visit Caceres. The city center is a Unesco World Heritage Site. You can feel like a time traveller as you walk along any of its narrow cobbled streets surrounded by mansions, Renaissance palaces and churches crowned by storks’ nests. We will enter the city by its traditional gateway, the 18th century Arco de la Estrella, a wide arch designed to let horse-drawn carriages pass through. Below you, you’ll see the wide Plaza Mayor, and the Co-cathedral of Santa María. On the west side of the square we will see the Palacio Episcopal and the Palacio de Carvajal. We will continue then with Plaza de San Jorge with the Church of San Francisco Javier and Plaza de San Mateo. At the end of the visits, we will transfer to Alba de Tormes to visit the Church were St.Teresa is buried. Then, we will continue to Avila, the city of St. Teresa. Accommodation in our hotel, dinner and overnight in Avila.

Day 08: Avila – 08 AUGUST

Enjoy breakfast in our hotel, to start our day dedicated to 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 Cathedral actually 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. We will have Mass in a local Church. Dinner and overnight in Avila.

Day 09: Avila – El Escorial - Madrid – 09 AUGUST

Breakfast in hotel and departure to the capital city of Spain: Madrid. Our first stop will be The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial located in the heart of the Sierra de Guadarrama (on the side of Mount Abantos)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 celebrate Holy Mass. We will continue to Madrid. Accommodation in our hotel, dinner and overnight in Madrid.

Day 10: Madrid – 10 AUGUST

Breakfast in hotel and visit of Madrid: 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 to Plaza Mayor and La Puerta del Sol where we will have free time.

Overnight in our hotel

Day 11: Madrid – USA – 11 AUGUST

This morning, we leave Madrid for our return flight(s) home with the unforgettable images and memories of WYD 2023.