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Highlights:
Lourdes
Shrine of the Sacred Heart
Incorruptible St. Bernadette
Shrine of the Little Flower
Sacre Coeur - The Cure of Ars
Ile de la Cite
Notre Dame
Carmel
Alencon
Shrine of the Miraculous Medal
Incorruptible relic of St. Vincent De Paul
Shrine of the Little Flower
Optional extension to Chartres!
"l
will spend my Heaven doing good on earth.”
For
a long time I had been asking myself why souls did not all
receive the same grace. Jesus deigned to instruct me along
this mystery. Before my eyes He placed a book of nature and I
understood that all the flowers created by Him are
beautiful…that, if all the flowers wanted to be roses,
nature would lose her springtime garb. The same is true of the
world of souls, the Lord’s living garden.” St.
Therese of Lisieux
Itinerary
at a glance....
DAY 1
-
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
Our pilgrimage begins today as we leave for Lourdes with
meals served onboard at appropriate times.
DAY 2 - LOURDES
Arrive Lourdes
Airport in the afternoon where our English-speaking guide
greets us accompanying us to our hotel and stays with us
throughout our visit. After dinner, rest or join us for a
brief walk to the Sanctuary. Room
check-in and orientation before tonight's get acquainted
dinner.
DAY
3 - LOURDES
There is so
much here to experience! Beside the River Gave, high in the
Pyrenees, the air full of the whisper of sliding water,
contentment invades you. We walk in the footsteps of St.
Bernadette to the Boly Mill where she was born and the "Cachot,"
an abandoned prison where her impoverished family lived. Join
your prayers with those of pilgrims from around the world as
you pray for the sick. Drink water from the miraculous
spring the Virgin directed Bernadette to locate at the base of
the grotto. Visiting the Basilica and sanctuary, we join the
traditional evening Candlelight Procession requested by Our
Lady.
DAY
4 - LOURDES - CARCASSONNE
Experience Christ's love as you kneel in the chapel built on
the very rock of the cave Grotto in obedience to the request
of the 'Immaculate Conception' as we say farewell. Out of the
Pyreenes though Provence whose brilliant sunflowers and
heady lavender create a carpet of color and scent, through the
foothills of the Cevennes, we make our way to medieval
Carcassonne to walk within the walled town of turrets and
towers down enchanting narrow cobbled streets, past the
sparkling fountains and the flowers spilling from the stone
houses.
DAY
5 - PROVENCE - AVIGNON
Majestic Avignon awaits us this morning, once the center of
Christianity in the 14th century - the "second
Rome". This lovely town unfolds during our guided walking
tour of the magnificent Palais des Papes, to the Bishops
Palace encircled by the immense fortress of 39 towers
alongside the Rhone River and the 12th century St. Benezet
Bridge with its own chapel perched on top! There is time
for a stroll through the pedestrian streets close by before
dinner tonight.
DAY
6 - AVIGNON - ARS - PARAY LE MONIAL
Through Burgundy to the tiny village of Ars, we enter the
Sanctuary of the Cure of Ars for prayer before the Blessed
Sacrament in the presence of St. John Vianney's
reliquary. This afternoon we arrive at Paray le Monial
where our hotel is located facing the Basilica in front
of the apparition chapel of St. Margaret Mary
Alacoque. It was here in the Visitation Chapel she had four
visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
DAY
7 - PARAY LE MONIAL - NEVERS - PARIS
Our first stop as we make our way to Paris will be at St.
Gildard and the chapel where the incorruptible body of St.
Bernadette rests - encased in a crystal reliquary for all to
see. St. Bernadette lived as a religious at Nevers after
her apparitions of the Blessed Mother stopped in 1867. We walk
just as she surely did in the garden and visit the room where
her personal items are preserved. Through the Loire
countryside to Paris checking in at our hotel located a few
steps from the Opera House.
DAY
8 - PARIS - MONTMARTRE
 Our
full day's visit includes a cable car ride to Sacre Coeur -built
on the hill of Montmartre standing high over the city of lights
- Paris. Driving via the Champs Elysses through the Arc de
Triomphe, stopping at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Ile de la
Cite, entrance to the Eiffel Tower before the Shrine of the
Miraculous Medal where the Blessed Mother appeared to St.
Catherine Laboure, where we pray before the reliquaries of
her incorrupt body and incorrupt relic of St. Vincent de Paul.
DAY
9 - PARIS - LISIEUX
Northwest along the river Seine, we depart for the Carmelite Shrine of
St. Therese of Lisieux - "The Little Flower" the youngest in a
family of nine. Her extraordinary love for God and service to humanity comes
alive as you visit the Basilica Cathedral of St. Peter, Les
Buissonets, Alencon and her family home. On display are relics,
clothing, and personal objects belonging to the "Little Flower."
including the statue depicting the Blessed Virgin who smiled at St.
Therese during an ecstasy before curing her illness. Combine your prayers in
the Carmel Chapel with the Carmelite Sisters, just as St. Therese did before
her death in 1897. Holy water and holy ground turn our gaze inward to
His messages that resound within us during our visits.
DAY
10 - PARIS
RETURN TO UNITED STATES
Following breakfast, you'll transfer to the airport for your return flight.(B)
Consider extending your stay for a visit to the incomparable Cathedral of Chartres!
"According to legend, St Denis - the first bishop of
Paris - was decapitated by the Romans in AD 287 on Montmartre. Not
one to let a beheading ruin his day, St Denis picked up his
detached head and proceeded to place it where the basilica of St.
Denis now stands. The hill then became known as Martyrs' Mound."
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Hotel
Summary
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Lourdes
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2
nights
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Carcassonne
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1
night
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Avignon
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1
night
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Paray
de Monail
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1
night
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Paris |
3 nights |
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Extended
Visit
Rome
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to Rome
3
nights
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San Giovanni |
2 nights |
Please note in
Lourdes: Breakfasts,lunchs,dinners are included.
EXTENDED VISIT TO HOLY
ROME
DAY 10-11 Holy Rome Papal
audience in St. Peter's Square Vatican Museum
The extraordinary experience visiting the vast underground
tombs of the Popes and
crypt of John Paul II;
along the Appian Way to the Catacombs.
We descend into the
subterranean chambers of the Catacombs-an underground maze of tunnels
hollowed out of rock where the early Christians worshipped in secret and
buried their dead. We stop at St. Paul's Basilica Outside the Walls - the
sacred tomb of this great Apostle, the Baths of
Caracalla, the Arch Titus, the miraculous crucifix of
St. Brigid, are only some
places we visit today.
The Vatican Museum and Sistine
Chapel are included.
Accompanied on our visits to the great shrine of St. Mary Major,
revere the chains that bound St. Peter, visit the
Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps, our walk and visits
to the martyred saints and brilliant
artists who bring history to life.
In the heart of Rome, we visit the oldest and most revered
church in the city, the Patriarchal Basilica of St. John Lateran, the Scala Sancta
brought from the Holy Land by Constantine's mother,
and the Sancta Santorum.
Helena, Constantine's mother, brought the stairs back to Rome that Christ ascended in
the house of Pontius Pilate bound with ropes and wearing the crown of thorns
as he appeared
before Pilate.
Day 12 -13 San Giovanni
Shrine of Saint Pio
Day 13 Holy Rome In the
footsteps of the Apostles
We venerate the Relics Our Lord's Passion in the Basilica of
Santa Croce built by Emperor Constantine's mother, St. Helena in 320 A.D., this morning. Upon entering this magnificent room
you actually feel as if we are entering an Egyptian Temple. The most
remarkable of the relic is the "Titulis" the title of the Holy Cross of
Our Savior - Pilate's inscription "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews",
part of the cross of the Good Thief as well a nail which corresponds to
the nail wound in the Shroud of Turin. See the original chains that
bound St.
Peter after his arrest in Rome, the rooms in which St. Catherine of Siena
lived, the tomb of St. Philip Neri. More awaits us on our
spiritual walk today. Ending the day with a visit to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps!
Day 14 Return Home
LOURDES ONLY
7 Day Itinerary
at a glance....
DAY 1
-
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
Our pilgrimage begins today as we leave for Lourdes with
meals served onboard at appropriate times.
DAY 2 - LOURDES
Arrive Lourdes
Airport in the afternoon where our English-speaking guide
greets us accompanying us to our hotel and stays with us
throughout our visit. After dinner, rest or join us for a
brief walk to the Sanctuary. Room
check-in and orientation before tonight's get acquainted
dinner.
DAY
3 - LOURDES
There is so
much here to experience! Beside the River Gave, high in the
Pyrenees, the air full of the whisper of sliding water,
contentment invades you. We walk in the footsteps of St.
Bernadette to the Boly Mill where she was born and the "Cachot,"
an abandoned prison where her impoverished family lived. Join
your prayers with those of pilgrims from around the world as
you pray for the sick. Drink water from the miraculous
spring the Virgin directed Bernadette to locate at the base of
the grotto. Visiting the Basilica and sanctuary, we join the
traditional evening Candlelight Procession requested by Our
Lady.
DAY 4 - LOURDES
Experience Christ's love as you kneel in the chapel built on
the very rock of the cave Grotto in obedience to the request
of the 'Immaculate Conception' as we say farewell.
DAY
5 - 6 Lourdes
Bathe in the healing waters of the spring, gathering in the
afternoon to walk to
DAY
6 - Return home.
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