Pilgrimage Itinerary

Day 1 - Pietrelcina
This morning we will depart from Dublin to Naples. In the arrivals hall we will be greeted by our Marian Pilgrimages guide and driver who will remain with us for the duration of our pilgrimage. As we drive towards Pietrelcina, birthplace of St. Pio, we will learn of the early years of Francesco Forgione (the future Padre Pio) and how he overcame many obstacles to fulfil his dream of becoming �a monk with a beard.� After lunch in a local restaurant, our guided walking tour of the town of Pietrelcina will take us to the Forgione family home where Padre Pio was born and the Church of Sant' Anna where he was baptised. We will celebrate the opening Mass of our pilgrimage and later visit the museum where precious items have been preserved dating back to Padre Pio's early years in Pietrelcina. We will enjoy views of the picturesque countryside as we drive to our destination of San Giovanni Rotondo, home to Padre Pio for over fifty years. Arriving at the four-star Hotel Vittoria, we will have dinner and the evening to relax and unpack.

Day 2 - English Office, Capuchin friary , Church of St. Pio of Pietrelcina

This morning we will celebrate Mass in the ancient Church of Our Lady of Grace where Padre Pio spent many hours each day hearing confessions and afterwards in the English Office will receive a blessing with the glove and crucifix used by the capuchin friar.
In the afternoon, we will learn of the life of Padre Pio during his time in San Giovanni Rotondo. Visiting the capuchin friary will allow us to learn more about the �poor friar who prays� as he often described himself. Here we will have the opportunity to see the cell once occupied by the humble friar and the crucifix before which he received the stigmata.
Our afternoon will conclude at the church dedicated to St. Pio of Pietrelcina where we will have time for private prayer before the mortal remains of the great saint of our time.

Day 3 - Monte Sant'Angelo & Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza
After breakfast we will drive to the town of Monte Sant'Angelo, home to the Shrine of St. Michael the Archangel. We will celebrate Mass and afterwards have time to stroll through the cobbled streets of this unique town with its quaint, white-washed houses before returning to San Giovanni Rotondo.
In 1956 Padre Pio presented to the world his greatest gift, �Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza� which today is now one of the most important hospitals in Europe. This afternoon we will learn of the history behind what is regarded as Padre Pio's greatest miracle. We will have the remainder of the afternoon at leisure with the opportunity to return to the crypt of St. Pio for private prayer.

Day 4 - Convent of Sant'Anna
After breakfast we will check out of our hotel and drive to the Convent of Sant'Anna, where Padre Pio spent a brief period in 1916. After the celebration of Mass, we will visit the cell occupied by the young capuchin friar before driving the short distance to the airport of Foggia for our flight to Mostar. Our guide will meet us in Mostar and on the short transfer will inform us of what we can expect during our time in Medjugorje. We will arrive at our accommodation and after an introduction to our host family, we can then rest in our rooms before being called for a light snack, or dinner, which will be served depending on the time of arrival. Each evening, we will attend the parish evening programme which begins with the Rosary followed by Holy Mass and depending on the day, we finish with adoration.

DAY 5 - Medjugorje Opening Meeting
We start our day with breakfast before attending 10:00am mass, which is intended for English-speaking pilgrims, in the Church of St. James. The Church of St. James is placed under patronage of St. James the Apostle, who is patron saint of pilgrims. We do not move very far and usually meet at the shrine of Our Lady Queen of Peace for our opening meeting where the guides will share with us the history of the place, introduce us to the shrine and take us through the week, and through their words and experiences enlighten us to the messages and intentions of Our Lady. We break for lunch where restaurants are in abundance and boast some of the best steaks and pizza. The afternoon takes us to Blue Cross, a place of many apparitions of Our Lady. It is situated at the base of Apparition Hill where Our Lady appeared to the children and where they were hiding from the communist police at the beginning of the apparitions. Many pilgrims venture here to bask in the peace that emanates from this special area. From Blue Cross, we walk to Vicka�s old house. Vicka is one of the six Medjugorje visionaries and we visit her old family house to see and to pray in the room where she had apparitions over a long period. After dinner, we can attend the evening prayer programme.

DAY 6 - Hill of Apparitions
This morning after breakfast, we gather at the statue of Our Lady to walk through the vineyards, to the Hill of Apparitions (Podbrdo). This has been the traditional route taken by millions of pilgrims. The guides regale us with accounts of the first days of the apparitions, especially the first seven days, and tell us of the great spiritual journey the visionaries undertook. We simply climb, in prayer, to the site of the first apparition, the place where Our Lady first appeared to six frightened children in June of 1981.The Joyful Mysteries greet us at several points of our climb where we pray for a short time. This afternoon there is an optional tour to Cenacolo, which is a community for recovering drug addicts. There is a special lesson to be learned from the residents here, by their hard work, perseverance and prayer. After dinner, we attend the evening programme.

DAY 7 - Cross Mountain
Our day begins with breakfast, and we then meet at the base of Cross Mountain (Krizevac) to start our ascent. We pray the Stations of the Cross as we make our way to the summit. Our journey is rewarded by taking time for reflection and prayer by the cross located at the top of the mountain. In 1933, the parish of St. James erected a large concrete cross to commemorate the 1900th Anniversary of Jesus' passion and death on the Cross. We make our descent in time for holy Mass. For all those who cannot climb Cross mountain we organise the Stations of the Way of the Cross to be said at the Risen Lord Statue at the same time. In the afternoon, following our climb, we will have some free time. This evening we have a special treat as our programme director, David Parkes, performs for us in concert with an Evening of prayer through song. David is an internationally acclaimed singer and often travels worldwide singing the word of Our Lord.

DAY 8 - Mothers Village
We meet as a group to join in the closing meeting on the church grounds. David and the guides conclude the week with prayer and a short follow up on the week. We finish the programme with a visit to the Mothers village. This is an orphanage founded by the late Fr. Slavko for children whose parents had died during the war. Now it's a home for orphaned children or children who come from dysfunctional and broken families. This village is a visible fruit of Medjugorje. In the afternoon our guide will collect us at our house for our transfer to the airport for our return flight to Dublin.