12 Day St. John Paul II and Medjugorje

*** DAILY MASSES INCLUDED ***

DAY 01: NORTH AMERICA /  WARSAW.      Board our transatlantic flight bound for Poland. Dinner and breakfast served on board.

DAY 02: WARSAW.  Upon arrival your guide and driver will meet you at the airport and bring you to your hotel.  Mass may be held at St. James Church, the church that St. Faustina went to when she arrived in Warsaw. The rest of the day is at leisure to relax. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

DAY 03: WARSAW.  After breakfast we visit all the landmarks of Warsaw: Old Town, Market Square, the Barbican, St. John’s Cathedral, Holy Cross Church, Warsaw Ghetto monument, Lazienki Park, the Chopin statue, and the magnificently restored Royal Castle. Mass may be held at 3-9 ZytniaStreet where Faustina entered the convent. We also visit the birthplace of Sister Faustina. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

DAY 04: WARSAW / SWINICE WARCKIE / CZESTOCHOWA / AUSCHWITZ / KRAKOW. After breakfast, we travel to Czestochowa, with a stop in Swinice Warckie to visit the parish church St Casimir where St. Faustina was baptized Helen Kowalska. Czestochowa is the site of Poland's greatest pilgrimage shrine, Our Lady of Czestochowa.  Visit Jasna Gora Monastery with the Black Madonna picture, one of the most important places of religious worship in the Christian world with tradition of pilgrimages that goes back to the 14th century. Our Holy Father has frequently visited Jasna Gorna Monastery, known as the Shrine of the Black Madonna. We celebrate Mass at the Pauline Monastery and view the priceless treasures contained within, including the Miraculous Icon. Then travel to Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi concentration camp. We will see the cell that imprisoned St Maximillian Kolbe and the Martyrdom Museum recalling the horrors of the Holocaust. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

DAY 05: KRAKOW.  After breakfast we have a city tour focusing on the life of Pope John Paul who spent many years in Krakow.  Visit St. Mary’s Church and hear the silver trumpet of the bugler from St Mary's Tower. Within the Cathedral you may pray before the extraordinary Wit Stwosz altar. The surroundings of the square have remained unchanged for almost 700 years and contain buildings of historic value such as St. Mary’s Church with the famous wooden altar, the Town Hall Tower, the Cloth Hall and the burgher’s houses. Tour the Cathedral, Coronation Chapel and the Royal Chambers where a superb collection of Arras tapestries is on view. Then visit St. Florians Church where John Paul practiced after becoming priest.  We also visit Jagiellonian University where John Paul studied. Time this afternoon to explore Market Square on your own.  Dinner and overnight at our hotel. 

DAY 06: KRAKOW / WADOWICE / BUDAPEST.      After breakfast, we travel to Wadowice, the birthplace of Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul). Visit the house where John Paul II was born. It has since been turned into a shrine-like museum. We will also visit the church he attended and was baptized as a child. Next we continue on to Budapest. Often compared with Paris, this glamorous city has something to offer every visitor. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

DAY 07 – BUDAPEST.    After breakfast we will tour the older section of the city. After celebrating Mass at the 13th-century Cathedral of St Matthew, we will see the Citadel on Mount Gellert, the Royal Castle,  Fisherman's Bastion, the Parliament, Heroes' Square, and the Basilica exhibition. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

DAY 08: BUDAPEST / ZAGREB.  This morning, after breakfast, we drive to Zagreb.  Our guide will give us a panoramic tour of the city, followed by Mass.  Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

DAY 09:  ZAGREB / MEDJUGORJE.   This morning we continue our drive to Medjugorje.  Upon arrival we have time at leisure and celebrate Mass.  Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

DAY 10:  MEDJUGORJE. Since the first apparition of Our Lady on 24th June 1981, Međugorje has become one of the most famous and most visited sanctuaries in the Catholic world. Experience the presence of Fr. Jozo at his prayer and healing service (if available). His meditations and service still find us in church at the Hour of Mercy - 3:00 p.m. - the moment of Jesus' death on the cross. At this hour, Our Lord revealed “you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking and to: ...immerse yourself in prayer where you happen to be, if only for a very brief instant”.  There is time to visit the nearby cave of the martyrs'. 

DAY 11: MEDJUGORIE / APPARITION HILL / DUBROVNIK.  Since the first apparition of Our Lady on 24th June 1981, Međugorje has become one of the most famous and most visited sanctuaries in the Catholic world . Climb the Apparition Hill by the way of the rosary, marked by wooden crosses and bronze relief's. This afternoon return to Dubrovnik.

DAY 12:  DUBROVNIK / NORTH AMERICA.  After breakfast we depart from Dubrovnik Airport for our return flight home – the end of a most memorable journey.