Your Catholic Travel Resource
You may notice on our Navigation Menu that we have added a “CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS” link. We are in the process of putting up a calendar of various Catholic events around the world.
There are so many events around the world that we felt this might be a good way to list them all in one place.
We welcome any contributions….if you know of an event that might be of interest to Catholic travelers please let us know at info@thecatholictravelguide.com
Beginning next week we are going to bring you highlights of a 29-day pilgrimage to Italy from a couple departing the U.S. on September 15th and arriving in the “Eternal City” the following day. This is their 6th personal “Spiritual Pilgrimage”. It is an ambitious itinerary filled with beautiful Shrines and Sacred Sites and we are truly blessed that they were willing to share their special pilgrimage with us. Join us each day as we travel along with them on their Journey of Love for Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. Please keep them in your prayers.
Tuesday Sept 17th Cascia (Saint Rita of Cascia)>>>>>>>>Rocca Porena (Sanctuary of St. Rita, Rock of St. Rita)>>>>>>>>>Trevi (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Tears, Church of St. Emiliano).
Wednesday Sept 18 Cortona (Margaret of Cortona)>>>>>Castiglion-Fiorentino (Noceta) Our Lady of the Bath>>>>>>>>Arezzo (Our Lady of Consolation, shrine of Saint Donato)
Tuesday Sept 17th Cascia (Saint Rita of Cascia)>>>>>>>>Rocca Porena (Sanctuary of St. Rita, Rock of St. Rita)>>>>>>>>>Trevi (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Tears, Church of St. Emiliano).
Wednesday Sept 18 Cortona (Margaret of Cortona)>>>>>Castiglion-Fiorentino (Noceta) Our Lady of the Bath>>>>>>>>Arezzo (Our Lady of Consolation, shrine of Saint Donato)
Thursday Sept 19 Siena (Eucharistic Miracle of Siena, Saint Catherine of Siena)
Friday Sept 20 Montenaro (Basilica of Our Lady of Grace)>>>>>>>>> Pisa (Leaning tower of Pisa, Square of Miracles)
Saturday Sept 21 Orta (Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Garden)>>>>>> Rapello Genoa (Basilica of Our Lady of Montallegro)
Sunday Sept 22 Genoa Mount Figogna (Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Guard) Ceranesi (Chapel of the Apparitions)>>>>>>>San Damiano
Monday Sept 23 Crema (Della Croce) (Basilica of Our Lady of the Cross)>>>>>>>>Caravaggio (Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Miraculous Fountain)>>>>>>>>Rho (Sanctuary of the Afflicted Mary)
Tuesday Sept 24 Sacre Monte Di Varese (Mountain Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary)>>>>>>>>Sacro Monte Ossoccio (Sacred Mountain in Ossuccio)
Wednesday Sept 25 Sant Omobono (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Cornabusa)>>>>>>>Terme (Sanctuary of John XXIII)>>>>>>>Brescia (Shrine of Our Lady of Grace)>>>>>>>Montichiari/Fontanelle (Our Lady of Rosa Mystica)
Thursday Sept 26 Monte Baldo (Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Crown)>>>>>>>>Monte Berico (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Monte Berico)
Friday Sept 27 Camposampiero (Convent of the Sanctuary of Saint Anthony)>>>>>>>>>Arcella (Our Lady of Arcella, Santuary of Little Anthony of Bethelehem)>>>>>>>>>>.Padua (Saint Anthony of Padua)
Saturday Sept 28 Reggio Emilia (Basilica of the Virgin of Ghiara)>>>>>>>>>Bologna (Basilica of Our Lady of the Guard)>>>>>>>>>Imola (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Piratello)
Sunday Sept 29 Osimo (Basilica of St. Joseph of Cupertino)>>>>>>>>>>Loreto (Holy House of Loreto)>>>>>>>>>>> Macerta (Basilica of our Lady of Mercy)
Monday Sept 30 Manoppello (Basilica of Our Lady of the Holy Face)>>>>>>>>>San Severo (Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help) (Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption)
Tuesday Oct 1 San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio)>>>>>>>Monte Saint Angelo (St Michael’s Cave)
Wednesday Oct 2 Foggio (Basilica of the Crowned Mother of God)>>>>>>>>>>Valleverde (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Valleverde in Bovino)
Thursday Oct 3 Avellino (Mountain Sanctuary of the Virgin Mary) (Sanctuary of Saint Philomena)
Friday Oct 4 Pompei–Naples (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Pompeii)>>>>>>>>>>>Oliveto Citra (Our Lady of the Castle)
Saturday Oct 5 Oliveto Citra (Church of Our Lady of Mercy, torchlight procession)
Sunday Oct 6 Itri Mount Fusco (Sanctuary of the Madonna della Civita)>>>>>>>>>>>Genazzo (Parish of Our Lady of Good Counsel, incorrupt body of Blessed Stefano Bellesini)>>>>>>>>>>> Mentorella (Mountain Sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace, Holy Stairs of St. Benedict of Norcia)
Monday Oct 7 Nettuno (Our Lady of Graces, Saint Maria Goretti, Shrine of Saint Neptune)>>>>>>>>>Rome outskirts (Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, Tre Fontane, St. Lawrence Outside the Walls)
Tuesday Oct 8 Rome (Catacombs of St. Callixtus, Basilicas of St. Mary Major & St. John Lateran, Holy Stairs, North American College.
Wednesday Oct 9 Rome Weekly papal audience…lunch with Pope Francis…(not really but we can hope), St. Peter’s Basilica, Tomb of Pope John Paul II.
Thursday Oct 10 Open day
Friday Oct 11 Viterbo (Basilica of Our Lady of the Oak, Ad Rupes Basilica, Chiasa Santa Maria Della)
Saturday Oct 12 Orvieto (Church of St. Andrea, Caves of Orvieto, Cathedral of Orvieto)>>>>>>>>>> Bolsena (Eucharistic Miracle of Bolsena)
Sunday Oct 13 Vatican City (Pope Francis to consecrate the world to Our Blessed Mother (statue of Our Lady of Fatima returns to Fatima) (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love)
Sunday Oct 13 Arrivederci Roma!
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Along with the many firefighters, first responders and individual citizens killed in the terror attacks of 9/11 was a priest, Father Mychal Judge, a Franciscan fire chaplain killed by falling debris in the North Tower.
Saint Peter’s Church was the first Parish church in New York and stood in the shadows of the World Trade Center. A landing gear from one of the planes struck the roof of St. Peter’s. The pastor of St. Peter’s, Father Kevin Madigan, narrowly escaped death when he hurried out toward the flaming towers to see if he could be of help.
The body of Father Mychal was carried to the church and placed in front of the altar. The church was later repaired and to commemorate not only him but all who lost their lives that day, a Catholic Memorial at Ground Zero was placed in Saint Joseph’s Chapel of the Church in New York and consecrated by Cardinal Egan in 2005.
Four life-size statues were commissioned as memorials to groups affected by the tragedy: St. Joseph, patron of construction workers; St. Michael the Archangel, patron of police; St. Florian, patron of firefighters (shown here), and St. Mary Magdalen, first witness to the Resurrection and “apostle to the apostles.
A strike by air traffic controllers that we mentioned previously began September 9th and will extend through September 11th. If you are traveling to or from the country on these dates check ahead just in case.
These strikes are normally announced in advance (as this one was) so it is fairly easy to schedule your travel plans around them. Travel insurance sometimes covers them, but usually not if they are announced at least 90 days in advance.
France is the most visited country in Europe….especially for Catholics…it has often been called the “Eldest daughter of the Church”. So don’t let these periodic strikes deter you. They tend to be fairly common but with advance notice you can usually work around them.
If you are not in Rome right now, you can still watch the special prayer viigil that Pope Francis will be leading on Saturday September 7. It will be televised on Vatican TV and also EWTN.
Here is the schedule as far as we know it:
5:45 pm Priests will begin hearing confession in designated areas under the Bernini colonnades. Pope Francis has asked that the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) be made available throughout the evening because “true peace springs from a heart that is reconciled with God and one’s brothers and sisters.”
6:30 pm A reader will read Pope Francis’ September 1 Angelus address in which he called for the Day of Prayer and Fasting for peace.
7:00 pm Vigil begins when the Pope will greets the crowd and the ancient hymn “Veni Creator Spiritus” is sung, followed by Marian prayer to Our Lady Queen of Peace
– The Marian icon “Salus Populi Romani” (health or protection of the Roman people) is carried by four Swiss Guards from the obelisk in the center of the square while two girls carry bouquets of flowers.
– Pope Francis will lead the recitation of the Rosary, which will include readings from the poetry of St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
Afterward a reflection will be offered by Pope Francis
– Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
– Office of Readings. John 20:19-29 (25 minutes of prayerful silence, music)
– Eucharistic benediction
The event is expected to end at 11:00 p.m.
Found this interesting site. Lists places that have Perpetual Adoration in countries throughout the world. Maybe you can visit one…or add one to their list if it is missing.
According to Newsmax, they have confirmation from a highly placed Vatican source that April 27th will be the date for the Canonization of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII.
That would fit our theory that it might take place on Divine Mercy Sunday (April 27, 2014) since Pope John Paul II is the one who designated the first Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday.
We are making every effort to confirm that this is true…so check back later.
The regular weekly Papal Audiences will resume on Wednesday, September 4th. The audiences are normally cancelled during July and August, as they were this year. Most audiences are held in Saint Peter’s Square unless there is inclement weather. Tickets are free, but should be arranged in advance.
To order tickets you can contact the Prefecture of the Papal Household by mail or fax. Those from North America can also request tickets through the North American College. Those from Australia can contact Domus Australia for help in getting tickets.
A few private companies offer tickets for a fee…although the tickets they get are free they usually can get you closer to the front.
Consult our website for details on attending a Papal Audience in Rome.
There will also be a Papal Mass for Catechists on Sunday September 29th in Saint Peter’s Basilica and tickets are also required for that.
Please note that Pope Francis leads the Angelus in Saint Peter’s Square at noon on Sundays. An exception will be Sunday September 22nd when he will be making a Pastoral visit to Cagliari, Sardinia to the Shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria. Tickets are not required to attend the Angelus.
With a large investment in a tour or cruise, it naturally makes sense to purchase travel insurance. Among the things such policies normally cover is medical evacuation. This means that if you are injured or become ill on your trip the insurance company will pay to have you flown home. But a recent case made headlines when a passenger on upscale cruise line Azamara received what we would have to call sub-standard treatment. For the full story we suggest you click this link.
The main thing we want you to take away from this story is the importance of from whom you purchase travel insurance. Buying it directly from a cruise line or tour operator is not recommended for several reasons.
As pointed out in the Frommer’s article, the cruise lines do not necessarily include everything that you might want, or possibly, need. And if you buy directly from a tour operator and they were to go out of business (a rare ocurrence, but it has happened before) then you would have no guarantee of getting a refund for the tour or even for the insurance premium.
But we want to point out a difference: many travel agents who sell cruises or tours will sell you insurance that is purchased directly from the insurance company, and that is what we recommend. Buy your cruise or tour through them, buy your insurance through them if you wish, but just be sure you are actually buying the insurance from the insurance company and not the tour operator or cruise line.
And one final note: horror stories like this make the news, but are few in number compared to the thousands of claims that are handled well. For more about travel insurance click this page on our main website.
We said it elsewhere, but will say it again here. Ask someone near the end of their life and they will probably tell you they don’t regret the things they did nearly as much as the things they did not do.
Never is it more true than when someone postpones a trip to Israel because they, or some well-meaning friend or relative, decide it is “just to dangerous to go there right now“.
Having traveled there many times in the last 20 years, we have heard that song before. Yet thousands, or perhaps hundreds of thousands, of pilgrims have traveled there safely and brought back memories for a lifetime. How sad that some of those people who put it off never got to go and missed out on such a wonderful experience.
We just saw a post from Steve Ray, who conducts Catholic tours to the Holy Land, about his group arriving (safely, of course) in Israel to start their pilgrimage. The airports in Israel have security that is second to none….in fact it is the best in the world. And the holy sites are safe and secure. So if you feel that urge to go then there will never be a time more safe than “now”, whenever now happens to be.
By the way, we have no connection to Steve Ray, but like to follow his blog.