Queen of Peace – Medjugorje Pilgrimage

On arrival we will be met and transferred to Dubrovnik with its magnificent stone walls, churches, palaces and plazas.

Dubrovnik overnight (BD)

This morning we enjoy an exploration within the walls of the Old City. Visit the Basilica of St Blaise where we will celebrate Mass.

Enjoy some free time for lunch before we transfer to Medjugorje.

We travel across the border into Bosnia-Herzegovina and onto the village of Medjugorje. Prepare for a most extraordinary encounter of grace and peace for the next eight days. Here we will be welcomed by a local family in private lodgings (all rooms with ensuite). Home-cooked dinners and breakfasts will be served daily from your residence.

Medjugorje overnight (BD)

“I have come to tell the world that God exists … that peace is necessary for the salvation of the world. Mankind must be reconciled with God and with one another”. These words came as a soothing balm to a troubled world and were first spoken by Our Lady to six village children in June 1981. Since then, a legacy of remarkable events has turned Medjugorje into one of the world’s most acclaimed pilgrimage places. For more than 30 years up until the present day Our Lady has been appearing on a daily basis to give countless messages to the children. Some of these messages are private, some are for all people and some contain secrets that Our Lady has revealed to the children about future events of the world.

Healings, miracles, wonders and conversions – these have been occurring for so long. Endless streams of pilgrims over the years have come to receive these graces and return to their homelands renewed.

The activities here will be evenly proportioned by our guide throughout the stay to allow time for rest and personal retreat. Each evening we should be advised of the following day’s agenda, as many events in Medjugorje are spontaneous. Here are some of the highlights we hope to include:

• Meet the Visionaries – The visionaries regularly receive groups, give explanations, pray with and answer pilgrims’ questions (subject to spontaneous availability).
• The Hill of Apparitions – Make the journey in prayer up to this sacred site where the first apparitions took place and Our Lady first told the children ‘I have come to tell the world that God exists…. that peace is necessary for the salvation of the world’.
• Climb Mt Krizevac – The Mountain of the Cross dominates the landscape. Pray the Stations of the Cross and ascend the grace-filled path, which rises to the breathtaking summit with its commanding 30-foot cement cross built in 1933.
• Visit Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Retreat House – commonly known as “the Castle”, and hear the amazing testimony of Patrick Latta, a successful businessman and car dealer from Canada, who received a great grace of conversion through the messages of Our Lady. In 1993, he and his wife Nancy left everything behind and moved to Medjugorje during the height of the war.
• Visit the Cenacolo Community – ‘Field of Life’ is the name of the community that Sr Elvira has founded for young men who were once drug addicts. We will be touched to hear their miraculous testimonies of faith.
• Special visionary events – Join Ivan’s prayer group during a special outdoor apparition or be present when Vicka has a special meeting at night on Mt Krizevac (subject to spontaneity).
• Inspiring talks – There is an enriching Franciscan talk most afternoons in English.
• Share occasional group gatherings – Optional and led by your Priest, for voluntary sharing, prayer or group rosary.
• Enjoy personal free time daily – All activities listed do remain optional.

EVENING CHURCH PROGRAMME (DAILY)
5.00pm – The Rosary (Joyful and Sorrowful Mysteries)
5.40pm – Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary
6.00pm – The local’s Croatian Mass
After Mass – Benediction, blessing of objects and prayers for healing.
7.00pm – The Rosary (Glorious Mysteries)

On arrival at Rome airport we will be met and transferred to our centrally located accommodation for the remainder of the day at leisure.

Rome overnight (D)

Commence our pilgrimage with a spectacular Mass at St Peter’s Basilica before coming to the nearby Vatican Museums. Wander the spectacular chambers leading to the Sistine Chapel to view Michelangelo’s masterpieces, including the magnificent fresco of the Last Judgment. Continue through to the awe-inspiring St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in the world for an informative exploration. Our guided tour will feature among other highlights Michelangelo’s stunning Pieta, the tomb of Pope St John Paul II, the great Confessional and the Crypt containing the tombs of several Popes.

In the afternoon, visit the impressive St Mary Major Basilica. Onwards to the Basilica of St John in Lateran (First Papal residence) and the adjacent Holy Stairs brought from Jerusalem to Rome in 326AD by St Helena (as a favourite of pilgrims, these steps may only be ascended on the knees).

Visit the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme with its extraordinary collection of relics from the Holy Land.

Rome overnight (BD)