Crucis Holy Doors Pilgrim Tour Rome – Rome, Italy

EXPERIENCE:

The Crucis Holy Doors Pilgrim Tour offers visitors to Rome the chance to take in all four of her Major Papal Basilicas in one day. For pilgrims, its is a quintessential spiritual experience that will create the memory of a lifetime even if it takes place before the opening of the Holy Doors in 2025.

Join us on a unique and spectacular tour that intertwines history with faith; that takes in the scripture, the symbolism and the catechism that seeps from the walls of these, the most elaborate and breathtaking churches in all the world.

There’ll be time for reflection and contemplation too, on our whirlwind spiritual experience, as we venerate both St Peter and St Paul, the Pillars of the Church, and learn about their lives, their suffering and their deeds.

Beyond that, we’ll study the catechism that adorns the walls in magnificent mosaics behind the altars, that tell of the Old and New Testaments, of the present and of the future as seen in Revelations.

Our tour begins early in the morning at St Peter’s Basilica (Basilica San Pietro), the entrance to the Vatican City and to many, the most famous church in the world. Renowned for its majestic beauty (we get to thank Michelangelo among others for that), it is where His Holiness the Pope usually gives mass and is the resting place of St Peter, who was crucified at this very location around 64-67 AD.

Next up we skip across town to the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls (San Paolo Fuori le Mura), where we’ll cast our eyes upon the second of the four Holy Doors we’ll visit during the tour. Here we’ll learn all about the life of St Paul—a Roman citizen with much to repent—and get a glimpse of his sarcophagus and the chain that held him in house arrest.

Our third Major Papal Basilica and Holy Door is the Mother Church of all the World, the Cathedral of Rome and the highest ranking church in Christendom, that of St John Lateran (San Giovanni Laterano), where the skulls of both Saints Peter and Paul are kept. Also the oldest church in Rome, St John Lateran turned exactly 1700 years old in 2023.

Finally we conclude the Crucis Holy Doors Pilgrim Tour Rome at the Basilica St Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore), dedicated to Our Lady. St Mary Major is home to the icon Salus Populi Romani by Luke the Evangelist, to the relics of the Holy Crib and Holy Sponge that bookend the life of Christ, and also to the graves of St Jerome and Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

During the Jubileum of 2025 the Holy Doors at each of the four Major Basilicas will be open and pilgrims that pass through each of them will be granted Partial Indulgence. Whether you plan to make your visit before or during the Holy Year, we promise you a mystical experience that goes beyond the sightseeing of historical landmarks, but deep into the very real significance of Rome to those of the traditional Catholic faith.

Our tour ends in Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore, a fine spot to grab some lunch at nearby Esquilino or Monti.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:

A unique pilgrim tour led by and for traditional Catholics and anyone interested
History through the lens of faith, scripture and symbolism
An experience for the truly devout that goes beyond sightseeing
All four Major Basilicas and all four Holy Doors
Partial Indulgences granted during the Holy Year

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