MAMI (OMI) Pilgrimage To Aix-en-Provence / Marseille / Paris / Lourdes / Fatima - 10 Days France & Portugal

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SAMPLE DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY & Flight Arrival/Departure Schedule (May change slightly) 

Day 1, Oct 6

Depart from home airport

Make your way to your hometown airport early (3 hrs before departure time), where you will meet the other members of the group and board your overnight flight to Lourdes, France. 

Depart: Toronto, Pearson Intl Airport 6:20pm Oct 6

Day 2, Oct 7

Arrive: Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport 7:50am Oct 7

Paris is unique and international flights to Lourdes arrive at Paris CDG Airport and connect at Paris ORY Airport for transit to Lourdes, and require 1 hr ground transport from CDG Airport at north of Paris to ORY Airport at south of Paris for domestic connecting flights. During ground transfers, traffic jams are common during rush hours and also passengers get confused and more connecting time is needed and at least 4-6 hours is allocated for the ground transer from CDG to ORY Airport.

Tour Leader arrives at CDG Airport 8:20am. Wait for the Tour Leader at the baggage carousel and Tour Leader will meet group by 9am with KNIGHTS Watchmen Mission Travels logo sign, and our French driver will meet us at 9:30am in the arrival hall with a name sign, and the group will be received and escorted to ground transport for transfer to Paris Orly Airport for transit flight to Lourdes. We will arrive at ORY Airport at 11:00am and check-in at 12:50pm for our flight at 1:50pm. We have less than 2 hr free time and Tour Leader will take the opportunity to get to know each member of the group, and take collection of tips in euro €, and have a Q&A session and briefly discuss the itinerary before our departure to Lourdes.

Depart: Paris Orly Airport 1:50pm Oct 7

Arrive: Lourdes Airport 3:05pm Oct 7

Transfer to Lourdes, France

The group will be received and escorted to ground transport which will take you on a scenic drive to accommodation in Lourdes sanctuary.

† Lourdes Pilgrimage †

Upon arrival in Lourdes sanctuary, you can relax or explore before dinner. Following dinner you may participate in the candlelight procession before retiring for the evening.

Day 3, Oct 8

During the next two days in Lourdes, you will have an opportunity to: 

Attend Mass at the Grotto. Watch a video presentation telling the story of Lourdes. Join your prayers with those of pilgrims from around the world as you pray for the sick. Drink water from the miraculous spring, and submerge yourself in the healing baths. Walk the life-sized Stations of the Cross overlooking the holy Grotto. Kneel in the chapel built on the very rock of the Grotto. Visit Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, Basilica of Saint Pius X, Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Evenings for Blessed Sacrament Procession before dinner, and after dinner, join the candlelight processions and group rosary.

Day 4, Oct 9

Lourdes city walks sightseeing

Attend International Mass, and sightseeing of Lourdes, walk in the footsteps of St. Bernadette, see Boly Mill where St. Bernadette was born, and the "Cachot," an abandoned prison where Bernadette's impoverished family lived. Private evening time for your own personal reflection, prayer and healing.

About Lourdes: Our Lady of Lourdes came for you and for everyone of us! 6 million pilgrims come to Lourdes each year and 10,000 visit this site daily. At the foot of the Pyrenees mountains in southwestern France, nestled between the spectacular mountain river, Gave de Pau, is Lourdes, one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the World. Lourdes is the birthplace of St Bernadette to whom Our Lady appeared in 1858 near the Grotto of Massabielle. Our pilgrimage and tour of Lourdes includes visits to the sanctuary and the Basilica of St Pius X, the world's largest underground church. Drink from the spring that the Virgin directed Bernadette to locate at the base of the grotto, which has flowed uninterrupted since 1858. Wash yourself in the baths where hundreds of miraculous cures have taken place. Contemplate Christ's Passion as you pray the unique three-dimensional Stations of the Cross. Attend the blessing of the sick, and participate in nightly candlelight processions requested by Our Lady. Visit Lourdes and experience a spiritual journey from which many have claimed healing and conversion.

Hôtel Saint Sauveur, Excellent Location, Very Good Reviews 8.2, 3 Star Hotel

Hôtel Continental, Excellent Location, Very Good Reviews 8.3, 3 Star Hotel

Day 5, Oct 10

Ground transport will pickup group at 8:30am Oct 10 and take group to Lourdes Airport for flight to Marseille, France.

Depart: Lourdes Airport 11:10am Oct 10

Arrive: Marseille Provence Airport 2:50pm Oct 10

The group will be received and escorted to ground transport to accommodation in Marseille/Aix-en-Provence.

† Marseille/Aix Pilgrimage †

Fr. Krzysztof will be our guide.

Day 6, Oct 11

Tour coach will take group to Aix and Marseille. We will visit:

1. Aix - Oblate Foundation House and celebrate Eucharist in Mission Church at Oblate Foundation House.

2. Marseille - Cathédrale La Major - Basilica wherein Bishop St. Eugene de Mazenod is buried and celebrated Mass at the altar over his very tomb.

3. Marseille - Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde - Ancient shrine in ruins that St Eugene commissioned the restoration of this incredible Romano or Neo-Byzantine Basilica.

About Marseille/Aix-en-Provence: The community of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Aix-en-Provence is the oldest in the Congregation, canonically erected on January 25, 1816. Situated at the ancient Carmel at 60 cours Mirabeau, it had St. Eugene de Mazenod, founder of the Congregation, as its first Superior. This community lives right at the historic heart of the Oblates, and today this is the site of the Association Centre International Eugene de Mazenod (CIEM). The community of the Oblates of Aix-en-Provence is responsible for the upkeep of the historical spot which is the cradle of the Congregation, situated at the ancient Carmel, at 60 cours Mirabeau. Since January 25, 1816, the history of this house is intimately linked with the history of the Congregation. It is written up in all the biographies of Eugene de Mazenod and in all the books which talk about the foundation. Its history, calm at certain times and very eventful at others, was similar to what other religious communities experienced in France. Today, the house is a place of pilgrimage for Oblates from the whole world. For them, it has much the same role as the Holy Land for Christians. The house belongs to the de Mazenod Foundation, which signed a contract with the Association EMIC on December 7, 2011. The “De Mazenod Experience” is a renewal programme, one of the most recommended for ongoing formation. It is open to all Oblates who have spent several years in missionary life. It aims, especially, at enabling the participants to look back over their experience of the Oblate charism in the everyday life of their mission and ministry. They do so in an atmosphere of prayer, reflection and fraternal sharing. A 15 days’ retreat, based on Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, is an integral part of the Experience. The Mazenodian Family includes all those who, directly or indirectly, are linked to the Oblate community: friends, symphatisants, volunteers, benefactors, etc. There are four gatherings: one in September, another of December 8 (Immaculate Conception), one around February 17 (Approbation of the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates and its Constitutions and Rules) and another one around May 21 (Feast of St. Eugene de Mazenod). They also offer such a christian formation in small groups, according to the interests of each of them. 

Hotel ibis budget Marseille Aeroport Provence, Great Location, Good Reviews 7.8, 2 Star Hotel

Day 7, Oct 12

Lisbon, Portugal

Ground transport will pickup group at 9:00am Oct 12 and take group to Marseille Airport for flight to Lisbon.

Depart: Marseille Provence Airport 11:45am Oct 12

Arrive: Lisbon Airport 4:00pm Oct 12

The group will be received and escorted to ground transport to hotel in Lisbon city centre and stay 2 nights.

Immediately after hotel check-in, we will go to nearby convient store to buy prepackage food on own account for Oct 13 breakfast as we are leaving very early for Fatima the next morning. We will have 3 hour city walking tour in Lisbon city centre and Tapas supper at 7pm with our Lisbon tour guide. We are leaving early for ParisOct 14 the following morning so there will also be no group breakfast during the 2 days stay in Lisbon but in lieu, we will have early lunch in Paris.

Luxe Hotel By TURIM Hotels, Good Location, Good Reviews 7.6, 3 Star Hotel

† Fatima Pilgrimage †

Ground transport will pickup group at 4:30am and take group to Fatima 1hr 30 m drive by 6:00am.

Day 8, Oct 13

Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Fatima Apparitions*

Join with pilgrims throughout the world at the Candlelight Procession, visit the house of Jacinta and Francisco, walk the Stations of the Cross to where they had their apparition with Our Lady, and not only visit the first resting place of Jacinta and Francisco, but the final resting place for all three.

When time permits, that may includes a visit to the following: 

- Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima - the site of Francesco and Jacinta's graves, 

- The Hamlet of Aljustrel - where the children lived

- Valinhos - the site of Our Lady's appearance after the children's return from prison. 

- Stations of the Cross - Experience Christ's love as you walk along the Via Sacra (The Sacred Way) culminating in the Chapel of Calvary, which overlooks all of Fatima. 

- Prayers for the Sick - Join your prayers with pilgrims from around the world as you pray for the sick, 

- Holy Water - Bring home Holy Water from the taps that are located at the Golden Statue located in the middle of the Shrine

- Attend the Blessing of the Sick

- Candlelight Processions - Participate in the evening with pilgrims from around the world, requested by Our Lady 

- Free Time for Prayer and 24-Hour Adoration - located downstairs in the Paul VI Pastoral Center (opposite the Basilica)

In the evening is when we gather for the Main Events! 100 years ago, the Heavenly Queen of Peace, in order to transmit divine help and the promise of sure hope for peace, appeared here. Many faithful have had recourse for Her help and, in their various perils, have looked for Her protection … and found it. Let us also remember the special devotion and gratitude of St. John Paul II, who 35 years ago, thanked the Virgin Mary for the miraculous sparing of his life. Let us continue to remember the value of the prayer of the Holy Rosary, as well as the message, in order for us to obtain the favors and graces which the Mother of the Redeemer Herself promised the people devoted to her Immaculate Heart.

We join Christendom’s faithful from around the world, in the religious celebration of the Anniversary of Our Lady’s apparition at Cova da Iria. That is the present site of the Little Chapel of Apparitions, and the Rosary Basilica.

*The order of events are subject to change, due to the volume of pilgrims and expected program for the Anniversary. The Official schedule of events (Candlelight Procession, Blessings of the sick, Anniversary Mass, Mass at Chapel of Apparitions, etc.) will not be finalized until closer to the event. Once released by Vatican, we will update accordingly.

^Special Event on October 13, 2017 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima -

Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra | Directed by Joana Carneiro 

World premiere of the works of composers James MacMillan and Eurico Carrapatoso commissioned by the Sanctuary of Fatima for the celebration of the Centenary of the Apparitions. 

This unique concert, performed by the Orchestra and the Gulbenkian Choir, directed by Joana Carneiro, presents in its alignment, among others, works commissioned by the Sanctuary of Fatima from composers James MacMillan and Eurico Carrapatoso.

**Please note: In case of group separation, at the end of the day, we will meet back at the Chapel of Apparitions at the very heart of the sanctuary.

Ground transport will pickup group at 9pm Oct 13 and take group to restaurant in Lisbon city centre for late Tapas dinner at 10:30pm, and we will walk back to our hotel nearby after dinner.

About Fatima: The Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima is one of most famous Marian shrines in the world. Drawn by apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three local shepherd children in 1917. Four million people visit Fatima each year. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to shepherd children on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on May 13th until October 13th. The events at Fatima gained particular fame due to their elements of prophecy and eschatology, particularly with regard to possible world war and the conversion of Russia.

Hotel Darcet, Excellent Location, Awesome Reviews 9.1, 2 Star Hotel

Day 10, Oct 15

Depart for home

We will check-out of airport hotel at 4:30am early morning and ground transport will take group to the airport for departure home.

Depart: Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport 7:20am Oct 15

Arrive: Toronto Airport 11:35am Oct 15