CRADLE OF CHRISTIANITY

Monday 30 September 2013

I am airborne once again on what is probably my 40th flight of 2013. This time I'm heading to Turkey and Italy on an incredible pilgrimage with Father Paul Wicker and his parishioners from Holy Apostles Church in Colorado Springs. I led a Lenten Mission there in 2011 and Fr. Paul and I became fast friends. He invited me to join him for this pilgrimage as a resident musician since we will be celebrating Mass at many of the holy sites. How could I say no?

There are 78 pilgrims on this tour so we're a sizeable group. The Holy Apostles group is rounded out by friends of Fr. Paul from Los Angeles. Also joining us are Mike and Kamio Strassmaier from my Holy Trinity Parish in Beaverton, Oregon.

Dubbed as a Year of Faith Pilgrimage, we're going to visit some amazing sacred spaces in a region renowned as the Cradle of Christianity. We'll also tour some other sites of local interest. Here's a brief sketch of our itinerary:

WED, OCT 2 (ISTANBUL)
Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (Mass)
Blue Mosque
Hagia Sophia (Church of the Sacred Wisdom, now a museum)
Hippodrome
Obelisk from Egypt
Topkapi Palace

THU, OCT 3 (ISTANBUL / CHALCEDON)
St. Anthony of Padua Church (Mass)
Church of St. Savior in Chora
Chalcedon: Site of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in 451 AD

FRI, OCT 4 (EPHESUS)
Basilica of St. John in Ephesus
Temple of Diana (one of Seven Wonders of the World)
House of Mary (Mass)
Ephesus Museum

SAT, OCT 5 (NICEA / BURSA)
Site of First Ecumenical Council (Nicene Creed)
Ottoman monuments
Church of Hagia Sophia
Bursa: Green Tomb and Great Mosque

SUN, OCT 6 (ROME)
St. Paul's Outside the Walls Basilica (Mass)
Illuminated tour of "Rome by Night" after dinner
Trevi Fountain

MON, OCT 7 (ROME)
Ostia Antica
St. John Lateran Basilica
Church of Scala Santa
Holy Staircase
Church of San Clemente and crypt
Tour of ancient Rome: Palatine, Capitoline Hills, Constantine's Arch, Colosseum

TUE, OCT 8 (ROME)
St. Peter's Basilica (Mass at Altar of Chair of St. Peter)
Vatican Museums
Tapestries Gallery
Belvedere Statues
Sistine Chapel
and more

WED, OCT 9 (ROME)
Audience with Pope Francis
Basilica of St. Mary Major (Mass)
Church of Gesu
Spanish Steps
Pantheon
Piazza Navona

THU, OCT 10 (SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO)
Santa Maria delle Grazie (Mass)
Sites where St. Padre Pio lived and worked

FRI, OCT 11 (SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO / ROME)
St. Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church
Monte Sant'Angelo
Return to Rome

SAT, OCT 12 (PORTLAND)
Depart from Rome to home!


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As you can see, an adventurous days ahead! This has been an incredible year. God is good! As I did with Ghana, I will try and post daily blogs of the pilgrimage as Internet access allows. Photos will most likely be added when I return home.

Stay tuned!