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! ! Dear!Friend!and!Possible!Fellow!Pilgrim,! !!!!!!!!!!Thank!you!for!inquiring!about!Inside!the!Vatican!Pilgrimages.!!Our!Easter!2016!pilgrimage!will!be! our!26th!since!we!began!Inside!the!Vatican!Pilgrimages!in!2008,!and!each!one!has!been!unique.!!These! pilgrimages!are!a!total!immersion!experience—unrepeatable!and!unforgettable,!informative!and! transformative.!!The!focus!is!not!solely!on!the!stones!of!the!Basilicas!of!Assisi,!Norcia!and!Rome,!but!also! on!those!living!stones!which!are!the!souls!of!the!people!we!encounter—the!Franciscan!Sisters!and! Brothers!of!Assisi,!the!Benedictine!Monks!of!Norcia,!the!Vatican!Cardinals!and!Monsignors,!the!Swiss! Guards!in!Rome!and!even!ourselves,!the!pilgrims.!!! !!!!!If!you!would!like!to!join!us!after!you!read!through!the!attached!Registration!Packet,!please!mail!the! following!completed!forms!to!our!US!office:!(space!is!very!limited,!so!I!suggest!you!act!quickly!)! 1. Registration+Form—one!per!person!with!a!copy!of!the!picture!page!of!your!passport! 2. Deposit!X!Check!for!$1,000.00!per!person!of!which!$500!is!nonXrefundable.!!Please!make!checks! payable!to!Urbi%et%Orbi%Communications.%! 3. A!$1,500!donation!to!the!Urbi%et%Orbi%Communications%will!be!included!in!your!final!payment.! You!will!receive!a!taxXdeductible!donation!letter!for!your!taxes.*! ! !!!Our!US!office!address!is:! Inside!the!Vatican!Pilgrimages! 14!W!Main!Street! Front!Royal,!VA!!22630!! ! Final+Payment+is+due+Friday,+January+15,+2016.++ ! !!!!!!If!you!choose!the!Land!Package,!we!require!you!to!arrive!in!Italy!on!Monday,!March!21,!2016,!one!day! before!the!Land!Package!begins!on!the!morning!of!Tuesday,!March!22,!2016.!Please!contact!our!office!for! more!information.!! !!!!!Theresa!Norris,!our!US!Office!Manager,!will!be!able!to!assist!you!with!the!registration!process.!! Theresa’[email protected].!!!If!you!should!have!any!questions!about!the! pilgrimage,!please!feel!free!to!call!me.!!We!can!both!be!reached!at!1.202.536.4555.!! ! !!!!!I!hope!to!greet!you!in!Rome!! ! Deborah!B!Tomlinson! Chief!Operating!Officer! Inside'the'Vatican!magazine! ! *!A special $1,500 charitable donation to Urbi et Orbi Communications, which publishes Inside the Vatican magazine, is included in the cost of the pilgrimage. These funds will be used to help finance the magazine, as well as to fund a scholarship for Orthodox seminarians to study in Rome or elsewhere in the West. The scholarships are part of the work of the Urbi et Orbi Foundation, a project of Urbi et Orbi Communications, which works directly with the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity to fund its scholarship program. [email protected] ◆ US Office: 14 W Main Street, Front Royal VA 22630 ◆ 202.536.4555 ! Inside the Vatican magazine’s Easter 2016 Pilgrimage Assisi, Norcia, Manoppello and Vatican City March 21 – March 31, 2016 A Personal Invitation from Dr. Robert Moynihan: For the past 8 years, Inside the Vatican pilgrimages have been so unique and so special that our former pilgrims say they were “once-in-a-lifetime” experiences. I would like to invite you to join us for our next Easter pilgrimage to Assisi, Norcia, Manoppello and Vatican City, and see exactly what they mean. All of our pilgrimages are planned to be quiet and prayerful, not rushed. We want your journey with us to be a peaceful, enjoyable and unforgettable experience, one that enriches your life and deepens your faith. Although we will visit many very special places, our journey is a pilgrimage, not a tour. The spiritual dimension – the search for a deeper understanding of God and a better appreciation of the history and life of the Church – is central. This is why the pace of our pilgrimages will be slow and peaceful, not hurried. There will be time to reflect and to pray. Our Easter pilgrimage will begin a few days before Easter in Assisi, in the Umbrian hills -- the city of St. Francis -- which is one of the prettiest and most serene cities in the world. We will spend two nights there. The Franciscan friars who live there will hear confessions and we will attend Mass next to the tomb of St. Francis himself. The third day, Holy Thursday, we will travel to Norcia, the birthplace of St. Benedict. Norcia is tucked in under sparkling white, snow-capped mountains in the center of Italy, and seems a city that time forgot. It is a most charming and undisturbed place. Here we will begin the Easter Triduum together with the Benedictine monks of Norcia, many of whom are Americans (they are refounding the Benedictine abbey in the city center, and using the ancient Latin liturgy in their daily round of prayer). We will spend Holy Thursday and Good Friday here, in a place that truly Dinners'are'filled'with'great'food,'drink' seems timeless. The town of Norcia honors Good Friday with a very poignant procession of live and'conversation.''Join'Dr.'Moynihan'for' Stations of the Cross, which takes place after dark. each'meal'during'the'pilgrimage' After the solemn procession and liturgies of Holy Thursday and Good Friday, we then journey to Rome for the joyous celebration of Easter at the Vatican. The Easter Vigil Mass will be celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica by Pope Francis. We will also attend Easter Sunday Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on Easter Sunday morning. These liturgies, celebrating the triumph of Jesus Christ over sin and death, are among the most splendid and joyous in the Church’s calendar. Monday, the day after Easter, is la Pasquetta (“little Easter”) in Italy. It is an Italian national holiday in order to continue the joyous Easter celebration. We, too, will continue our celebration by traveling about two hours to the little town of Manoppello, Italy (population 157 — yes, it’s tiny!) in the rugged Abbruzzo region. There, we will visit the Shrine of the Holy Face — the shrine which contains a mysterious cloth bearing the image of a man with wounds on his face, an image some believe is the actual face of Christ, formed at the moment of his Resurrection. Pope Emeritus Benedict visited this Shrine in 2006 to venerate the Holy Face of Manoppello. While in Rome, I will introduce you to a number of friends of the magazine and we will share many special stories about important Vatican events that have occurred in the last few years. Please consider joining me on this journey – we will have many hours together as we come to better understand this special time in our Church. Holy Week should be a time of peaceful yet profound reflection on Our Savior’s death, while Easter should be a joyous time, with many hours devoted to prayer and meditation, in the places once walked by St. Francis, St. Benedict, and St. Peter, and very close to Pope Francis. Robert Moynihan Founder and Editor of Inside the Vatican magazine [email protected] ◆ US Office: 14 West Main Street Front Royal VA 22630 ◆ 202.536.4555 1! ! ! A Note from Deborah Tomlinson Welcome to Inside the Vatican Pilgrimages. We began leading Inside the Vatican pilgrimages in 2008, and since then we have led over 20 pilgrimages to the heart of the Church. I have organized and traveled on all of these unique experiences. It has been our policy to keep the size of each pilgrimage small, rarely more than 15 people, in order to keep the experience personal and intimate. We have found that the small pilgrimages create a bond of friendship that is very special. At the end of our journey together, our pilgrims often discover that not only have they visited some of the most important shrines in the Christian world, but they have also made deep friendships with one another, and with those they have met along the journey, that will last a lifetime. These pilgrimages are a total immersion experience—unrepeatable and unforgettable, informative and transformative. The focus is not solely on the stones of the Basilicas of Assisi, Norcia and Rome, but also on those living stones which are the souls of the people we encounter—the Franciscan Sisters and Brothers of Assisi, the Benedictine Monks of Norcia, the Cardinals and Monsignors of the Vatican, the Swiss Guards in Rome and even ourselves, the pilgrims. Dr. Moynihan and I will be traveling with you for the entire pilgrimage. Robert is an expert on all things Vatican and Roman, and his love of Italy is contagious. We will begin in the little town of Assisi, situated almost in the exact center of Italy. I like to think of Assisi as the heart of Italy. It was the home of St. Francis, whom some have called the greatest religious genius the West has produced. Assisi is known for its tranquil silence. As the starting point of our journey, we hope that this serenity translates to our pilgrims in a way that allows us to become more tranquil and reflective, as we enter deeper into the spirit of pilgrimage. We will introduce you to our friends, the Franciscans, who live in Assisi, then listen as they share their stories. After Assisi, we will visit Norcia, the birthplace of St. Benedict, the Patron Saint of Europe and the founder of monastic life there. Father Cassian, our friend and founder of the current Benedictine monastery in Norcia, will meet with us there to share a reflection. These moments with Father Cassian are for some pilgrims the highlight of our trip. On Good Friday morning, we will take a very special journey, about a 90 minute ride, to the other side of the Sibillini National Park where we will have the privilege to visit one of the many hermits who live in and around the Sibillini National Park.