DAY 1 — Departure from the United States

Departure from our airport of origin on our international flight to Greece.

Meals and overnight in flight.

DAY 2 — Arrival in Athens

Arrival at Athens International Airport, where we will be welcomed by our local team and transferred by private motorcoach to our hotel.

Time to settle in and rest after our international journey. Our pilgrimage begins in the city where St. Paul proclaimed Christ to the intellectual world of ancient Greece.

Dinner and overnight in Athens.

DAY 3 — Athens | St. Paul at the Areopagus

Today we discover Athens through the story of St. Paul.

We will ascend the Acropolis and explore the extraordinary monuments of classical Athens. At the foot of the Acropolis stands the Areopagus, or Mars Hill, where Acts 17 records Paul’s famous address to the Athenians.

Here we remember his proclamation of the “God who made the world and everything in it” and his encounter with a culture searching for the divine.

Our panoramic tour will also introduce us to the ancient Agora, Parliament and Syntagma Square, the National Library, University of Athens and Panathenaic Stadium.

The afternoon will be free for personal exploration, prayer or optional visits.

Dinner and overnight in Athens.

DAY 4 — Corinth | Paul, Aquila & Priscilla

Departure for Ancient Corinth, one of the most important Pauline destinations in Greece.

St. Paul lived here for approximately eighteen months, working alongside Aquila and Priscilla and preaching to the growing Christian community. His relationship with the Corinthians would later give the Church two of the most important letters of the New Testament.

We will explore the archaeological site, including the ancient Agora, Temple of Apollo, Fountain of Peirene and the Bema, traditionally associated with Paul’s appearance before Gallio.

Time for prayer and, when arrangements permit, celebration of Holy Mass.

Return to Athens.

Dinner and overnight in Athens.

DAY 5 — Athens • Embarkation on our Aegean Cruise

After breakfast, transfer to the port to board our ship and begin a three-night journey through the Aegean.

The cruise adds a special dimension to our pilgrimage. Rather than experiencing the world of the Apostles only by road, we take to the sea that connected Greece, Asia Minor and the Christian communities of the eastern Mediterranean.

Time to settle into our cabins and enjoy the facilities aboard as we sail into the Aegean.

Full board and overnight aboard our cruise ship.

DAY 6 — Ephesus | St. Paul, St. John & the Virgin Mary

Today our cruise brings us to Ephesus, one of the most important Christian destinations in the Mediterranean.

St. Paul spent several years here, making Ephesus one of the principal centers of his missionary activity. Walking through its ancient streets allows us to enter the world described in the Acts of the Apostles and better understand the environment in which one of the earliest Christian communities flourished.

But Ephesus reaches beyond the story of Paul. Ancient Christian tradition also associates this region with St. John the Apostle and the Blessed Virgin Mary, while the city later hosted the Council of Ephesus in 431, a defining moment in the Church’s proclamation of Mary as Theotokos, Mother of God.

Our included excursion will introduce us to the extraordinary archaeological and Christian heritage of ancient Ephesus before returning to our ship.

Full board and overnight aboard our cruise ship.

DAY 7 — Patmos | St. John & the Book of Revelation

Our pilgrimage continues to Patmos, one of the most sacred islands of the Christian Mediterranean.

Christian tradition identifies Patmos as the place of exile of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, where he received the visions recorded in the Book of Revelation.

Our excursion introduces us to the island’s extraordinary Johannine heritage and the traditions surrounding the Cave of the Apocalypse, where generations of pilgrims have remembered the visions of St. John.

Here the pilgrimage moves from the missionary journeys of Paul to the final book of Sacred Scripture and its great message of Christian hope:

“Behold, I make all things new.”

Return to our ship and continuation of our Aegean journey.

Full board and overnight aboard our cruise ship.

DAY 8 — Return to Mainland Greece • Delphi • Meteora

Following disembarkation, we continue through mainland Greece toward Delphi, one of the most important centers of the ancient Greek world.

Our journey then takes us north toward the extraordinary landscape of Meteora, where monasteries rise dramatically above immense pillars of rock.

Arrival in the Kalambaka area.

Dinner and overnight in Kalambaka.

DAY 9 — Meteora • Berea • Thessaloniki

This morning we visit the celebrated Meteora Monasteries, discovering a centuries-old tradition of Eastern Christian monasticism, prayer and sacred art.

We then continue north into Macedonia, following the geographical world of St. Paul’s missionary journeys.

Our next stop is Berea — modern Veria — where Acts tells us that Paul’s preaching was received with particular openness and where the faithful “examined the Scriptures every day.”

Continuation to Thessaloniki, one of the most important Pauline cities and the Christian community to which Paul addressed his First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians.

Dinner and overnight in Thessaloniki.

DAY 10 — Philippi • Kavala | Christianity Enters Europe

Today we follow one of the most consequential journeys in the history of Christianity.

We travel to Philippi, where St. Paul established the first Christian community on European soil.

Here we remember Lydia, whose conversion and baptism are recorded in Acts, as well as the imprisonment of Paul and Silas and the miraculous events that followed.

We will explore the ancient city, its Roman Forum and the traditions associated with Paul’s imprisonment.

We then continue to Kavala, ancient Neapolis, the port through which Paul entered Macedonia after crossing the Aegean from Asia Minor.

Standing beside the sea, we can reflect on a moment that changed European history: the arrival of the Gospel on the continent.

Dinner and overnight in Kavala.

DAY 11 — Kavala • Istanbul | Constantinople

Departure toward the Greek-Turkish border. After border formalities, we continue with our Turkish team toward Istanbul, ancient Constantinople.

For more than a thousand years, Constantinople stood as one of the greatest centers of Christian civilization.

Depending on arrival time and operating schedules, our introduction to the city may include the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit and an initial panoramic visit.

Dinner and overnight in Istanbul.

DAY 12 — Constantinople | Christianity at the Crossroads of Continents

Today we explore the extraordinary heritage of the city once known as Byzantium and Constantinople.

We will visit Hagia Sophia, constructed under Emperor Justinian and for centuries one of the greatest churches in Christendom. Our exploration will also introduce us to the historic Hippodrome, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and other monuments illustrating the city’s extraordinary Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history.

When possible, we will celebrate Holy Mass at a Catholic church such as St. Anthony of Padua and explore the living Christian presence that remains in the city today.

Our final evening provides an opportunity to reflect on a pilgrimage that has carried us from Paul’s preaching in Athens and Corinth, across the Aegean to Ephesus and Patmos, and north through the first Christian communities of Europe to Constantinople.

Dinner and overnight in Istanbul.

DAY 13 — Istanbul • Return Home

Breakfast at the hotel.

At the appointed time, transfer to Istanbul International Airport for our return flight.

We return home having encountered not simply the monuments of Greece and Turkey, but the world in which the Apostles proclaimed Christ and the first Christian communities took root.

End of our services.