Today: Upon arrival at the Mexico City airport we meet with our tour guide who will take us to Teotihuacan to see the ancient Pyramids of the sun and the moon. After the visit we proceed to our hotel. 

Evening: We check in to our hotel in Mexico City followed by mass and dinner. 

Today: After breakfast, we go to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Patroness of the Americas) where 8 – 10 million Aztecs converted soon after the Marian apparitions in 1531. The Shrine was built in response to Our Lady’s request to St Juan Diego who at the time was 57 years of age. Over the centuries thousands of miracles have occurred at the Shrine. At the Shrine, you will join the other pilgrims as you kneel in front of the centuries-old Tilma where Our Lady’s image was miraculously printed. Private Mass will be celebrated in one of the upper chapels. Next, you climb Tepeyac hill, visit the Old Basilica, the Chapel of the Indians, and the Chapel of the Well. We will have lunch nearby, followed by time for prayer and shopping. 

Evening: We return to the hotel in Mexico City to enjoy a delicious dinner and rest for the next day. 

Today: This morning your day begins with breakfast, followed by a visit to Holy Family Church, where you will view the tomb of Bl. Miguel Agustin Pro, the Jesuit martyr. During the religious persecution, he assisted many individuals in their spiritual, as well as temporal needs. Although he helped many, he was eventually arrested and killed. His final words before the firing squad were “Viva Cristo Rey! (Long Live Christ the King!)” At this Church, you are able to pray to this great martyr and venerate his relics. We will also visit the small, but very inspiring Museum dedicated to Blessed Miguel Pro. After this visit, we will visit the actual place where Bl. Miguel was shot. Next, we will visit the Church of Santiago Tlatelolco, where St. Juan Diego was baptized. This area is important as it symbolizes the unique blend of pre-Hispanic and Hispanic cultures that make up Mexico. In the city center, you will tour the oldest and largest cathedral in all of Latin America, the Metropolitan Cathedral. Throughout your time in the Cathedral, you will be overwhelmed by the stunning paintings, altarpieces, and statues. Your tour continues with the National Palace. This extraordinary palace has been a building of the ruling class of Mexico since the Aztec Empire. During this visit, you will be able to view amazing murals painted by Diego Rivera. Our day continues with a visit to the Plaza of Santo Domingo. This Plaza contains two holy places that are architecturally exquisite: The Church of Santo Domingo (the first church built by the Dominicans in Mexico in 1576) and the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary (the first Rosary Shrine in Mexico). Additionally, you will visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Covadonga, the headquarters of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. This Shrine is dedicated to the Patron Saint of Asturias (Spain). 

Evening: Return back to your hotel in Mexico City. Enjoy a folkloric dinner with mariachis and rest before the next day of activities. 

We will visit the floating gardens of Xochimilco, the canals are fairly small but we will enjoy it by taking a ride in a Trajinera and enjoy the Mexican folklore that will soon delight your senses. After the ride we will continue to Coyoacán, have a typical lunch and in the afternoon we will visit the beautiful center. While in Coyoacán, you will visit the Church of El Carmen, that is dedicated to the Carmelites, the Church of St. John the Baptist. This stunning piece of architecture has an interior containing seven chapels, as well as an altar piece that dates back to the seventeenth century. Time to stroll around, enjoy the famous ice cream of Coyoacán and then proceed to Tlaxcala for our hotel. 

Evening: Dinner and overnight will be at your hotel Tlaxcala. 

Today: In the State of Tlaxcala we visit the Shrine of San Miguel del Milagro. It is here that St. Michael the Archangel appeared to Diego Lazaro de San Francisco, age 17, in 1631 and told him of the miraculous healing spring during the plague, “You are to know that I am Saint Michael the Archangel, and I have come to tell you that it is the will of God and mine that you tell the inhabitants of this place, and everywhere abroad, that near a valley between two mountain ridges you will find a miraculous spring of water that will cure the people of their ills. You will find it beneath a great boulder. Do not doubt what I have told you and do not neglect what I have sent you to do.” This church-approved apparition is the site where many healings and deliverance miracles have occurred throughout the centuries. The local bishop approved the apparitions after the water from the spring immediately healed the sick in his household and those in the hospital. The bishop celebrated mass on October 29, 1632 convinced of the authenticity of the apparitions. Diego Lazaro lived three more years after the apparitions, and his body was later found to be incorrupt. Time to stroll around and visit the shops. 

Evening: Dinner and overnight will be at your hotel Tlaxcala. 

Today: The Shrine of Our Lady of Ocotlan, popularly known as a Mexico’s Lourdes due to the many healing miracles. Our Lady of Ocotlan appeared to a young man named Juan Diego Bernardino (a different person from St. Juan Diego at Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531 ten years earlier) on Feb. 27, 1541. At this Church approved apparition Our Lady said, “Come with me and I will give you water to cure the disease. It will cure not only your family, but all who drink of it. My heart is ever ready to help those who are ill, for I cannot bear to see their misfortune.” “Take as much as you wish of this water and know that those who are touched by even the smallest drop will obtain, not merely relief from their illness, but perfect health.” “Tell the religious for me that in this place they will find my image. It will not only manifest my perfections, but through it I shall generously bestow favors and kindness. When they find the image, they are to place it in the chapel of San Lorenzo.” In 1746 the Shrine of Our Lady of Ocotlan was raised to the stature of Our Lady of St. Mary Major, the first Church of Mother Mary in Rome and one of the Basilicas that have a Holy Door which the Pope opens every 25 years. At that time, the Benedict XIV granted Indulgences, privileges and Apostolic indults to the faithful venerating the image of Our Lady of Ocotlan. 

Five Popes have venerated Our Lady of Ocotlan with special privileges from the eighteenth century to the twentieth century: Pope Clement XII (1735), Pope Benedict XIV (1746), Pius VI (1799), Saint Pius X (1906) and Pius XII (1941). We proceed to Monastery of San Francisco which is currently the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Tlaxcala where the body of the child St. Cristobal is interred. St. Cristobal is one of the three “Child Martyrs of Tlaxcala.” St. Cristóbal, St. Antonio, and St. Juan, ages 13, were martyred for their faith in Mexico in 1529. St. Pope John Paul II beatified them on May 6, 1990 and Pope Francis canonized them on October 15, 2017. We proceed to Puebla late in the afternoon. 

Evening: Dinner and overnight will be at your hotel in Puebla. 

Today: We go to Cholula, visit the Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Remedies built in 1594 on top of an Aztec Pyramid called Tlachihualtepetl (in case someone cannot climb the hill they can rest in a restaurant with view of the Church). By volume, this pyramid is the largest of its kind in the world. Enter the church and stroll down the aisle toward the main altar, which features the image of the Virgin of the Remedies, the patron saint of Cholula and where many miracles have occurred. The image arrived on Mexican soil in 1519 from Spain, and it was in Veracruz at the first mass celebrated in Mexico, on April 21, 1519. During the trip from Spain, Fray Martin de Valencia heard the voice of Our Lady to place the image over a pyramid and construct a church. We continue to Puebla. In the afternoon we celebrate Mass at Holy Rosary Chapel. Visit the Church of Santo Domingo, the Cathedral, Santa Monica Museum of Religious Art (Museum to be visited time permitting) St. Francis of Assisi Church where we view the uncorrupted body of Blessed Sebastian de Aparicio (1502 – 1600), a famous local figure through whose intercessory prayers many miracles have been reported. At the age of 72, Sebastian being a very rich Spaniard man distributed all his goods among the poor and entered the Franciscans as a brother. He is known as a patron of travelers. In the evening, attend an open-air market. 

Evening: Dinner and overnight accommodations will be at your hotel in Puebla. 

Today: We depart to the beautiful mining silver town of Taxco. We can shop for silver items and jewelry and art. We will spend the day walking around the beautiful city, spending time in prayer at the impressive Church of Santa Prisca where we will have our private Mass. The architecture is especially impressive and a bit unusual – it’s a mix of Spanish colonial Baroque architecture known as ‘Churrigueresque.’ It was built between 1751 and 1758. At the time it was built, the Church of Santa Prisca was the tallest building in Mexico. In it you find famous paintings by Mestizo painter, Miguel Cabrera who also painted a replica image of Our Lady of Guadalupe for Pope Benedict XIV in 1752. Free time for some shopping. 

Evening: Dinner and overnight accommodations will be at your hotel in Taxco. 

Today: Proceed to Mexico City to visit the Church of the 5th apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Tulpetlac, where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Bernardino, St. Juan Diego’s uncle in 1531. Here you will find a well of healing water which locals still use for miracles. If time permits, we might stop at the Shrine to say farewell to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Transfer in the late afternoon to the airport to catch our return flight home.