Mexico City Pilgrimage
Day 1: MEXICO CITY
Personalized welcome at Mexico City's Benito Juárez International Airport, check-in at your hotel.
In the afternoon, during our welcome dinner, we will enjoy views of Mexico City from the 45th floor of the World Trade Center at the exclusive "Bellini" restaurant, which holds the Guinness World Record as the world's largest revolving restaurant.
The view from the top is mesmerizing, as we will travel at a speed of almost imperceptible one meter per minute along the 360-degree route of the Bellini Restaurant, while enjoying a delicious menu consisting of:
Mixed salad, creamed corn, salmon in lemon sauce, or steak in mushroom sauce, or chicken supreme with shrimp, house cake, coffee or tea, and one national beverage per person.
Overnight in Mexico City
Day 02: MEXICO-SAN MIGUEL DEL MILAGRO-OCOTLAN-TLAXCALA
Transfer (two hours) and visit to the Sanctuary of San Miguel del Milagro. It is said that the Archangel Michael appeared three times to the Indian Diego Lázaro. The archangel told him to reveal a miraculous source of water that was nearby in a ravine. Diego Lázaro thought that they would not believe him so he did not obey and fell seriously ill. At the third apparition the Archangel complained about his disobedience, so Diego Lázaro took water from the fountain and took it to the bishop who distributed the water among the sick who were admirably cured.
There the devotion to the Archangel was born, currently the Sanctuary is widely visited by nationals and foreigners, since the intercession in a very large number of miracles is attributed to him.
After traveling 20 kilometers we will be arriving at the Basilica of Our Lady of Ocotlán, patron saint of Tlaxcala. Pope Pius X in 1906 elevated the Sanctuary to the dignity of Collegiate Church and granted the Pontifical Coronation of Our Lady.
In 1941, Pope Pius XII elevated the Sanctuary to the dignity of Minor Basilica.
Very close by, in the center of Tlaxcala, we will visit the Cathedral where the first mass was celebrated and the first conversion to Catholicism in New Spain took place in the persons of the four Lords of Tlaxcala.
Overnight in Tlaxcala
Day 03: TLAXCALA-CHOLULA-PUEBLA
We will visit 37 kilometers away, in the city of San Andrés Cholula, Pue., the amazing temple of Santa María Tonatzintla, the work considered the greatest expression of popular baroque in our country, built by indigenous labor and direction of the Spanish friars. We will continue our tour visiting the Christian Temple dedicated to the Virgin of Remedies, erected in 1594. Like many of its kind, it represents the Immaculate Conception. This Sanctuary is also one of the most visited in Mexico.
In the nearby city of Puebla (15 kilometers), cradle of the Mexican Baroque, we will visit the Chapel of the Rosary, named by Pope John Paul II as “The Reliquary of America”, also known as the Eighth Wonder of the New World. It is unique in its kind due to the ornamentation based on stucco and gold leaf.
We will take a pedestrian tour, which highlights the visit to the Plaza de Armas surrounded by the most important buildings of the city such as the Cathedral of the Virgin of the Purísima Concepción in Herrerian style built between the 16th and 17th centuries, examples of the New Spain baroque , the Palafoxiana Library and some other representatives of the more than a thousand protected buildings that are still found in the Historic Center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Overnight in Puebla City
DAY 04: PUEBLA-TEPOZOTLAN-CUAUTITLAN-MEXICO
After breakfast, transfer 203 kilometers (three hours) to the National Viceroyalty Museum in the town of Tepotzotlán, Mexico, which is forty kilometers away and an approximate transfer time of 60 minutes.
The visit to this museum, originally built for the training of Jesuit priests, will greatly please our visitors. They will see, among other areas—including the school area, dormitories, kitchen, apothecary, and library—the way of life of the religious who inhabited the place hundreds of years ago.
Special mention must be made of the Church of San Francisco Javier, the Chapel of Loreto, and the Virgin's alcove for their imposing construction and the majestic gold decoration in many of their parts.
Today's lunch will be at the Museum's restaurant.
Our pilgrimage will begin at the Santuario del Cerrito, where we will see the archaeological remains of what was the house where Saint Juan Diego was born and lived his first years.
Celebration of the Holy Mass in the Sanctuary, presided over by the group's accompanying priest.
Transfer to Mexico City where we will spend the night.
DAY 05: BASILICA OF GUADALUPE AND TLATELOLCO
We will continue with the Insigne and National Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe, the most important pilgrimage center in Mexico and the Christian world. It is the mixed-race cradle of Christianity and a Marian heart par excellence, the pride of our people, and an unequivocal sign of divine election. It annually receives more than 22 million visitors.
We will visit the entire Tepeyac enclosure: the Expiatory Temple (the old Basilica), the former Convent of Capuchinas, the Parish of the Indians, El Pocito (The little well), La Ofrenda (The Offering), La Vela del Marino (The Sailor's Candle), the Chapel of El Cerrito, the Baptistery, the Museum of the Basilica of Guadalupe, the Statue of Saint John Paul II, and the Carillon, along with an explanation of each one.
In this place, we will be able to contemplate Juan Diego's tilma (cloak), where the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted, becoming since then the most irrefutable sign of the Guadalupan Event and an unequivocal sign of divine election.
Participants will have time to purchase and bless religious souvenirs.
Celebration of the Holy Mass. It is essential for the priest intending to celebrate to process the authorization beforehand in the Sacristy of the Insigne and National Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe.
We will continue our pilgrimage toward the Plaza de las Tres Culturas (Square of the Three Cultures), so named because it combines pre-Hispanic, viceregal, and contemporary architecture. This was the place of the baptism and doctrine of Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin.
Overnight in Mexico City.
DAY 06: SHRINE OF THE FIFTH GUADALUPAN APPARITION-TEOTIHUACAN-BALLET
Our visit today will continue with a visit to the Shrine of the Fifth Apparition in Tulpetlac, which was erected to commemorate the Fifth Apparition of the Blessed Virgin to Juan Bernardino (Saint Juan Diego’s uncle), and where he was cured of the diseases that had him near death. In this Apparition, she asks to be known as the "Always Virgin Holy Mary of Guadalupe."
We will celebrate the Holy Mass in this Sacred Place.
There is a possibility for our pilgrims to partake in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick if they so desire.
We will continue our tour heading to the Teotihuacan Archaeological Zone to visit the main sites of this location, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987 due to its cultural and artistic influence throughout a large part of Mesoamerica.
Today's lunch will be enjoyed at the restaurant "El Gran Teocalli," where we will enjoy an abundant and well-stocked buffet.
As evening falls, we will attend an unparalleled show at the Palace of Fine Arts in this city: the BALLET FOLKLÓRICO DE AMALIA HERNÁNDEZ. For a little less than two hours, we will enjoy representative dances from the most important regions and cultures of our Mexico, masterfully conducted and performed by this exceptional ballet. It is a magical celebration that fuses the colors and rhythms of this entire multicultural Mexico, represented in these dances masterfully coordinated by the ballet created more than half a century ago by the teacher Amalia Hernández.
The experience of seeing the sunrise over the Valley of Mexico with the volcanoes in the background through the theater curtain—made with nearly a million crystals manufactured by the famous Tiffany house of New York—complements the dance spectacle.
The ballet has been performed with great success in most countries around the world and frequently renews its repertoire.
DAY 07: THE HOLY FAMILY-HISTORIC CENTER-METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL
Today, we begin our day by visiting the Church of the Holy Family to learn about Blessed Miguel Pro, who was a Jesuit priest executed for carrying out his priestly duties during the persecution of the Catholic Church under the presidency of President Plutarco Elías Calles in the 1920s.
Father Miguel Pro was Beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1988 and was an inspiring figure during the conflicts of religious intolerance in our country. The Cristeros defended the Catholic faith with the cry, "Long live Christ the King and the Virgin of Guadalupe!"
We will visit the small Museum of Blessed Miguel Pro, where we will learn more about his life and work, and receive a third-class relic.
Transfer to the House of Bishop Zumárraga and the place of the imprinting of the Virgin's image on Juan Diego's tilma in the city's Historic Center.
We will visit the Former Archbishopric, today the Museum of the Secretariat of Finance, where the miracle of the "Imprinting" of Saint Juan Diego's tilma took place.
The sixth place of the "Guadalupan Event" to visit will be the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico "Nuestra Señora de la Asunción," the first and largest in Mexico and the Americas, built over more than 200 years. We will see its Baroque-style facades, its chapels, the choir, the Altar of the Kings, the Altar of Forgiveness, and the Sacristy where the Holy Cloth of the Virgin of Guadalupe was briefly exhibited, as well as the crypt of the archbishops where the remains of the witness to the "Imprinting" or the "Miracle of the Roses" rest: Friar Juan de Zumárraga.
In the Metropolitan Cathedral, in the Sacristy, we will see the site where the Holy Cloth of the Blessed Virgin was exhibited, concluding here our pilgrimage along the "Route of Saint Juan Diego to the encounter with the Virgin of Guadalupe."
We will observe the most important sights of the Historic Center, which to date, has about 1,500 cataloged monuments across 668 blocks.
We will see a panoramic view of the Aztec Templo Mayor, on whose summit we will observe two altars, the first consecrated to Huitzilopochtli, God of War, and the other to Tláloc, God of Rain. We will also see the local government buildings and the one that houses the Presidency of the Republic, among others, all silent witnesses to this country's nearly 700 years of history.
The Historic Center of Mexico City was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987.
Transfer and overnight at your hotel in Mexico City.
DAY 08: XOCHIMILCO AND COYOACÁN
On our way to Xochimilco, we will see some important sites in Mexico City: the Cibeles Fountain, the Siqueiros Cultural Polyforum, the Monumental Plaza de Toros México (Mexico Bullring), and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), which was named a World Heritage Site in 2007.
Finally, we will arrive at Xochimilco, "The Place of Flowers," also included on the UNESCO World Heritage List (1987). It is the only remnant of the city's origins with the chinampas (floating gardens) built among its canals, which are an example of how humans gained ground from the lake area for cultivation and habitation. We will sail on one of its typical "trajineras" (colorful, flat-bottomed boats) for a period of 45 minutes, exploring part of this folkloric location.
While visiting Coyoacán, our friends will have time to enjoy the festive atmosphere generated every weekend in the area, regardless of economic class or social position. They will be entertained by the mimes that abound there and listen to the nostalgic notes of the street organ grinders.
Overnight in Mexico City.
Day 9: MEXICO – AIRPORT
Transfer to Mexico City International Airport for your flight.
IT INCLUDES:
Dinner in Bellini WTC
Eight nights of accommodation
Eight breakfasts at the hotel
Certified Guide knowledgeable about the "Guadalupan Event"
Entrance fees to the Museum of the Viceroyalty and the Teotihuacan Archaeological Zone
Trajinera ride in the canals of Xochimilco
Amalia Hernández Folkloric Ballet at the Palace of Fine Arts, in the "Anfiteatro" (Amphitheater) section
Reservations and stipends for daily Masses
Taxes