Journey into beautiful southern Maryland and discover our roots as American Catholics. Step back into the early 17th-century and visit the sacred shrines and places of pilgrimage which testify to the deep faith and heroic virtue of those who brought the Catholic faith to America. Highlights include: St. Clement’s Island where the first English colonists landed in 1634; St. Francis Xavier Church - oldest Catholic church from original 13 colonies; Carmelite Monastery - nation’s first convent; St. Ignatius Church - oldest active Jesuit parish in the country; St. Mary’s City - historic capital of Maryland from 1634- 1695. Baltimore, including the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, nation’s oldest cathedral and newly restored in 2006; St. Alphonsus Church, a magnificent German gothic-style church and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and/or Emmitsburg including the lovely National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native born American woman to be canonized and the National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes, our nation’s oldest Catholic shrine featuring a replica of the Grotto of Lourdes in southern France where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858, can also be included in this journey. This journey can be from one to four days depending on the itinerary selected.
