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Director of the Jesuit Spirituality Center
Our Lady Oaks Retreat House, Grand Coteau
Fr. J. Patrick Hough, S.J., is originally from Lancashire, England, where he attended Stonyhurst College. An athlete and musician, he spent a year teaching math and geography, coaching tennis and working with the music program at St. Ignatius High School in Sydney, Australia. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Geography from Leeds University, followed by a second Bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, and a year studying theology at Pontifical Angelicum University, in Rome. He is now the Retreat Director of the Jesuit Spirituality Center in Grand Coteau, LA. Click here to learn more about the Jesuit Spirituality Center.
Today, our Catholic pilgrimage begins. As we depart our local cities for London, we hold in our hearts the intentions of this journey—to walk in the footsteps of England’s great Catholic figures.
Enjoy meals and refreshments served on the plane
*Airfare not included book airfare on your own or see airfare section below for prices out of your local airport. Hotel addresses will be provided 30 days before departure.
You will arrive into London Heathrow airport, collect your bags and meet the group at the hotel. Check-in will not be until 4pm so we will leave our bags and begin the day of touring at Lincoln’s Inn, where St. Thomas More, the steadfast Catholic lawyer and martyr, studied and later taught. We then commemorate the Catholic martyrs at Tyburn Convent, the very site where many laid down their lives for their faith. Here, we’ll celebrate Mass.
Welcome Dinner | Overnight in London, England
If you are booking your own airfare, please book flights that arrive no later than 11:00AM into [LHR] on 09/03/2025 if you would like to participate in today’s tours.
Following breakfast, we will make our way to Oxford, in route we will visit Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle is the world’s oldest and largest inhabited castle, and it’s been home to 40 monarchs since the 11th century. Later, in Oxford, we intertwine faith with academia, exploring the renowned University of Oxford, its Catholic roots, and the Botanic Garden’s rich heritage. Lastly, we will visit St. Aloysisus Gonzaga Church, a former Jesuit parish, for Mass.
Breakfast, and Dinner | Overnight in London, England
After breakfast this morning, we visit the location of St. Thomas More’s former home in Chelsea. While the structure is no more, his legacy endures, notably with the mulberry tree he planted at Allen Hall Seminary. Our day continues at Chelsea Old Church, which houses the side chapel St. Thomas More rebuilt in 1528. Next, we will visit and celebrate Mass at Farm St., a Catholic Church founded and run by the Jesuits. Our journey to the Tower of London echoes St. Thomas More’s own route to his imprisonment. Then onto All Hallows Church, considered to be the oldest church in London.
Breakfast, and Dinner | Overnight in London, England
We enjoy breakfast and begin our day at Westminster Cathedral, where we venerate the incorrupt remains of the martyr, Saint John Southworth. As we tour the Houses of Parliament, St. Thomas More’s emblematic coat of arms stands as a symbol of his integral role in England’s Catholic heritage. Next onto Westminster Abbey.
Breakfast, and Dinner | Overnight in London, England
Today we will start with a visit to the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament. The Shrine was built in 1874 as an act of reparation for sins against the Blessed Sacrament during the Reformation and since. Following our visit and Mass at the Shrine we will embark on a Catholic History Walk of London with Joanne Bogle. Today we will have an earlier dinner then head to the west end for Les Miserable showing. Overnight in London.
Breakfast, and Dinner | Overnight in London, England
After breakfast, we travel in the footsteps of Canterbury Tales’ pilgrims and head to Ramsgate. En route we’ll visit the Aylesford Priory, which was founded in 1242 when members of the Carmelite order arrived in England from Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. Here we will pray the Rosary as we wind our way through the wooded grounds towards the large shrine of the Scapular vision, we are following in the footsteps of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who have walked this trail in prayer, stopping at each of the Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary displayed along the walls. Upon arrival in Ramsgate, we will visit the Shrine of St. Augustine and celebrate Mass, marking where he began evangelizing the Anglo-Saxons.
Breakfast, and Dinner | Overnight in Canterbury, England
In Canterbury today we visit the Shrine of St. Thomas Becket and the Canterbury Cathedral, where we will celebrate Mass. We’ll visit St. Dunstan’s Church, where St. Thomas More’s head is buried in the Roper family vault. After lunch, Church of St Martin, the oldest church in England; the ruins of the Abbey of St Augustine, a reminder of the saint’s evangelizing role in the Heptarchy from 597.
Breakfast, and Dinner | Overnight in Canterbury, England
Today we will transfer back to London and take an early morning flight to Rome. We arrive in Rome (FCO) where our local new Canterbury Pilgrimages Tour manager and driver will meet you there and accompany you throughout this portion of the pilgrimage. Depending on our arrival time, we’ll start our journey at the Basilica of San Clemente, housing the tombs of St. Cyril, St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Clement.
Breakfast, and Dinner | Overnight in Rome, Italy
Today is dedicated to the Major Basilicas. We will start at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and visit the burial site of St. Paul. After we will visit the Tre Fontane Abbey, or the Abbey of Saints Vincent and Anastasius, held by monks of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, better known as Trappists. Next, we’re off to the Church of St. Mary Major where pilgrims can view what is said to be the wood relics of the Holy Crib of the Nativity of Jesus, here we will celebrate Mass. And finally, we visit the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the “Mother of all Churches in the World,” and the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. Here, we will have the opportunity to climb the Lateran Steps. Following lunch we will have the option to spend the afternoon at leisure or enjoy a walking tour of Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, and Piazza di Spanga and the Trevi fountain.
Breakfast, and Dinner | Overnight in Rome, Italy
After breakfast at the hotel, we will head to Vatican City, we will tour the Vatican Museum, exploring the Tapestry Gallery, Raphael Rooms, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica, where we view Michelangelo’s Pieta and the tomb of St. Pope John Paul II, and walk through the basilica, finishing at the Tomb of St. Peter. Today we will walk through the Holy Door of St. Peters, which symbolizes passing into the presence of God by way of our Lord Jesus, who called himself the “gate.” Those who pass through a Holy Door can also receive a plenary indulgence. We then have free time for lunch and the afternoon at leisure. Later in the day we will visit the Gesu Church and tour the Rooms of St. Ignatius along with the Church of St. Ignatius where we will celebrate Mass.
Breakfast, and Dinner | Overnight in Rome, Italy
With a renewed sense of pilgrimage and an invigorated love for our Catholic faith, we bid farewell to our fellow pilgrims and catch our return flights home.
Meals and drinks served on your flights