A PILGRIMAGE TO WORLD YOUTH DAY 2016 KRAKOW, POLAND DESIGNED AND OPERATED BY CLUB EUROPA FOR ST MICHAEL, ST ALBERT, ST RAPHAEL S ST MICHAEL, MINNESOTA

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1 A PILGRIMAGE TO WORLD YOUTH DAY 2016, POLAND DESIGNED AND OPERATED BY CLUB EUROPA FOR ST MICHAEL, ST ALBERT, ST RAPHAEL S ST MICHAEL, MINNESOTA Warsaw s most attractive area, the Old Town, was established in the 13th century. It impresses with its quaint, cobbled streets and unique old architecture. The heart of the area is the Market Square with its unique traditional Polish restaurants, cafes and shops. When the weather is warm the square becomes filled with cafe tables, various traders and street artists. Surrounding streets feature old architecture such as City Walls, the Barbican and St. John's Cathedral. The Old Town is ideal for walks and picnics as it is mostly closed to traffic and provides spectacular scenery and an unforgettable atmosphere. Day 1 Transatlantic flight from the U.S. to Warsaw / Poland Jul 23 xx:xx pm: flight XXXXX departs Minneapolis / MN MSP Sat xx:xx pm: arrival at Xxxxxxxxxxxx Airport XXX xx:xx pm: flight XXXXX departs Xxxxxx (inflight meals) Day 2 Arrival: WARSAW (Poland) Jul 24 xx:xx am: arrival at Xxxxxxxxxxx Airport XXX Sun xx:xx am: flight XXXXXX departs Xxxxxxxxxxxxx xx:xx pm: arrival at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport WAW Airport meet and greet by Club Europa escort (Time will be allowed to exchange money) Private motorcoach for transfer to the city Panoramic sightseeing tour of Warsaw with local, licensed guide The major sights are the Royal Castle, Lazienki Park, Wilanow Palace, Pawiak Prison, St John s Cathedral, and of course the Jewish Ghetto Check-in and time to relax and unwind Welcome dinner at hotel or local restaurant is included Overnight / WARSAW

2 Many people still have an image of Warsaw as a dull concrete jungle, a wasteland of Soviet-era housing with little appeal. The city does undoubtedly have its fair share of problems and whole swathes of its suburbs are indeed dominated by the less-than-imaginative creations of communist-era architects. But there is far more to one of Europe s most underrated cities, with a string of things to see, an impressive cultural scene and an increasingly lively nightlife. Warsaw is a real survivor the city s current day existence is impressive in itself. By the end of World War II, roughly 85% of the city lay in ruins and most of the population had been killed, deported or sent to concentration camps. More than a third of Warsaw s pre-war population was Jewish, although there are hardly any traces of this heritage remaining, as the city s prosperous Jewish community was decimated by the end of the war. Much of Warsaw s historic centre was painstakingly recreated in the years after World War II, in a move by the communist authorities, which surprised the citizens as much as it did the West. Some critics have dismissed the new Old Town as being nothing but an unconvincing fake, although the loss of the original was hardly Warsaw s fault and many of Europe s old towns have undergone similar refurbishment and rebuilding. Somewhat ironically, many of today s Old Town buildings are closer to the original architecture than they were before destruction, as the alterations of the intervening centuries were not incorporated in the reconstruction. The strikingly successful rebuilding of the Old Town was finally rewarded in 1980, when the entire complex earned its place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The tourist epicentre of Warsaw is the Royal Route, which runs north south from the New and Old Towns, past the fashionable shops of Nowy Swiat, the palaces that survived the war and the gardens of Lazienki Park, before reaching Wilanow Palace to the south of the centre. The city also boasts many green spaces, with leafy parks where rowing boats cruise past outdoor cafés, and free classical concerts attract large crowds. The nightlife scene today is equally surprising, with the increasingly well-dressed youth flocking to the countless bars and clubs of a city that now buzzes after dark. Day 3 Jul 25 Mon WARSAW > and early departure Long distance coach for transfer from Warsaw to Krakow (190 miles / 5 hrs) After 140 miles: visit of the 14th century Jasna Gora Monastery, holding Poland s holiest shrine: the Black Madonna of Czestochowa The Treasury Chamber holds a unique collection of scripts and valuables MASS WILL BE ARRANGED AT THE BASILICA Free time for lunch (on own) in Czestochowa Continuation past Katowice to Krakow (80 miles) Dinner at hotel or local restaurant is included MASS WILL BE ARRANGED AT Free time for lunch (on own) in Czestochowa Continuation past Katowice to Krakow (80 miles) Dinner at hotel or local restaurant is included The Black Madonna is a painting of the Madonna and Christ Child which - legend states - was painted by St. Luke. The evangelist is believed to have used a tabletop from a table built by the carpenter Jesus.

3 Day 4 Jul 26 Tue Day 5 Jul 27 Wed The day is dedicated to REGISTRATION and other World Youth Day activities Lunch is on own Dinner is on own or comes with your WYD package After breakfast: walking tour through the old part of Krakow with local, licensed guide The historic centre of Krakow is situated at the foot of the Wawel Castle (entrance fee included), the former residence of the Polish kings. It was built in Reinassance style during the reign of Sigismundus I and his Italian wife Bona Sforza. After the fire that consumed the majority of the castle, Wawel was rebuilt in Baroque style. Worth seeing on the Wawel Hill are: the Gothic Cathedral where Polish kings are buried, Royal Chambers, Sigismundus Bell, treasures and armaments. The Market Square, the largest one in the medieval Europe, is framed by tenement houses, palaces and churches with their magnificent interiors. The Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) houses plenty of shopping stalls and cafes. On the first floor there is the Gallery of Polish nineteenth-century art with its rich collection of paintings and sculptures. Next to the Cloth Hall is the Town Hall Tower (Wieza Ratuszowa) - the only surviving part of the medieval Town Hall which was destroyed in the early 19th century. St. Mary s Church with its two beautiful towers is the most imposing building of the Market Square. It is famous for the magnificent late Gothic wooden altar. The church functioned for a long time as a municipal watch-tower. For centuries a bugle-call (Hejnal) has been played every hour from its windows into the four quarters of the globe; its melody stops abruptly in memory of the death of a watchman hit by a Tartar arrow. (Time schedule for the day may need to be adjusted once details for Opening Mass etc become available Dinner is on own or comes with your WYD package The Sukiennice (Cloth Hall), in Krakow s main Market Square, Europe s largest medieval market place

4 Krakow, long heralded as The New Prague, is now well established as a major tourist destination. At the height of summer, the city throngs with visitors, all manner of tourist tack and countless cafés that seem to occupy every cobble of the main square. Out of season, late at night or even in the first slivers of morning light, it is clear why so many people flock to visit. This magical city, located on the banks of the Wisla (Vistula) River, has one of the best-preserved medieval city centres in Europe. Dozens of churches cover almost every architectural period and are surrounded by monasteries and abbeys walking through the Old Town streets is like drifting back through the musty pages of a historical novel. Day 6 Jul 28 Thu Day 7 Jul 29 Fri The day is dedicated to World Youth Day activities Lunch is on own Dinner is on own or comes with your WYD package The day is dedicated to World Youth Day activities Lunch is on own Dinner is on own or comes with your WYD package Krakow: St. Mary's Church (The Hejnal is sounded every hour from the balconies on the upper tower.) Day 8 Jul 30 Sat The day is dedicated to World Youth Day activities Lunch is on own Dinner is on own or comes with your WYD package

5 Day 9 Jul 31 Sun Day 10 Aug 01 Mon This is the day of FINAL MASS with the Holy Father Lunch is on own Dinner at hotel or local restaurant is included and AREA Private motorcoach and Club Europa escort for short drive to WADOWICE (35 miles) Until a few years ago, Wadowice was one of numerous sleepy small towns in southern Poland. Nowadays, however, it is distinguished as the birthplace of the late Pope John Paul II. The house where he was born has been turned into a small museum. The Baroque parish church on the town square was constructed in the late 18th century, although the remodeled presbyterium dates back as far as the 15th century. Inside the church, visitors are shown the font where young Karol Wojtyla, was baptized. MASS WILL BE ARRANGED AT WADOWICE Free time for lunch (on own) It is only a half-hour drive from Wadowice to OSWIECIN (Auschwitz) Visit of the Concentration Camp Memorial Although concentration camps were invented and first used by the British in the Boer War when 76,000 women and children were incarcerated in South Africa, Auschwitz has become a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust. It was established by the Nazis in 1940, in the suburbs of the city of Oswiecim which, like other parts of Poland, was occupied by the Germans during the Second World War. The name of Oswiecim was changed to Auschwitz. Over the following years, the camp was expanded into two main parts and over 40 sub-camps. At first, Poles were imprisoned, later on Soviet prisoners of war, Gypsies, and prisoners of other nationalities were also incarcerated there. Beginning in 1942, the camp became the site of the greatest mass murder in the history of humanity, which was committed against the European Jews as part of Hitler's plan for the complete destruction of that people. The majority of the Jewish men, women and children deported to Auschwitz were sent to their deaths in the Birkenau gas chambers immediately after arrival. At the end of the war, in an effort to remove the traces of the crimes they had committed, the SS began dismantling the gas chambers, crematoria, and other buildings, as well as burning documents. A July 2, 1947 act of the Polish parliament established the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum on the grounds of the camp. Return to Krakow late afternoon Dinner at hotel or local restaurant is included Wadowice Parish Church

6 Day 11 Aug 02 Tue and AREA After breakfast: visit of the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Krakow By esthetic standards the 20th-century icon of the Lord s Grace hardly matches other Krakow s twentyodd wonder-making sacred images that are usually much older and mostly valuable as objects of art. Yet devotion of thousands of believers has made the painting sacrosanct. It depicts Christ as He appeared before a visionary Polish nun, St. Faustyna Kowalska, one February evening in The Lord instructed her to commission this very likeness of Himself, complete with the caption which reads in Polish: Jesus, I trust Thee. What is more, in the series of appearances over the ensuing years He also revealed to St. Faustyna His dogma of Divine Mercy. At first the pious sister found little understanding among her contemporaries who thought the days of miracles were long past. The Church gave rather lukewarm support to St. Faustyna and the revelations she had heard. Nonetheless, with time the knowledge of them and the cult of the picture have spread far. Nowadays the icon adorns many a Catholic chapel throughout the world. And pilgrims, both Polish and foreign, come daily in their thousands to pray before the original picture at the Krakow convent in the Lagiewniki area where 33-year-old Sister Faustyna died in 1938 and where she is buried. Some of the resultant faith cures are well documented. MASS WILL BE ARRANGED AT THE SANCTUARY Free time for lunch (on own) Dinner at hotel or local restaurant is included The Wieliczka Salt Mine has been worked as a source of rock salt since the late 13th century. The mine consists of over 300 km of underground passages, connecting more than 2000 excavation chambers on 9 underground levels extending down to 327 meters below the surface. Over the centuries, miners have established a tradition of carving sculptures out of the native rock salt. As a result, the mine contains entire underground churches, altars, bas-reliefs, and dozens of life-size or larger statues. It also houses an underground museum and has a number of special purpose chambers such as a sanatorium for people suffering from respiratory ailments. The largest of the chapels, the Chapel of the Blessed Kinga, is located 101 meters below the surface, it is over 50 meters long, 15 meters wide, 12 meters high, with a volume of 10,000 cubic meters. As a testament to its historical and artistic importance, the mine has been placed on UNESCO's World Heritage List of sites designated as having ``outstanding universal value to mankind.'' It receives up to a million visitors yearly, most of them during the warmer summer months. The Chapel of St Kinga, in the Wielicka Salt Mine

7 Day 12 Aug 03 Wed Day 13 Aug 04 Thu > WARSAW Breakfast and check-out of Hotel Wilga After breakfast: private motorcoach for short drive to the Wielicka Salt Mine (admission and guide included) (bring a jacket and solid shoes, the Saltmine is kept at a steady 58º F) Drive from Wielicka to Warsaw (190 miles / 5 hrs) Lunch en route is on own Stop in the town of NIEPOKALANOW, an hour west of Warsaw The Shrine of Our Mary Immaculate and St. Maximilian Kolbe is located about 40km west of Warsaw. It is one of the newest in Poland but also one of the most popular. This is mainly because of the cult following of St. Maximilian, who was canonized in Niepokalanow, the city of Our Mary Immaculate, was founded in 1927 by St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe. The land was donated by Duke Drucki-Lubecki. Father Maximilian moved to this location the seat of the Knights of the Immaculate a lay association involved in the apostolate under the banner of Mary. Construction of the sanctuary began in 1939 but was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. Niepokalanow became an important focus for pilgrimages thanks to an event that occurred during the war: Maximilian Kolbe was arrested by the Nazis and died in Auschwitz, giving his life for the life of another prisoner. His sacrifice caused the cult of St. Maximilian to become widespread after the war. Today pilgrimages about half a million people per year - not only come to the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary but also to see the monastic cell of St. Maximilian. Farewell dinner at hotel or local restaurant is included Overnight / WARSAW RETURN TO THE U.S. (in case of early departure this may not be a full breakfast) Private motorcoach for transfer from hotel to Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport Club Europa assistant for transfer and check-in Return flight to the United States xx:xx pm: flight xxxxxx departs Warsaw WAW xx:xx pm: arrival at xxxxxxxxxxx Airport XXX xx:xx pm: flight xxxxxx departs xxxxxxxxxxx (inflight meals) xx:xx pm: arrival at Minneapolis / St Paul Airport MSP There are no visa requirements for U.S. citizens visiting Poland. However, you need a valid passport!

8 INCLUDED ARE : ELEVEN overnights at (superior) tourist class hotels in safe and convenient location twin, double or triple occupancy, all rooms with private facilities Six dinners All breakfasts Services of multilingual CLUB EUROPA escort from arrival in Warsaw through arrival at Krakow hotel and for return transfer to Warsaw Deluxe motorcoach transportation from arrival in Europe through arrival at Krakow hotel, and for airport transfer on departure day Sightseeing with local, licensed, English speaking guides as noted in the itinerary Entrance fees as noted in the itinerary Both airport transfers All applicable local taxes Gratuities to local guides and coach drivers ONE / TWO / THREE (or more) person/s FREE of charge Andy Benz of Club Europa is available for a preparatory meeting in St Michael NOT INCLUDED ARE : The Holy Father at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, August 2013 Drinks with dinners (please note that table water is not always free of charge in Europe) Luggage handling at hotels (not included for cost savings) Expenses of personal nature such as passport, laundry, souvenirs, insurance, etc... Airport transfers in the United States Gratuities to escort : (US$ 4.00 per person per day for the escort is standard) NOTE: The Polish currency is the ZLOTY and it is very unlikely, although Poland is part of the European Union, that the Zloty will be replaced by the Euro prior to 2016.

9 WORLD YOUTH DAY Krakow Poland 2016 With St. Raphael, St Michael, & St Albert and Fr. Michael Izen July 23-August 4, 2016 (This date could change depending on the flights) Pilgrim Name: Address: City State Zip: Home Phone: Cell Phone: Gender: Male Female Date of Birth / / Parents Name: Address Teen: Address Parent: I want to reserve my spot for WYD 2016 ($ deposit required) I have read and understand the information below: 1. The estimated cost for WYD Poland 2016 is $ per person. The final cost of the trip will not be made known until 300 days before the departure date (this is when the plane tickets are purchased). Please be aware that this estimated price could increase depending on the cost of airfare. 2. Most expenses are covered but pilgrims will be responsible for: Gratuity estimated to be $44.00 US, some meals depending on what WYD food is provided, and any extra purchase or shopping. 3. A payment schedule will be established and payments of approximately $ each time will be made in 3 increments on dates to be determined (2 payments in 2015 and a final payment in the spring of 2016). 4. No refunds will be given and spots cannot be exchanged or sold. Once you have registered for WYD 2016 you are committed. Please make your decision wisely 5. You need a valid US Passport to go on this pilgrimage 6. You must be 16 years of age by July 23, 2016 to come as a pilgrim 7. Space is limited. We have 50 spots available between the 3 parishes so don t hesitate to register if you want to come. 8. Depending on the date 2016 parish festival it is possible that you will miss the parish festival.

10 WYD 2016 Pilgrimage: What to expect 1. Suffering! That s right suffering. WYD is an amazing once in life time experience that includes huge crowds of non-english speaking people, long lines for food and bathroom needs, and lots and lots of walking. Although we are staying in hotels there will be one night of sleeping outside on the ground with millions of other people waiting for the final Papal Mass. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS IS A PILGRIMAGE AND NOT A VACATION!!! 2. Intense beauty. Poland is a beautiful place with beautiful churches. You will be inspired and elevated by what you see and experience. 3. Catholic spirituality. Poland is one of the most Catholic countries in the world. Your faith will be enriched by going to the homeland of St. John Paul II, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Faustina Kolwaska and the Divine Mercy Devotion, and the Icon of the Black Madonna. Your faith will certainly be enriched. 4. Immersion in Polish Culture as well as encountering Catholics from all over the world. 5. POPE FRANCIS! Yes we, along with millions of other Catholic young people, will be hanging with Holy Father!