Mercedes College students and staff recently experienced the journey of a lifetime during a visit to some of the world’s most significant religious and historical sites.
The 16 day Christendom Tour began in Malta where the group attended a Pontifical Mass at St John’s Co-Cathedral, where they were in awe of the exquisite artwork and highly decorated interior.
The group also visited St Paul’s Shipwreck Church which contains relics of St. Paul and venerates his mission on the island, some 2000 years ago.
On the nearby island of Gozo, the group visited the oldest man-made structures in the world – the Gganjita Temples and the Ta Pinu Church, a site of great significance for locals, and in more recent years, visited by Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI, which contains an old chapel well known as the site of miracles associated with the Virgin Mary.
The tour was also very fortunate to have a private audience with the Archbishop of Malta, Paul Cremona, where he spoke about his life and his work as the Archbishop of Malta.
The Malta itinerary also included a visit to Mosta Dome, a church dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and the miracle which occurred there in 1942 – when a bomb hit the church during mass but did not explode.
The tour also explored the medieval city of Mdina, built by the Knights of St John in the 17th Century and the neighbouring city of Rabat, where the group visited the catacombs and the Grotto of St Paul, the cave where St Paul is said to have lived in for three months while shipwrecked on the island.
After a flight to Rome the group spent two days visiting the wonders of Vatican City and Ancient Rome, including the Colosseum and the Catacombs of St Callixtus.
A short tour of Venice to St Mark’s Basilica took place before a seven night cruise of the Eastern Mediterranean which included day excursions to Bari, the resting place of the remains of St. Nicolas; Olympia, the birth place of the Olympic Games; Ephesus, the site of Mary’s House and the ancient city visited by St Paul; Istanbul, the home of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar, and Dubrovnik, the picturesque city which has a unique dedication to St Blaise.
Tour organiser Ben Bull said the Christendom Tour provided a great opportunity for students to gain unique learning experiences and insights into the development, impact and expressions of their Church.