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TULSA to ROME: The ambition plan to send twelve Holy Family upperclassmen to Rome, Italy
An Ambitious Plan for a classical curriculum
Holy Family Classical High School has twelve upperclassmen who would love to walk through the streets of the Eternal City and heart of the Catholic Church in Rome.
If this trial trip is successful, it will become a permanent part of the curriculum.
This pilgrimage to Rome is the culmination of the high school journey and curriculum It will deepen their faith by standing in the footsteps of martyrs in the Colosseum or walk with popes in Saint Peter’s Square or academics in the Vatican Museums or pilgrims on their way to dozens of holy sites.
High School Theology Teacher Mr. Joseph Bremer will lead the group. He says, “Rome is the heart of our civilization and the church. Our high school students spend years reading and learning about the beauty of the West and the Catholic Church; but reading and experiencing are two entirely different things. We want to give every high school student at Holy Family the opportunity to see the beauty of Christ and his church firsthand, for ‘Roma, non e basta una vita’ (one life is not long enough for Rome).”
Rome, Italy
Rome is the spiritual and historical heart of the Church. As the home of the Vatican and the burial place of Saints Peter and Paul, Rome holds deep significance as the center of Catholicism. Pilgrims can attend Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, visit the tombs of early martyrs, walk the ancient catacombs, and pray at the four major basilicas.
It’s a place where Scripture, tradition, and history come alive—where Catholics can connect more deeply with their faith, experience the universality of the Church, and be renewed in their spiritual journey.
The Pilgrimage
Led by Mr. Joseph Bremer and three other chaperones, the group will stay at the monastery on San Giovanni in Trastevere. Each day, they will depart for excursions to see ancient Rome, medieval Rome, the Renaissance and Baroque Rome with trips to Florence and Assisi.
● Return flight from Fiumicino to Tulsa
● Breakfast
● Lunch
● Dinner
● Lecture
● Arrival in Rome (Jetlag day)
● Lecture: Mr. Bremer, Overview of Rome
● Walking tours of Rome
● Lunch: La Monte Carlo Pizzeria
● Castel Sant’Angelo
● Vatican Square
● Dinner: Hostaria Dar Butterople
● Ancient Rome: The Forum, Mausoleum of Augustus, Pantheon, Colosseum
● Gentlemen suit excursion (Brandy) , ladies to Corso
● Pantheon tour
● Sant’eustachio Coffee (Best coffee in Rome)
● Lunch: Alice
● Walk to Forum Santa Maria Antiqua, Arch of Titus
● Lecture: Mr. Allee, Roman Religion, Martyrdom and Catholicism in Santa Maria Antiqua
● Colosseum and Arch of Constantine
● Dinner: Da Carlone (place that invented Carbonara? Comically immense
portions)
● Palm Sunday Procession through Rome
● Sunday Mass at Maria Maggiore
● Lecture: Mr. Allee, Early Christian liturgy
● Lunch:
● Bremer tour through Capitoline Museums
● Footrace around Circo Massimo
● Dinner
● Morning trip to Catacombs of St. Calixtus
○ Tour by Joseph Riordan
● Lecture: Mr. Bremer, Pagan vs Christian worldview, the role of Rome in Salvation history.
● Lunch
● Santa Sabina and the garden of oranges
● St. Paul outside the Walls
● Santa Maria in Trastevere
● Lecture
● Dinner
● Day trip to Ostia Antica
●
Papal Audience con Papa Leone XIV
●
Early Lunch: Cantina Tirolese? Something easy and close
● San Clemente (underground tour)
○ Tour with Mr. Bremer
● Quattro Coronati
○ Pay nuns to get into interior church with Medieval fresco
● San Stephano Rotundo
● St. Praxedes (if we have time, its out of the way)
● Santa Maria Sopra Minerva
○ Lecture: Sr. Belinda St. Catherine of Siena, St. Monica, and Female
Saints in Rome
● Caravaggio at San Augustino (transition to Renaissance)
● Dinner
● Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica (early!)
○ Dome of St. Peters
○ Tour of St. Peters with Mr. Bremer
■ Papal histories
● Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
● Late Lunch: Bonci Pizzarium
● Afternoon free time (options provided)
○ Gentlemen pick up suits from Jewish tailor before Shabbat!
● Dinner: Abruzzi (best of the best in Rome)
● Day trip to Castel Gandolfo?
● Lunch
● Good Friday service at St. John Lateran
● Scala Sancta
○ Lecture: Dr. Williams/ Mrs. Fugikawa Constantine in Rome and St.
Helena. Meeting of Rome and Jerusalem
● Afternoon free time with chaperones
○ Mr. Bremer leads group to Barberini Museum and Bone Church (Capuchin
Crypt)
● Dinner: Hostaria Isidoro (Built in part of Nero’s wine cellar)
● Back to St. Peters
● Piazza Navona Bernini Churches
● San Luigi
● Lunch
● Lecture: Mr. Bremer, Baroque art and its purpose. Rome in the Renaissance
● Santa Maria del Populo
● Borghese gardens and Galleria Borghese
● Dinner: Taverna La Copelle
● Easter Vigil at the Vatican (tentative)
● Easter Sunday Mass in the Vatican if Vigil not possible
● Lecture: Mr. Allee, Pascha vs. Easter. How Roman Easter came to be
● Chaperones make itinerary, any last sites to see.
● Dinner: Napoli Pizzaria (Near Ottaviano)
● Old Bridge Gelato evening in Piazza San Pietro
● Lunch
● Dinner
● Lecture
● Duomo
● Lunch
● Galleria Academia, Pazzi Chapel
● Dinner
● Lecture
● Uffizi Gallery
● Lunch
● Florence markets
● Dinner
● Lecture
● Breakfast
● Lunch
● Dinner
● Lecture
● San Francesco and St. Clare
● Lunch
● Temple of Minerva, Relaxing day
● Dinner
● Lecture
● Return flight from Fiumicino to Tulsa
● Breakfast
● Lunch
● Dinner
● Lecture
Why are we fundraising?
It is very important for us that every student, regardless of financial means, is able to participate in this pilgrimage. It is a part of the curriculum. As a result, we are keeping fees as low as we can so that, through the generous support of the parish, everyone can attend.
Spaghetti Dinner on September 6
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