At Guiding Star we recognise the personal importance of a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. We realise it is not a regular sightseeing tour, so for every group of Pilgrims we strive to provide the right elements needed to make a Holy Land Pilgrimage a powerful experience. We apply the Holy Land Pilgrimage Guidelines issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

For Catholic groups we draw on the great Pilgrimage traditions that evolved over centuries. We know that Pilgrimage is an act of faith and plan each trip around that principle. We provide a variety of itineraries designed to make your trip a Pilgrimage rather than a tour. See our example of a Catholic Pilgrimage itinerary where each day is designed around a theme. Another example is the Easter Pilgrimage during Holy Week when several major events of the local Catholic Church take place.

Below are some examples of the features we offer:

We are able to provide a Catholic guide in the Holy Land for pilgrim groups.  Catholic guides can share their faith, reverence for the Holy places and experience in a way that makes a Pilgrimage a spiritual experience that cannot be matched. To them the Churches and Holy places are not museums or tourist sites; they are living Churches where they grew up practising their faith with their families and communities. They know that the modern day pilgrims are not tourists, but the latest in a long line of visitors with a spiritual purpose who are continuing a tradition that is hundreds of years old. We can also ask one of the Franciscan Friars in the Holy Land to guide a group of pilgrims. For example Fr. Angelo Ison, OFM, often acts as a guide for visiting pilgrim groups.

The priest leading the Pilgrimage will have the opportunity to give a Mass on every day in the Holy Land. These moments will be unforgettable.
 
The Way of The Cross is the procession along the Via Dolorosa or Way of Sorrows that takes place on Fridays at 3 pm. and on Good Friday at 11 am. It is a devotional re-enactment of Christ’s Passion, beginning at the Antonia Fortress and ending at Calvary and the Sepulchre. There are pauses for prayer at each of the 14 stations marked along the Via Dolorosa and in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre itself.

In Jerusalem every group should have the opportunity to attend mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  For those pilgrims whose itinerary allows we will arrange for them to leave their hotel early to attend High Mass by the Sepulchre at 6.30 am.
 
Pilgrims may also attend Gethsemane Holy Hour.  Here the group joins in worship with Catholic pilgrims from other countries in the Church of All Nations in Gethsemane, commemorating Christ’s Agony in the Garden before his betrayal.
 
For qualified groups we can arrange the ancient ceremony of Solemn Entry to the Holy Sepulchre. The pilgrims gather near the entrance to the Tomb; the bells ring; the organ plays, and the Friars sing in Latin: first to welcome the pilgrims’ safe arrival, then to celebrate their entry into the Tomb. After the Te De um they enter one the Tomb to pray.

We can also arrange for Catholic groups a visit to His Beatitude the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. Finally, each group member is presented with a gift of a colourful Catholic pilgrimage certificate issued by the Franciscan Pilgrimage Office in Jerusalem