A Day Above Rome: Discovering Castel Gandolfo
There is a moment—about forty minutes outside of Rome—when the noise of the city finally falls away. The road begins to climb, the air cools, and suddenly Lake Albano appears below, a perfect oval of blue cradled inside an ancient volcanic crater. Perched above it, like a secret kept for centuries, is Castel Gandolfo. For […]
Converted by Mercy: On Pilgrimage with St. Angela of Foligno
One of the most quietly powerful moments of our March 2026 pilgrimage with Inside the Vatican Pilgrimages will take place just beyond Assisi, in the Umbrian town of Foligno. There, we will enter the Sanctuary of St. Angela of Foligno, built around the home where she lived, suffered, prayed, and was transformed. It is not a grand basilica […]
Standing Where Silence Speaks: Assisi and the Bones of St. Francis
There are places where time feels thin. Assisi is one of them. You feel it as the road curls upward through olive groves and stone walls, as the pink-hued buildings rise from Mount Subasio like a prayer carved into the hillside. Bells echo. Swallows circle. The modern world, so loud a moment ago, suddenly knows […]
Following St. Joseph Through the Streets of Rome
A Feast Day of Faith, Family, and Quiet Strength On March 19, St. Joseph’s feast day spills out of churches and into kitchens, piazzas, and narrow streets worn smooth by centuries of prayerful footsteps. It is a day when faith is lived publicly—joyfully—through food, procession, and remembrance of the saint who protected the Holy Family […]