Holy Land (Footsteps of Jesus)

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Why come to the Holy Land with Mater Dei?

Mater Dei Tours is an apostolate with a Mission to bring pilgrims closer Christ through memorable, prayerful and deeply spiritual experiences to faith inspiring sites around the world.  As a result we do things differently:

SERVICE

• No big pilgrimages! We limit pilgrim participation to 1 bus load (exceptionally, we may take 2 buses, but each bus will have its own staff).  Everyone gets to meet everyone.  We create a great environment for spiritual, doctrinal and devotional programs.  Staff to pilgrim ratio is superior.  This is very hard to accomplish with the 3, 4 and 5 bus pilgrimages you may hear about, where people tend become a lost number in the crowd. 
• We provide a program following in the footsteps of Jesus, that is trouble free so that you can focus on the pilgrimage…not the logistics

• Most dedicated staff:
  • We provide a knowledgeable US Tour Director to deal with unforeseen issues.  This escort accompanies the group from the US and back to the US.
  • We provide the most sought after Roman Catholic local Guide in Israel for a sound high quality experience.  You will love our staff!

•  We always use Quality Hotels and Great Restaurants with excellent service:
  •  We don’t downgrade hotels to make it less costly.
  • At our hotels, no check-in is required; we do that for you.  We arrive and we hand you your room key and off you go!  
  • Your checked luggage handling is taken care of at our hotels.  It will be brought to the room by the bellmen (their tip is included).
  • You won't go hungry in our Holy Land pilgrimages. We select clean restaurants with quality food standards and ample choice of menu.  We respect your dietary restrictions and allergies and strive to accomplish what is necessary to attend to your dietary needs (tips for the waiters and busboys are included).

• Our pilgrims tell us we have the most comprehensive and thorough preparation documents. No unnecessary promotions, offers or ads from secondary companies! No sales or travel store brochures with unnecessary or unrelated items!  No catalog for add-on tours! We simply give you the information you need to become a well prepared pilgrim traveller.  We treat you as if our own family was traveling.
• Our Airlines and flights are selected to match our program, with attention to quality and convenience.
• Answering your questions with real experience:  When you call our office for assistance and/or have questions it is our Tour Directors who answer you calls! Nothing like 1st hand experience to give you the most updated answers and clear any doubt you may have.

PROGRAM 

• Chaplains: We always have a solid Catholic priest in union with the Magisterium.
• Daily Mass, Daily Prayer, specially prepared Meditations and the Sacrament of Reconciliation on all our pilgrimages.
• Angelus, Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet daily, and other devotions as often as is possible.
• Integration of the history, the culture, and lots of fun along with our spiritual exercises.
• Lunch with local Christian Families and a visit to a Catholic School.  You will learn about the difficulties of being a Christian in the Holy Land.  You will always remember your Christian brothers and sisters in your prayers.
• We visit 19 of the 20 Mysteries of the Rosary! As we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, our visit is complements with Old and New Testament sites.
• Prayerful and Reverent Stations of the Cross (Via Dolorosa). 
• Spectacular Mass locations:  Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, usually inside the Holy Sepulchre itself (the empty tomb of Jesus) or at Calvary.  So many more unforgettable sites like Mass around the Rock of Agony, that will make your pilgrimage so memorable an powerful (all these Masses are attained by the gracious confirmation of the Franciscans in the Holy Land with whom we are grateful to for their dedicated service to God.  We maintain close relationships with the Franciscans and apply with ample time to schedule these special Masses - all Masses are pending their approval).
• Free evenings (some evenings we gather for prayer, meditation, talks or get togethers).
• Unique spiritual mementos and gifts.
• Special Surprises. 

PRICE

• Don’t be fooled by the idea that because we have a lower price than other famous publicized pilgrimages, we must therefore be a lower quality outfit.  This is false.  We work on low margins bringing you the best price/value in the industry, without sacrificing quality.  For us, this is foremost, an apostolic mission.  We want you to afford the pilgrimage!
• There are no hidden fees or add-ons for the offered package.
• We don’t increase your price by automatically including personal choice items like:
  • Offertories for the churches where we have Mass (your freedom).
  • Tips for the guide and bus driver (you decide if they are worth more or less than what we recommend).
  • Beverages that you may not be interested in purchasing (wine is included with welcome and farewell dinners and filtered water is included with every group meal).

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