On the final day of Journey to the Face of Christ, the pilgrimage comes full circle in Rome—at the tomb of St. Paul, the place of his martyrdom, and the grotto where a modern-day encounter with the Virgin Mary leads one man from opposition to conversion.
At St. Paul Outside the Walls, the pilgrims encounter the Apostle who proclaims Christ to the nations.
At Tre Fontane, they stand where that proclamation ends in martyrdom.
At the Grotto of Our Lady of Revelation, they encounter the story of conversion—a reminder that the grace of Christ continues to seek out hearts that have wandered far from Him.
Together, these places offer a powerful conclusion to the pilgrimage: Christ is encountered in proclamation, sacrifice, and conversion.
The morning begins at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, one of Rome’s four major papal basilicas and one of Christianity’s most important pilgrimage destinations.
The basilica stands over the traditional burial place of St. Paul. According to the ancient Christian tradition preserved by the basilica, Paul is beheaded in Rome around the year 67 and is buried in the necropolis along the ancient Via Ostiensis. His tomb quickly becomes a place of Christian veneration. After the persecution of Christians ends under Constantine, a basilica is built over the apostle’s tomb.
Paul is not remembered simply because he writes important letters or travels throughout the Roman world. He is remembered because he gives his life to the proclamation of Jesus Christ.
His story begins with a dramatic reversal. Saul is initially a persecutor of Christians. Then, on the road to Damascus, he encounters the risen Christ. That encounter changes the direction of his entire life. The man who once attempts to destroy the Church becomes one of its greatest missionaries.
Inside the basilica, the pilgrims can descend beneath the high altar and pray near Paul’s sarcophagus, which becomes partially visible following archaeological work carried out beneath the altar beginning in 2006.
Paul lived nearly two thousand years ago, yet his testimony remains remarkably personal:
“Christ lives in me.”
His life demonstrates what it means to move from seeing Christ as an idea to allowing Christ to become the center of one’s existence. And that prepares the pilgrims for the next stop.
From the basilica, the pilgrimage continues toward the Abbey of Tre Fontane.
Here, tradition places the martyrdom of St. Paul at ad Aquas Salvias, the site now known as Tre Fontane.
The Church of the Martyrdom of St. Paul marks the place where the apostle is believed to have been beheaded. The abbey describes it as the most sacred place in the complex and a destination for pilgrims for approximately two thousand years.
The name “Tre Fontane,” or “Three Fountains,” comes from the ancient tradition that Paul’s head strikes the ground three times after his execution, and three springs emerge at those points.
The apostle who spends his life carrying the Gospel outward finally gives everything.
The three springs provide another layer of symbolism.
Water appears throughout Christian Scripture as an image of life, cleansing, rebirth, and grace. At Tre Fontane, the physical springs become intertwined with the memory of Paul’s martyrdom.
The image is especially appropriate because Paul himself understands Christian life as participation in Christ’s death and resurrection.
The pilgrimage has spent days moving through places associated with saints, martyrs, Eucharistic devotion, Marian faith, and the earliest Christian communities. Now, near the end, the pilgrims arrive at a place where death and life stand remarkably close together.
Paul’s earthly life ends. His witness does not.
The Church that grows from the apostles continues to proclaim the same Gospel.
And that brings the pilgrims to another remarkable witness just a short distance away.
The final encounter takes the pilgrims to the Grotto of Our Lady of Revelation. Paul comes to Tre Fontane as a persecutor of the Church and dies there as a witness to Christ. Nearly two thousand years later, another person arrives at Tre Fontane carrying hostility toward the Catholic faith. His name is Bruno Cornacchiola.
On April 12, 1947, Cornacchiola visited the area with his three young children. According to his account, while he is preparing material critical of Catholic teaching about the Virgin Mary, his children encounter what they describe as a beautiful woman at a grotto. Cornacchiola then experiences the apparition himself.
The reported encounter becomes the turning point of his life.
Cornacchiola, who is hostile toward the Catholic Church, subsequently returns to the Catholic faith and spends much of the remainder of his life sharing the Christian message. The story therefore echoes something essential in the life of St. Paul: the person who stands against Christ can become a person who bears witness to Christ.
The connection between Paul and Bruno is difficult to miss.
Paul begins as Saul, a man convinced that he is defending the faith by opposing the followers of Jesus.
Bruno arrives at Tre Fontane deeply opposed to Catholic teaching.
Both encounter something that they do not expect.
Both experience a radical change in direction.
And both become witnesses.
Their stories remind pilgrims that conversion is not merely an emotional moment. It is a reorientation of the whole person.
Paul’s encounter leads him onto the roads of the ancient world, where he preaches Christ and establishes Christian communities.
Bruno’s encounter leads him back into the life of the Church and into decades of evangelization.
The circumstances are profoundly different, but the underlying Christian message is remarkably consistent:
Grace calls. The human person responds. And a transformed life becomes a witness.
Come and walk this journey with us. Journey to the Face of Christ invites pilgrims to step beyond sightseeing and into an encounter with the living faith of the Church—through the saints who give their lives for Christ, the sacred places that preserve their witness, and the moments of grace that continue to call hearts home. With Inside the Vatican Pilgrimages, each destination becomes an opportunity to see the face of Christ more clearly and to return home changed by what has been encountered along the way. Join us in November 2026, and discover where this journey leads you.
Inside the Vatican Pilgrimages invites you to join us on an extraordinary adventure of spiritual renewal as we embark on a pilgrimage to Rome in November 2026. To learn more, visit our page Journey to the Face of Christ 2026
