THE INTERNATIONAL

 SUMMIT 

FOR CATHOLIC MUSICIANS

An immersive pilgrimage and equipping experience for Catholic music-makers from around the world. 

May 30 -
JUNE 9, 2025

IN ITALY

This May 30 - June 9, 2025, join The Vigil Project and a global community of Catholic musicians seeking to live out a missionary call through their musical gifting.  We will embark on a powerful ten-day Italian pilgrimage through Assisi, Modena, and Rome that invites us into deep spiritual renewal.  We will also receive intellectual and musical formation that equips us for our missionary role through music in our home communities. 

The Summit will take place in three movements:

Assisi, Italy

Modena, Italy

Rome, Italy

(May 30-June 2): St. Francis, a doctor of the church, was famous not for his extraordinary wealth or worldly success, but for his renunciation of the riches of the world and unshakeable commitment to rebuilding the Church as an evangelist and sign of Christ in his time.  We will explore Assisi and come to know more about the life of Francis while contemplating how God is calling us as musicians to be counter-cultural and wholehearted in our response to Him. We will explore the current state of music ministry in the Catholic Church and seek to answer the question, “Is there another way God is inviting us to approach it?”


> Arrive in Rome, private bus transportation to Assisi 

> Lodging and retreat at Casa Frate Jacopa Assisi 

> Visit pilgrimage sites throughout Assisi including San Damiano, Santa Maria degli Angeli (the first church built after Francis received God’s message to rebuild the Chuch), the tomb of St. Clare, and more

(June 3 - 6): Situated north of the Tuscany region, Modena is home to many recognizable Italian cultural exports (Ferrari, Balsamic Vinegar, and Pavarotti to name a few). We will take what’s been revealed to us in Assisi and get to work intellectually and technically through daily equipping sessions that cover topics such as missionary spirituality, the New Evangelization, music in the liturgy, music in the devotional life of the Church, songwriting, instrument and voice lessons, and leadership skills. This time will include dedicated individual time for each participant to dig into the practical aspects of what’s needed to execute their mission back home. It will conclude with an opportunity to serve Modena through music. 

> Private bus transportation from Assisi to Modena, with a stop at the seaside town of Rimini 

> Lodging with local host families from the San Giovanni Bosco Parish  

> Daily equipping sessions, community meals, and opportunities for prayer

> Visit Modena Centro and the Duomo di San Gemini, and experience italian hospitality at its finest

(June 7 - 9): We conclude the Summit by asking for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Pentecost in Rome. We will pass through the heart of the Church as we make our way back to our mission fields in the far reaches of the Body of Christ to which we’ve each been called. The culmination of the Summit will be a private nighttime Mass and vigil at the tomb of St. Cecilia, patroness of musicians, to ask for her intercession. 

> Private bus transportation from Modena to Rome

> Lodging at Casa Suore Sacro Cuore 

> Nighttime Mass and prayer vigil at the tomb of St Cecilia on the Vigil of Pentecost

> Visit pilgrimage sites in the Vatican and Rome and attend Pentecost Mass at a major basilica 

Experience 10 days of pilgrimage, formation, workshops, networking, liturgies, concerts, prayer opportunities, and cultural offerings.

Who is the

Summit

for? 


The Summit is open to only 60 Catholic musicians who are spiritually called and practically gifted for music ministry. Participants should possess a desire to live their musical calling for a purpose that is bigger than themselves: the mission of the Gospel. The summit will be hosted primarily in English, with some translation provided in Italian and German. This is for you if you are:

  • Desiring something for your music deeper than career ambitions, broader than parish walls, wider than audience, and higher than the paths offered by the music industry

  • Actively engaged in ministry

  • Just beginning to perceive a call to serve God through their musical gifting

  • Currently play on big stages

  • Play in the hidden places of home, parishes, and communities

  • Looking for a place to be spiritually renewed and practically equipped for the mission of Catholic music-making 

  • Age eighteen and over (there is no too young or too old in that range)

  • Of any musical background from cantor and organist to devotional and secular musician (you will be exposed to a wide range of musical and cultural offerings during the Summit)

What are the

Goals

of the Summit? 


The Summit will illuminate the current state of Catholic music ministry in the Western world and discover the way God has called us in this time to respond.

  • Reorient those who are spiritually called and practically gifted as Catholic musicians to the posture of mission in their field of ministry 

  • Equip participants spiritually, intellectually, and technically to execute their mission, including a crash course on the skills and interior life necessary to serve in various capacities as a Catholic musician

  • Build a unified network of Catholic musicians on a mission to pour out their gifts and talents for the sake of the Gospel over all else and to provide a means of support for their ongoing response to the call they’ve been given

  • Experience the life of the church, expressed through the charism of music, on a pilgrimage experience of Italy with a global cohort of fellow music makers

  • Rest and be renewed in an experience of prayerful beauty so as to be sent back out to the mission field with revitalized vision, fervor, and skills for evangelization

Who is

Leading

the Summit? 


The Vigil Project will provide the programming of the whole summit. Our partners in the Archdiocese of Modena will provide hospitality and facilities throughout the experience. We will soon announce the Summit partners and featured presenters.

SUMMIT PACKAGE

Let us paint a picture of this experience: It’s Italy, so it’s going to be delicious! In Assisi and Rome, participants can expect to stay in hotel-style accommodations with plenty of time to explore and pray in these holy places.  In Modena, our friends are never outdone in hospitality, and participants can expect to stay with local host families (parishioners of San Giovanni di Bosco, where the summit will be held). We will eat and drink all the best that Italy has to offer, from fresh tortelloni and Modenese pizza to aceto-drizzled Parmigiano Reggiano with a deep glass of local Lambrusco.  Don’t forget the gelato! While we will pray deeply and work hard, our goal is for this experience to be one of true human balance that includes opportunities for prayer and fellowship, intellectual development, food and exercise, experiences of beauty and outlets of creativity. You will experience:

10 days of pilgrimage, formation, workshops, networking, liturgies, prayer experiences, concerts, and cultural experiences

An immersive crash-course experience on missionary spirituality, liturgy, devotion, prayer, musicianship, and leadership

Accommodations and opportunities to explore the core Italian destinations of Assisi, Modena & Rome

Full meals each day, inclusive of Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks

Rare opportunities to explore the life of St. Francis of Assisi, see the festivities of Rome on the Solemnity of Pentecost in this Jubilee year, experience a private evening Mass at the tomb of St. Cecilia, and much more

Ground transportation, experienced guides, and time to explore the cities (Get there, and we’ll handle the rest!)

 

The Summit provides daily sessions and workshops that target growth in three key areas:


MISSIONARY SPIRITUALITY

Daily workshops and main sessions provide opportunities for musicians to grow their interior life and relationship with the Lord, and understand their God-given call to a missionary way of creativity.


LITURGY & DEVOTION

Daily breakouts focus on practical training on the two lungs of the Christian life: liturgy and devotion. Understand what the church says about music in her many liturgical documents and how to execute this vision for music in a parish setting, from selecting music to learning chant and basic polyphony. Unpack the church’s wide lense for devotion and how you can serve holy hours, release music, be an effective prayer leader, and more.


MUSICIANSHIP

Practically grow your musical gifting through coaching and workshops. Intensive sessions on vocal training, ensemble leading, composition, songwriting and music theory level up your skill as a musician and identifies areas for continued growth in the years to come.


 

COST & REGISTRATION

Each participant (US) is responsible for a registration fee of $2,500 (USD) plus their international flights.  All costs related to ground transportation, room and board, summit supplies and materials, pilgrimage experiences, courses and workshops, liturgies, and concerts, etc are covered under the registration fee.  Participants should expect to pay for their elective purchases (i.e. that extra gelato cone or cappuccino, personal supplies, souvenirs, drinks at the cafe, etc).  

If $2,500 is immediately out of reach financially, fret not. We have prepared a host of materials to leverage your network to help fundraise your registration fee and travel expenses. A musician with a modest network of friends and family can often successfully raise this amount, simply by expressing your personal desire to grow and serve the Church to those nearby people who know and love you. Think: that’s only 25 people giving $100 each. We stand ready to help!

Coming from Europe? Contact us today for pricing.


FULL PACKAGE FOR

$2,500

Register Below: