Pilgrimage

Textbook Reference:
Book A 1.2.6 Pilgrimage
 Pilgrimage
• A pilgrimage is a journey that has religious or spiritual significance.
The journey is usually taken to an important religious place.
• There are many sites of Christian pilgrimage, several of which are
mentioned in Bible stories about the life of Jesus, including Jerusalem.
 Pilgrimage
• There were many centres
of pilgrimage usually
connected with the relics
of a saint (the physical
remains of a saint or the
personal effects of the
saint or holy person),
preserved and displayed
in a reliquary in a shrine at
the pilgrimage site.
 Why Catholics go on Pilgrimage
• Some feel that life is a search for God and that going on a pilgrimage helps
them in their search for God.
• Many pilgrims feel that they become closer to God on a pilgrimage.
• Making a pilgrimage takes planning, time and effort, and this process can
help in determining what your priorities in life are.
• Pilgrimage adds discipline to a Christian's spiritual life - they have to get up
and do something.
• If they had committed sins, they believed that by going on a pilgrimage
they could show God how sorry they were. Sometimes they were sent on
such journeys by a priest as a penance for a bad sin.
Why Catholics go on Pilgrimage
• Pilgrims go to places like Lourdes in the
hope of being cured of an illness, and
although few are cured, many claim that the
pilgrimage gave them greater inner strength
to cope with their illnesses and other
problems of life.
• Places of pilgrimage have special
connections with great figures or events in
the Christian faith and so are full of
holiness. Pilgrims hope that if they visit
these places some of the holiness will rub
off on them.
 Places Catholics go on pilgrimage
The Holy Land (Jerusalem, Bethlehem, River Jordan, Cana)
Rome
Lourdes
 Jerusalem
• A major centre of Christian pilgrimage is Jerusalem, where the crucial
events in the final week of Jesus' life took place; the events that are
still celebrated in Christianity today.
 Jerusalem – The Cenacle
• The Cenacle, thought to be the site of
the Upper Room, which is important
to pilgrims because it is where the
Last Supper took place, and the Last
Supper is when Jesus instituted the
Eucharist.
• Activity – Attending Mass/Prayer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwERq_FS8j0
 Jerusalem –
The Via Dolorosa
• The Via Dolorosa, or way of
suffering, which is important to
pilgrims because it is the route Jesus
took as he was made to carry his
cross to Golgotha, the place of
crucifixion.
• Pilgrims usually walk along the Via
praying at places where Jesus
stopped and where Simon of Cyrene
took over the cross.
• Activity – Prayers and
Meditation/Reflection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qY7CP7axyg
 Jerusalem – The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
• The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which
is perhaps the holiest place because it is
believed to be the location of Golgotha,
where Jesus was crucified (dying for the
sins of the world), and Jesus nearby tomb,
where Jesus was buried and rose from the
dead, so guaranteeing eternal life to
Christians.
• Activity – Attending Mass/Prayers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzE6IH4-yTg
 The Holy Land – Bethlehem
• It is the place where Jesus was born.
• The most important site in Bethlehem is the Church
of the Nativity in Manger Square, which was built in
the fourth century.
• In Bethlehem, Christians can pray and focus their
attention on the birth of Jesus Christ. This is the
incarnation - the belief that Jesus is God made flesh.
• The experience of being in the place where the
incarnation is believed to have happened can have
huge spiritual importance for Christians.
• Activity – Attending Mass/Prayer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLzKXhbumL8
 The Holy Land – River Jordan
• River Jordan is where John the Baptist
preached and baptised Jesus.
• Activity – Renewal of Baptismal Vow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94CRByKGD8M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfq-swxGQiU
 The Holy Land – Cana
• Cana is where Jesus performed his first
miracle, turning water into wine during
wedding feast.
• Activity – Renewal of Marriage Vow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBnvHL0AU10&ab_chann
el=GumayVLogChannel
 Rome (Vatican) – For Catholics only!
• Rome is an important place of pilgrimage,
particularly for Catholics, because that is
where the Pope resides in the Vatican.
• Catholics believe that Jesus appointed Peter
as the leader of his disciples. Tradition says
that after Pentecost and time spent in
Jerusalem, Peter went to Rome and
became the first ever Pope. Many
Christians believe that he was executed and
buried on Vatican Hill in Rome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmzbYsXRQ-
M&ab_channel=TheOrangutan
 Rome (Vatican) – For Catholics only!
Activity
• Pilgrims visit the Vatican to hear the Pope
speak in St Peter’s Square on Wednesdays,
or attend Mass led by the Pope during the
year. The most important site in Rome for
Catholic pilgrims is St Peter’s Basilica.
• Pilgrims hope to see the Pope and visit what
they believe is the tomb of St Peter,
underneath the basilica. The feet of a 13th-
century statue of St Peter have been rubbed
smooth by the millions of pilgrims who have
touched them over the years.
• Attending Mass/Prayer
 Lourdes – For Catholics only!
• Lourdes is a famous pilgrimage site
in France where the waters are
believed to have healing powers.
• It became a Christian pilgrimage
site when, in 1858, Bernadette
Soubirous, a young local girl, was
said to have seen the Virgin Mary
at Lourdes and her friend was
thought to have been healed in the
waters.
 Lourdes – For Catholics only!
Activity
• Catholic pilgrims visit and pray in the Sanctuary of Our
Lady of Lourdes.
• They also worship at the grotto where the vision is said
to have taken place.
• Pilgrims also take part in a torch-lit procession in honour
of the Virgin Mary, which happens every evening before
Mass in the grotto.
• They may also confess their sins at the Reconciliation
Chapel.
• Many pilgrims take some of the holy water home, and
there have been many more stories of healings.
• Attending Mass/Prayer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxBAsUZKXkM&ab_chan
nel=APArchive
 The Church’s View on Pilgrimage
• The Catholic Church offers guidance on places of worship and
includes places of pilgrimage among the most appropriate places for
prayer.
• Prayer is aided by special places, either in the home, or where there
are family memories, or in places reserved for prayer such as a
monastery or a church.
• Certain places have other associations, perhaps with saints or with
the life of Jesus. These associations help people to pray better.
 Divergent Christian Attitudes to Pilgrimage
• Protestants have always been critical of
pilgrimages.
• Martin Luther said:
All pilgrimages should be stopped. There
is no good in them: no commandment
enjoins them, no obedience attaches to
them. Rather do these pilgrimages give
countless occasions to commit sin and to
despise God's commandments. (To the
Christian Nobility, 1520)
 Divergent Christian Attitudes to Pilgrimage
• Protestants tend to feel that emphasising special holy places is wrong
because believers can encounter God anywhere since God is the same
God everywhere.
• They are also opposed to any form of worshipping the Virgin Mary
because they regard it as idolatry and because they believe that Mary had
other children (Matthew 13:55-56) and that James the brother of Jesus was
the first Bishop of Jerusalem (according to the early Church historian
Eusebius), and so cannot be revered as the Virgin Mary.
• They also regard any veneration of saints as wrong because only God
should be venerated; and they regard veneration of relics as idolatry.
• So Protestants will visit the holy places in the Holy Land, but would not go
to places like Lourdes and Fatima.
 Criticisms of Pilgrimage
• Pilgrimages are often criticised, as some
Christians believe that the money spent could
be better used helping those in need rather
than paying for travel.
• Lourdes is often crowded with visitors, and
many people say the site has become too
commercialised, with shops selling souvenirs,
including statues of the Virgin Mary.
• Some Christians feel that the benefits of the
pilgrimage can be felt at home when praying.