Christian pilgrimage
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Christianity has a strong tradition of pilgrimages, both to sites relevant to the New Testament narrative (especially in the Holy Land) and to sites associated with later saints or miracles.
History
Christian pilgrimages were first made to sites connected with the
The purpose of Christian pilgrimage was summarized by Pope Benedict XVI this way:
To go on pilgrimage is not simply to visit a place to admire its treasures of nature, art or history. To go on pilgrimage really means to step out of ourselves in order to encounter God where he has revealed himself, where his grace has shone with particular splendour and produced rich fruits of conversion and holiness among those who believe. Above all, Christians go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to the places associated with the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection. They go to Rome, the city of the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, and also to Compostela, which, associated with the memory of Saint James, has welcomed pilgrims from throughout the world who desire to strengthen their spirit with the Apostle’s witness of faith and love.[1]
Pilgrimages are made to
Motivations of pilgrims
The motivations which draw today's visitors to Christian sacred sites can be mixed: faith-based, spiritual in a general way, with cultural interests, etc. This diversity has become an important factor in the management and pastoral care of Christian pilgrimage, as recent research on international sanctuaries and much-visited churches has shown.[2]
Destinations
Holy Land
The first pilgrimages were made to sites connected with
The pilgrimage tradition was established by
In the 7th century, the Holy Land fell to the Muslim conquests,[5] and as pilgrimage to the Holy Land now became more difficult for European Christians, major pilgrimage sites developed in Western Europe, notably Santiago de Compostela in the 9th century, though travelers such as Bernard the Pilgrim continued to make the journey to the Holy Land.
Political relationships between the Muslim caliphates and the Christian kingdoms of Europe remained in a state of suspended truce, allowing the continuation of Christian pilgrimages into Muslim-controlled lands, at least in intervals; for example, the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, only to have his successor allow the Byzantine Empire to rebuild it.[6]
The Seljuk Turks systematically disrupted Christian pilgrimage routes, which became one of the major factors triggering the crusades later in the 11th century.[citation needed]
The Crusades were at first a success, the Crusader states, especially the kingdom of Jerusalem, guaranteeing safe access to the Holy Land for Christian pilgrims during the 12th century, but Palestine was re-conquered by the Muslim Ayyubids by the end of the 13th century.
Under the Ottoman Empire travel in Palestine was once again restricted and dangerous. Modern pilgrimages in the Holy Land may be said to have received an early impetus from the scholar Ernest Renan, whose twenty-four days in Palestine, recounted in his Vie de Jésus (published 1863) found the resonance of the New Testament at every turn.
Europe
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
According to Christian tradition, at some point between 818 and 842 during the reign of
Pope Alexander VI officially declared the Camino de Santiago to be one of the "three great pilgrimages of Christendom", along with Jerusalem and the Via Francigena to Rome. In the 12th century, under the impulse of bishop Diego Gelmírez, Compostela became an archbishopric, attracting a large and multinational population. Pope Benedict XVI said, "It is a way sown with so many demonstrations of fervour, repentance, hospitality, art and culture which speak to us eloquently of the spiritual roots of the Old Continent."[9] Many still follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth. It is also popular with hikers, cyclers, and organized tour groups.
In 1987, the Camino, which encompasses several routes in Spain,
Rome
Rome has been a major Christian pilgrimage site since the Middle Ages. Pilgrimages to Rome can involve visits to a large number of sites, both within the Vatican City and in Italian territory. A popular stopping point is the
Several catacombs built in the Roman age are also the object of pilgrimage, where Christians prayed, buried their dead and performed worship during periods of persecution. And various national churches (among them
Traditionally, pilgrims in Rome visit the
Romería
A romería (
One of the most famous examples of a pilgrimage is that of
Another one of the most representative examples is the Romería de la Virgen de la Cabeza (
The Romería de la Virgin de Navahonda, celebrated in spring in the
There are also pilgrimages in the Canary Islands. An example is La Romería de Santiago Apostol, in Gáldar. Instead of focusing on Jesus, the floats usually praise the Virgin Mary with pictures and statues.
Lourdes, France
According to believers, the
Maastricht-Aachen-Kornelimünster, Germany and Netherlands
Combined septennial pilgrimages in the Dutch-German towns of
Fátima, Portugal
Marian apparitions are also responsible for millions of tourists worldwide.[18]
Canterbury, England
After the murder of the Archbishop
During the
Latin America
Latin America has a number of pilgrimage sites, which have been studied by anthropologists, historians, and scholars of religion.[23][24] In Mesoamerica, some predate the arrival of Europeans and were subsequently transformed to Christian pilgrimage sites.[25]
Aparecida, Brazil
There are six main routes that are usually taken.[27] The largest one, The Path of Faith (O Caminho da Fé),[28] is composed of approximately 970 km, of which approximately 500 km cross the Mantiqueira Mountains by dirt road, tracks, woods and asphalt, providing moments of reflection and faith, physical and psychological health and integration of man with the nature.
Guadalupe, Mexico
The Hill of Tepeyac now holding the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe outside Mexico City, said to be the site of the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe.[29]
Our Lady of Zapopan, Mexico
In Mexico, pilgrims walk to the Our Lady of Zapopan, which this considered the third most important peregrination in the country, after the one of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos. The Pilgrimage of the Virgin of Zapopan consists of a route 8 km in length, from the Guadalajara Cathedral to the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan. It is made every 12 October, and figure of the virgin goes accompanied by more than 3,000,000 people.
El Quinche, Ecuador
Located 28 km east of the capital city,
El Cisne, Ecuador
El Cisne is a town in the southern region of Ecuador.[32] Representatives of the city in 1594 requested sculptor Diego de Robles [es] to build the statue of the Virgin of El Cisne [es] which he carved from the wood of a cedar tree. Each year on 17 August, thousands of pilgrims gather in El Cisne to carry the statue about 74 km (46 mi) in a procession to the cathedral of Loja, where it is the focus of a great festival on 8 September upon with yet another procession taking place to return it to El Cisne.[33]
Quyllurit'i, Peru
According to the Catholic Church, the festival is in honor of the Lord of Quyllurit'i (
The Quyllurit'i festival attracts thousands of indigenous people from the surrounding regions, made up of Paucartambo groups (
The culminating event for the indigenous non-Christian population takes place after the reappearance of Qullqa in the night sky; it is the rising of the sun after the full moon. Tens of thousands of people kneel to greet the first rays of light as the sun rises above the horizon. Until 2017, the main event for the Church was carried out by ukukus, who climbed glaciers over
Copacabana, Bolivia
Before 1534,
During the
Costa Rica
In
See also
- Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society
- HCPT – The Pilgrimage Trust
- List of Christian pilgrimage sites
- List of pilgrimage churches
Further reading
- Ralf van Bühren, Lorenzo Cantoni, and Silvia De Ascaniis (eds.), Special issue on "Tourism, Religious Identity and Cultural Heritage", in Church, Communication and Culture 3 (2018), pp. 195–418
- Crumrine, N. Ross and E. Alan Morinis, Pilgrimage in Latin America, Westport CT 1991
- Christian, William A, Local Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain, Princeton 1989
- Brown, Peter, The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity, Chicago 1981
- Turner, Victor and Edith Turner Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture: Anthropological Perspectives, New York 1978
References
- ^ "Apostolic Journey to Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona: Visit to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (November 6, 2010) | BENEDICT XVI".
- ^ Ralf van Bühren, The artistic heritage of Christianity. Promotion and reception of identity. Editorial of the first section in the special issue on Tourism, religious identity and cultural heritage, in Church, Communication and Culture 3 (2018), pp. 195–196.
- ^ Quoted in Robin Lane Fox, The Unauthorized Version, 1992:235.
- ^ General context of early Christian pilgrimage is provided by E.D. Hunt, Holy Land Pilgrimage in the Late Roman Empire AD 312–460 1982.
- ^ Wickham Inheritance of Rome p. 280
- ^ Pringle "Architecture in Latin East" Oxford History of the Crusades p. 157
- ISBN 978-0-19-822581-2.
- ISBN 978-0-19-822581-2.
- ^ "Message to the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) on the occasion of the opening of the Compostela Holy Year 2010 (December 19, 2009) | BENEDICT XVI". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ "Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- ^ "Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- ^ Steps Jesus walked to trial restored to glory, Daily Telegraph, Malcolm Moore, 14 June 2007
- ^ "Rosarium Virginis Mariae on the Most Holy Rosary (October 16, 2002) – John Paul II". w2.vatican.va.
- ^ "Lourdes – The Skeptic's Dictionary". Skepdic.com. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ISBN 90-70356-55-4.
- ^ 'Maastricht, H. Servaas (Servatius)' on website meertens.knaw.nl
- ^ 'Mehr Pilger als erwartet kamen nach Aachen', in: Die Welt 30 June 2014.
- ^ "Popular Catholic Shrines". Retrieved 8 September 2016.
- ^ "Descriptive Gazetteer entry for Canterbury". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
- ^ "The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer". British Library. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
- ^ Godfrey-Faussett 1878, p. 29.
- ^ Lyle 2002, pp. 97–100.
- ^ N. Ross Crumrine and E. Alan Morinis, Pilgrimage in Latin America. Westport CT 1991.
- ^ Thomas S. Bremer, "Pilgrimage," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures, David Carrasco, ed. Vol. 3, pp. 1–3. New York: Oxford University Press 2001.
- ^ George A. Kubler. "Pre-Columbian Pilgrimages in Mesoamerica," In Fourth Palenque round Table, edited by Elizabeth P. Benson, 313-16. San Francisco 1985.
- ^ "Basílica em Aparecida recebe mais de 12,6 milhões de fiéis em 2018". g1.globo.com. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- ^ "Rotas da Devoção". www.a12.com. Retrieved 1 September 2021.[title missing]
- ^ "Caminho da Fé". caminhodafe.com.br. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- ^ Stafford Poole. Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531–1797. Tucson: University of Arizona Press 1995.
- ^ "The Pope meets clergy in the shrine of El Quinche and bids farewell to Ecuador," Gaudium Press, http://en.gaudiumpress.org/content/71388-The-Pope-meets-clergy-in-the-shrine-of-El-Quinche-and-bids-farewell-to-Ecuador-, accessed 3 June 2017
- ^ "The Pope meets clergy in the shrine of el Quinche and bids farewell to Ecuador | Gaudiumpress English Edition". en.gaudiumpress.org. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
- ^ "Official website of the National Shrine of Our Lady of El Cisne". Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ^ "El Cisne".
- ^ Kris E. Lane, "Review: Carolyn Dean, Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ: Corpus Christi in Colonial Cuzco, Peru ", Ethnohistory, Volume 48, Number 3, Summer 2001, pp. 544–546; accessed 22 December 2016
- ^ Sallnow, Pilgrims of the Andes, p. 226.
- ^ Randall, "Quyllurit'i", p. 44.
- ^ McCarl, Clayton. "An Indigenous Sculptor on the Spanish Stage: Calderón's rewriting of Tito Yupanqui in La Aurora en Copacabana". cuny.edu. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
Sources
- Godfrey-Faussett, Thomas Godfrey (1878), , in Baynes, T. S. (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 5 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 28–30
- Lyle, Marjorie (2002), Canterbury: 2000 Years of History, Tempus, ISBN 978-0-7524-1948-0
External links
- Database of Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Netherlands
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- Romeria de El Rocío - Hda. de Las Americas de Nstra. Sra. del Rocío