Christian pilgrimage
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.
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 Rome and other sites associated with the apostles, saints and Christian martyrs, as well as to places where there have been apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
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.
[4] The pilgrimage tradition was established by Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great and encouraged by church fathers like Saint Jerome.
Pilgrimages also began to be made to Rome and other sites associated with the Apostles, Saints and Christian martyrs, as well as to places where there have been apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
Pilgrimage to Rome became a common destination for pilgrims from throughout Western Christianity in the medieval period, and important sites were listed in travel-guides such as the 12th-century Mirabilia Urbis Romae.
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.
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.
According to Christian tradition, at some point between 818 and 842 during the reign of Alfonso II of Asturias, bishop Theodemar of Iria (d. 847) found the remains of Saint James the Greater.
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.
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.
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.
[citation needed] A romería (Spanish) or romaria (Portuguese) is a type of yearly, short distance Roman Catholic religious pilgrimage practiced in the Iberian Peninsula and countries formerly colonized by Spain and Portugal.
The travelling can be done in cars, floats, on horseback or on foot, and its destination is a sanctuary or hermitage consecrated to a religious figure honored in that day's feast.
According to believers, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Bernadette Soubirous on a total of eighteen occasions at Lourdes (Lorda in her local Occitan language).
[18] After the murder of the Archbishop Thomas Becket at the cathedral in 1170, Canterbury became one of the most notable towns in Europe, as pilgrims from all parts of Christendom came to visit his shrine.
According to historical accounts, in 1382 Prince Władysław of Opole brought the Paulines from Hungary, marking the beginning of the sanctuary’s development.
[28] Major religious festivities take place during Easter and on anniversaries related to the Black Madonna, attracting pilgrims from all over Poland.
Historical accounts state that the statue was originally found by three fishermen who miraculously caught many fish after invoking the Blessed Virgin Mary.
[34] The largest one, The Path of Faith (O Caminho da Fé),[35] 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.
The young native herder Mariano Mayta befriended a mestizo boy named Manuel on the mountain Qullqipunku.
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.
Since then, a series of miracles[44] attributed to the icon made it one of the oldest Marian shrines in the Americas, On 2 February and 6 August, Church festivals are celebrated with indigenous dances.
In Costa Rica, it is traditional to make a pilgrimage to Cartago on 2 August to make requests and give thanks to the Virgen de los Ángeles (the Lady of the Angels), nicknamed la Negrita due to the dark green color of the statue representing her; the statue located inside the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels.
