By Fr. Paul de Ladurantaye
Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 9/4/03)

When I was in high school, I remember reading Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories told by pilgrims to pass the time as they make their way to Canterbury to pray at the shrine of the martyr St. Thomas a Becket. The Canterbury Tales illustrate a practice that has a long history in the life of the Church, namely, a pilgrimage – a journey to a holy site. Although a pilgrimage usually involves a physical journey, the spiritual aspects of such a journey are the real focus of a pilgrimage.

Even before the coming of Christ, there were certain special places in Israel that were considered holy, places where the presence and activity of God could be experienced in a unique way. In Jerusalem, for example, the pool by the Sheep Gate was thought to be a place of healing (Jn 5:2-7). For the people of Israel, however, the Temple in Jerusalem was the pre-eminent pilgrimage site. In the eyes of the Jews, who had to go there on pilgrimage from the age of 12 onwards, the Temple was the center of the whole world, to which in the last days the Gentiles too would go on pilgrimage (Is 2:2-3).

After the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus, the places in the Holy Land where He lived and most particularly where He died and was buried became pilgrimage sites. Christians from other parts of the world wanted to experience something of Jesus’ life and to express their devotion to Him not only through prayer but also by means of a physical journey. This physical journey was often undertaken as a form of penance or reparation for sin, and so the idea of a devotional pilgrimage was joined to the spiritual act of seeking and receiving pardon from God. We have some famous accounts of pilgrimages that have been preserved from early Christian times: that of St. Helena in 324 A.D., the finder of the True Cross and the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine; and the pilgrimage record of Aetheria (or Egeria), around the year 400 A.D.

As the Church grew, the tombs of martyrs and those of other holy men and women (non-martyrs) came to be venerated as pilgrimage sites. Among the most important were the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome, St. Martin at Tours, and in Ephesus, where the Blessed Virgin Mary had lived. During the Middle Ages, penitential pilgrimages were often made to places and shrines like Jerusalem, Canterbury, Compostela, Rome, Assisi, Padua, Cologne and Chartres. Today, famous pilgrimage sites include: Guadalupe, Czestochowa, La Salette, Knock, Lourdes and Fatima.

Closer to home, churches in Emmitsburg, Maryland (the shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton) and Philadelphia (St. John Neumann and St. Katherine Drexel) are very popular as pilgrimage destinations. Of course, there are many other shrines and places of pilgrimage in the United States and Canada.

On Oct. 18, 2003, the Diocese of Arlington will go on pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. There, the faithful will have the opportunity to pray the rosary, to receive God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance, to visit and pray at the many chapels in the National Shrine, and to participate with Bishop Loverde in a Pilgrimage Mass. All of these spiritual exercises are intended to help foster a renewal of faith and love for God and our neighbor.

Perhaps the words of Pope Pius XII best express what pilgrimages have meant and continue to mean in the Church’s life and history. "The pilgrim leaves his home, his everyday life, and forgets all his unimportant, trivial cares … and then sets off courageously … and so prayer makes its way to God more easily. The company of other pilgrims … gives rise to prayer in common. It culminates … when at the altar Christ offered in sacrifice comes with his body to strengthen the Christian on the way to God. The pilgrimage reawakens in you the spirit of penance, the sense of Providence and trust in God. It instructs you afresh about the meaning of life: to turn away from the present, from everyday joys and sorrows, and to turn towards the goal whose radiance shines on you."