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Why Make a Holy Year Door Pilgrimage?
Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn
... A pilgrimage has three distinct aspects.
Long Distance
The word comes from the Latin word peregrinum which means a stranger or traveler from foreign parts. A pilgrimage (usually done on foot) meant hardship from the efforts made to get to the destination. In these contemporary times with a major infrastructure of highways, comfortable cars and plenty of fast food dinners on the way, the notion of hardship is not connected with the journey. However, the idea of something being inconvenient and requiring some sacrifice may parallel the original reason for a pilgrimage.
Seeds of Change
Pilgrimage has to be more than a curiosity, an adventure or a vacation. This spiritual journey calls the peregrine (or stranger) to spiritual transformation, healing and renewal. Here there is a relationship between God of the life-journey and the sojourner. In other words, each person who makes the pilgrimage is expected to experience changes in his/her attitudes and behaviors toward daily life, the Church and the world.
Spirituality
Pilgrimages are essentially "spiritual" trips. A pilgrim may travel to a holy place as an act of atonement or devotion, thanksgiving or veneration. The pilgrim may come seeking wisdom, blessings from God, or even divinization. At the same time, the person making the trip may be seeking something less ethereal, such as physical healing, a material favor or inspiration.
Victor Turner in Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture wrote: " Some form of deliberate travel to a far place intimately associated with the deepest, most cherished values of the traveler seems to be a 'cultural universal'." Muslims make their required hajj to Mecca; Catholics trek to Rome or Harrisa; Hindus come to Varanasi to bathe in the holy Ganges; Buddhists travel to Deer Park in India; and Jews stream to the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Whether a pilgrim is religious or not, the spiritual element of the journey must be foremost. It is the single defining characteristic of the trek. For that reason, sailing in the Caribbean, white-water rafting down the Colorado, or basking on the sandy beaches of Hawaii is not a pilgrimage.
Pilgrimages most often involve homage worship and prayer to someone who has deeply touched one's spirit and nourished one's passions."Pilgrimages", says the Encyclopedia Americana, "are based on the belief that a deity or a saint can best be approached in a locality with which he was physically associated." So we make journeys to the birthplaces, homes, and graves of the people to whom we find ourselves spiritually linked. Consider that 700,000 fans flock to Graceland each year to visit where Elvis Presley once lived. Millions journey to the Holy Land each year to walk where Jesus once walked. But these jaunts are not the same. The spiritual longing to be where a "holy" one once walked is as old as human history. ...
Extract from: www.stmaron.org
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