PILGRIM WAYS
Theological Reflections
By Henry Ralph Carse, Ph.D.
Part Two - Motivations
The purpose of each pilgrimage depends very much on the individual pilgrim. In this way “purpose” is very close to “motive” and “intention.” These are personal and internal phenomena, often kept hidden from an observer, or even from the pilgrim herself. Understanding the origin of a sacred journey entails understanding intention, and that requires discernment, curiosity, open-mindedness… and time. This is another way in which pilgrimage becomes sacramental: the outward sign is ancillary to the inward grace.
Pilgrimage is not a discrete event but a process. In broad terms, I have found that this process entails five “stages” – although “modalities” is perhaps a better word. Trying to “construct” a pilgrimage experience to conform to these modalities, as if they were “requirements,” will lead nowhere. Rather, they are helpful as “compass-points” for reflection along the way, and are perhaps most useful in appreciating the experience in retrospect, at journey’s end.
The five pilgrimage modalities are:
(1) Motivation (Intention); (2) Journey (The Way);(3) Shrine (Sacred Place/Space);
(4) Encounter (Transformation / Change / Vision / Meeting); and (5) Return.
Beginning with motivations, we can hear a wide spectrum of these in the accounts of pilgrims through history. One of our earliest Christian pilgrim accounts is the diary of Egeria, who went from Spain to Jerusalem in the 4th century. The primary reason for her pilgrimage was, in her words, “the desire [desiderium] to go on this journey…” This “desire” was a spiritual yearning to encounter the message of the Christian Gospel in the land where Jesus had lived and taught. Today, this remains a strong motivation for many pilgrims, along with a desire to understand the Bible in general more clearly. Other historical motives include the quest for healing (sometimes through miraculous intervention), the search for relics, and the need to perform penance for sins (penitential pilgrimages were a common medieval practice).
Listening to contemporary accounts of today’s pilgrims in their own words, a common thread I found is the wish to encounter “the real person of Jesus.” One pilgrim, Pat, wrote:
“I wanted to be able to see [Jesus] as he would have been seen by the people of his day, by his friends, his followers, his family…”
Another (Trudy) expressed the same sentiment even more strongly:
“I needed to be where he had actually been, where he had walked… I needed to be so close to him…”
A related intention is to unlock the meaning of Scripture. In this, today’s pilgrims have the same intention as the first named pilgrim to the Holy Land – Melito of Sardis – whose motivation was to validate his reading of the Bible by visiting the places where revelation had occurred. Later, St. Jerome wrote that to visit the land of the Holy Land is to “gaze more clearly upon Holy Scripture.” One of today’s most popular books about the Holy Land is called “Walking the Bible,” a title that nicely sums up the purpose of many pilgrims.
Quite often, a pilgrim’s journey is motivated by the recent death of a spouse or close friend. One English pilgrim, Martha, said:
“When Pete [her husband] died, … I went back to church… I used to go when I was young… And then, [the pastor] said that they were going to Jerusalem, and would I like to come with them, and I said, Oh, very much, I would, yes!”
For this pilgrim, the journey occurs during a time of deep grieving, and is welcomed as an opportunity for reflection and renewal – it is a quest for “peace of mind.”
One of the most interesting aspects of intentionality in relation to pilgrimage is found in what Peter Kerr (in a 1999 article) refers to as the “Reluctant Pilgrim.” A surprising number of those who recounted their journey to me in their own words, began with a strong disclaimer. They had no intention of making pilgrimage, either because they regarded it as little more than religious tourism, or because – as a “reluctant” named Becky said - “a lot of people suffered from spiritual indigestion when they were [in the Holy Land].” These sentiments echo the ancient “teaching of restraint” we have already cited from the 4th century letter of Gregory of Nyssa. (See January 30, 2022 blog post.) The theological basis for this restraint is an understanding that to seek God (or Christ) in a specific geographical or historical context is a sort of “scandal of particularity” that contradicts the universal message of Christianity. To embrace this “scandal” as meaningful and helpful is not a simple matter.
Some “reluctant pilgrims” have their doubts confirmed, when they reach the “holy places” and find them both disappointing and off-putting. As one such “reluctant” said of her trip:
“Dashing from place to place… Back on the coach… It was literally ‘Today is Monday, so it [must be] Bethlehem’… and it’s this and it’s that and the other…”
However, many who begin with resistance, find a more positive modality through the journey itself. They encounter along the way a deepening appreciation for the paradoxical and ambiguous nature of pilgrimage, as a challenge and transformation of expectations.
It is often the case, that the journey, rather than the arrival, is the real heart of a pilgrimage.
To Be Continued…