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Pilgrimages to the Holy Land
M. du Buit, O.P.

[Pilgrimage is a phenomenon found in the majority of great religions, especially in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam which highly value, each one in its own way, this religious expression. For the historical religions, pilgrimage is the sign of a concrete bond between the faithful and a site of revelation, not simply for itself but as a source of meditation and inspiration. To a great many, it expresses their faith in following the example of Abraham, commanded to leave his land, to travel towards an unknown, to follow the way of the Lord.

It is evident that writers, sometimes of the same religious community, judge differently the worth of this sign. There is no consensus. A. W.]

A Christian point of view.

"... Neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship... True worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth". (John 4:20, 23). These words suffice to show the immense difference between Jewish and Christian types of piety in relation to the Holy Land. No Christian, however, can remain aloof from the pilgrimage movement, which has existed from the earliest days of the liberty of the Church. Although there were such aberrations as the Crusades, the fervour, spirit of penance, and spiritual joy of pilgrims must not 'be belittled. I am thinking of those pilgrimages massing togethergreat numbers of youth, and even more, of the Oriental groups one meets from time to time in the Holy Land, which, although attracting less attention, are more truly poor.

We must understand that every Christian —to speak in the manner of St. Paul — is on the road which leads from the Law to the Gospel, and that very few of us are truly fulfilled Christians. It is no less true that while the adorer of Christ meets Him above all in the Eucharist, which can take place in any country, the disciple of Christ meets Him first and foremost in the person of the poor, also to be found everywhere. Pilgrimages are part of pedagogy: "milk, not solid food" (1 Car. 3:2).

If the pilgrim imagines that he is purified or sanctified because he has touched, or seen, holy things, the pilgrimage will have failed. This is only the comforting feeling which always follows the accomplishment of something exceptional or difficult. If the pilgrim feels that he has strengthened his faith because he has seen or touched certain places or things, the pilgrimage has failed. Strength of faith does not reside in these things: "Blessed are those who have not seen...". He must realize that the Word of God was addressed to real people like himself, inhabitants of a real land, and that this Word will be addressed to himself, too, when he returns to his own country; let him understand that the Word became the Son of Man, a member of a people like other peoples, and the pilgrimage will have succeeded. The pedagogy of a pilgrimage consists in seeing and touching things in order to rediscover the people of the Bible, and, at their head, the Messiah of Israel, then they will no longer be merely literary characters. After such an experience, the modern man will really carry into the world his new-found openness to the Word.

In my opinion, an essential psychological condition is that the pilgrim should feel the shock of his own element. As long as he has the impression of being in his own every-day world, he will not feel that the Holy Land is first and foremost a real land where barley grows, not merely the outer sanctuary of his own church. As long as the local populace is hidden from him by a crowd of his own companions, he will not feel that the people of God are real people, and not just actors on a biblical stage. If a section of European Christianity is implanted en masse in Palestine, it would be better to go to Chartres, or Lourdes or Rome — it is easier, and far more beautiful. Many things could be looked into: noisy propaganda — a pilgrimage is not a good work recommendable in itself, it is a religious experience that some are in need of; overcrowded programmes — pilgrims should have time to saunter, to dream, to pray on their own.

What is to be said about gigantic and sump-tuous buildings? about political revindications which claim "rights of ownership", "historic rights"? of property purchased in the past from sultans? If only it were possible for people to be content with the freedom that civilized men acknowledge amongst themselves! Impossible enough in the past, and not always easy in the present. It would be better for each traveller to pay a little more, and that Latin Christianity should have fewer large investments. In order to help the poor, let a system of equal distribution be established amongst us. It would be better to have guides who understand the local agriculture, than pious preachers. It would be better to have tents for a liturgy of "strangers and exiles" (Heb. 11:12), rather than certain churches.

May I be allowed a personal remark? I like to celebrate with pilgrims under the shelter of Nebo or Tabor, in the old and bare churches of Saint Ann or of Abou-gosh, in a fraternal community, or a Greek-Catholic parish, but elsewhere...

No one knows the Holy Land in the concrete biblical sense who does not go there with a humble and receptive spirit: no equipment, little luggage, few preconceived ideas, much humility. "Blessed are the meek for they shall possess the land".