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Christian Pilgrimage
Alberto Casalegno, S.J.
Just as a Jewish pilgrimage is founded on the historical dimension that is biblical revelation, so also is this true for Christian pilgrimage. The Holy Land was the place of the Lord's specific interventions in the history of his people; it therefore cannot fail to have a deep 'and special meaning for the person of faith.
Making contact with the Land in the light of the Word is not only a very concrete way of reverently coming closer to the great events of God's dialogue with each person, but is also at the same time a means of rediscovering one's own origins and roots. The experience of slavery, of deliverance, of sin, of the definitive gift of grace in Jesus Christ, what the People of the Covenant lived in this land, are truly enduring models, determining the existence of every believer.
The Land of the Bible has therefore exercised a continual attraction for Christians, making it the goal of ever more frequent pilgrimages right from the earliest days of Christianity. The first attraction was, of course, to visit the places of the Gospel where Jesus of Nazareth lived. But the consciousness that he is the Messiah and the definitive accomplishment of the Promises, together with awareness of the unity of the two Testaments and the Old Testament's typological value in respect of the New, also caused interest in places and personages of the Old Testament to be very marked as well, especially in early centuries. There was a desire, therefore, where Christians were concerned, for a total experience, for complete and direct evidence.
Historical Evidence
The flow of pilgrims began even before the Constantinian Peace. Eusebius of Caesarea tells us in his Ecclesiastical History of a visit made to Palestine by Melito, Bishop of Sardis, about 150 A.D. He was moved by a desire to examine the canon of the Old Testament and "to discover traces of the Law and the Prophets that concern our Saviour and all our faith"! Eusebius also mentions the visit made by Alexander, Bishop of Cappadocia, who went to Jerusalem in 202 A.D. "to pray and to visit the holy places-.2 These bishops were followed by other personages, among them Origen, who stands out in importance (216 AD.). The visitors of those days may not have been numerous, but they were persons in the front rank of the Church's life at the time. They are eloquent evidence of the keen interest shown in the land of the Bible in those early centuries.
After the Edict of Milan, there followed Helena's pilgrimage to Jerusalem (326 AD.) and the beginning of work on the first basilicas .4 The number of visitors increased, so much so that we may speak of an influx from "over the whole world".4 Among the more illustrious visitors were Jerome, followed by Paula and Eustochium, Melania and her daughter of the same name, Basil and Gregory of Nazianzen, Gregory of Nyssa, Gaudentius of Brescia and Ambrose of Milan.' Besides those famous names we find others less famous, such as the Pilgrim of Bordeaux (333 AD.), Etheria, and the author of the Jerusalem Breviary at the end of the fourth century. Two centuries later came the Unknown Pilgrim of Piacenza (570 AD.). Such second rank figures especially, about whom nothing is known, left us Itineraries .6 These gave us but a glimpse of the length of the journey and the difficulties and dangers undergone in order to reach Palestine from Europe. The dominant note is one of joy at having reached the goal, desire to see the biblical places and examine them carefully, to go over them again, to see for themselves, to touch them, all with a resoluteness that puts no limits on effort and fatigue and is borne forward by the liveliest curiosity for every site and every tradition.
Such enthusiasm runs widely through the whole of Etheria's Diary. She shows that she is inspired by a deep emotion and an inexhaustible capacity for being amazed. Paula before her, as Jerome tells us, had feelings of profound emotion on visiting the church of the Holy Sepulchre: "prostrate before the cross, she worshipped it as if she had seen the Saviour hanging on the sacred wood ..." As Etheria in particular relates, there were precise directions which she and the other devout visitors followed in performing their pilgrimage. The visit to the holy places was accompanied by prayer and readings from Scripture.
"It was always our habit, whenever we could get to the places we desired to visit, first to say a prayer, then to read a related passage from the Bible, to recite an appropriate psalm as well, and to conclude with another prayer".8
Making a pilgrimage was not an isolated occurrence, for the pilgrim benefited whenever possible from constant encounters with monks, priests, and resident bishops. These offered hospitality and did not let Etheria go without offering her little gifts of fruit, cakes and sweets. These hosts made it possible for her to obtain a knowledge of local traditions that, while not based on historical evidence, yet made her visit more satisfying. She asked a priest of the place "to come with us because he knew those places best" ° and so she was conducted to the spring that Moses caused to flow from the rock.
The prolonged stay that ancient pilgrims could enjoy at the holy places enabled them to participate at leisure in the more important liturgical events. Etheria remained in Palestine for about three years, giving us a moving account of the elaborate ceremonies for the Easter period in Jerusalem. We can see from this that pilgrimages in the early centuries probably very often included participation in the liturgies as an essential element. Thus, the mystery was contemplated through the Word in the places where it was manifested, then was ritualized and made efficacious.
Etheria's Diary illustrates preeminently this more spiritual dimension. Besides that, we are also struck in general by the keenness of observations shown by the pilgrims in their accounts and their attention to detail. There are numerous examples. The basilicas at Jerusalem and that at Bethlehem are referred to by all Itineraries, but the Pilgrim of Bordeaux also mentions the pool with five proches at Jerusalem 1° and the two statues of Hadrian within the precincts of the Temple at Jerusalem." The fragments of Etheria's narration preserved by Peter the Deacon note that at Capharnaum "the house of the prince of the apostles was turned into a church, but its wells remain unchanged'." The Pilgrim from Piacenza tells us of three basilicas on Mount Tabor and the basilica of John the Baptist at Samaria." We are also impressed by the exactness of the descriptions: "Seen from a short distance the mountain (of Sinai) seems to be only one, but when you are right there, you see that there are many mountains"." Mentions of traditions are equally interesting: at the mountain of Moses "all the pilgrims cut off their beards and hair as a sign of devotion and threw them on the ground"; the Saracens there venerate "a white idor.15 We thus have a real mine of information, valuable for archaeological science and for the reconstruction of the customs of those times.
Another aspect of ancient pilgrimages was devotion to relics, so many of them of doubtful authenticity. The pilgrim could see the chalice used at the last supper, the column at which Jesus was scourged, and so on, to the iron chain with which Judas hanged himself and the bed of the palsied man healed by Jesus. The authority that such relics acquired and the importance attributed to them seem to have increased over the centuries. Besides such devotion, we find acts of personal piety: the Unknown Pilgrim of Piacenza wrote down his parents' names at Cana, for example.16 The religious and devotional aspect was strong, but interest in the natives of the country was almost nil. Only the Pilgrim of Piacenza refers to the Samaritan? hostility towards both Christians and Jews: they would not accept his money until he threw it into the water, thus purifying BE He mentions the legend of the special beauty of the Jewish women of Nazareth granted them by the Virign Mary and he remarks that "even though there is no love between Jews and Christians, yet there is love for the Jewish women"." He thus soberly but effectively brings out the division between the confessions as concretely lived by one of these pilgrims.
What emerges, therefore, from the writings of early visitors to the holy places is their awareness of the preciousness and rarity of their experiences. Even with its deficiencies, this experience substantially corroborated their faith, produced better understanding of Scripture in them, and nourished true contemplation.
Critical notes are not wanting in the chorus of enthusiasm raised by other voices. These notes tend to put pilgrimages in their true perspective and utter a warning against their perils. Jerome remarked to Paulinus of Nola that "to have been to Jerusalem is no title of honor, but it is such only of one lives well while at Jerusalem". In other words "only the one who bears the cross every day will draw benefit from the places of the cross and of the resurrection",' Jerome comments bitterly in the same letter that at Jerusalem too, "there is a praetorium, a military barracks, there are women of evil repute, parasites, dancers, such as are usually to be found in other cities". Indeed "there is such a crush of men and women that we are constrained to put up with sights that in other places we should be able to avoid in some way". These remarks of his displeasure are similar to those of Gregory of Nyssa " yet they take nothing away from the importance that Jerome himself attributes to visiting and staying in the holy places. He points out their importance, enthusiastically inviting his friends in Rome to come." Nor do his expressions of disapproval of the features he mentions diminish the attraction he feels for the holy places.
Nothing can stop such pilgrimages, neither disputes over dogma, nor struggles between Pontiffs and Patriarchs, nor Persian invasions, nor the Moslem conquest. Indeed, in the seventh century a pilgrimage to Jerusalem was regarded as a canonical penance and considered to be a unique occasion for mending one's ways for ever. Saint Aderald was impelled towards that goal "by desire of progressing from good to better, of going from virtue to virtue". Saint Silvinus affirms that he was thereby "born again and wholly remade".22
A real spirituality of pilgrimage arose in those later centuries and turned from being individual to being a collective experience. Many renounced their possessions at home so as to have no reason ever to come hack. The supreme desire was now to die at Jerusalem where the Redeemer died, in hopes of more secure salvation. From the fourth to the sixth centuries we may speak of a 'Jewish tradition' in pilgrimage. This consisted in visiting the places connected with the Old Testament in addition to the Christian sites. But in later centuries pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the places of the Passion slowly came to be the sole purpose of the journey, also because the Moslem authorities often impeded more complete visits. Those who were conscious of spiritual realities appreciated the fact that the earthly Jerusalem was only a symbol of the heavenly city. They tended to look at Jerusalem not only with their bodily eyes but also with the eyes of faith, thereby bringing about a tension which often became eschatological.
Pilgrimage Today
Making personal contact with the places of the Bible and reading Holy Scripture where it was written is still of fundamental importance. The average Christian is too much accustomed to knowing something of the Gospels alone without the clear notion that the announcement made through the New Testament is the culminating point of a long history of salvific interventions which God made with his people. He often has only a confused idea of the facts of that history, failing to perceive the extent of its development over the ages and the theological significance of its most salient moments. He knows only a little about the places mentioned in the Gospels. His knowledge is often only approximate, not knowing exactly where the places are to be found nor any idea of the topography of the biblical land, of the landscapes in which the events occurred.
A journey to the Holy Land can give fresh savor to pages of the Bible that have so far meant nothing to us. The silence, the sand, the solitude of the desert, the remote oases, give a vivid impression of what the lives of the patriarchs were. Perhaps it was in such an environment that Abraham had certainty of his having been chosen. The slow journey up to Jerusalem, the beauty of its walls, the swarming population, give us an idea however pale of the Jerusalem of the prophets and of Jesus of Nazareth. So also the rich fertility of the plain of Esdrelon, the solemn majesty of the lake of Galilee, the beauty of Samaria and the ruggedness of Mt. Carmel help us to have better understanding of episodes in Christ's life, but also of the story of the tribes, of the kings and of the prophets.
We often have but a partial idea of Christ because we are unable to gain a full appreciation of his humanity. We may confess him as Saviour but we often do not understand him in the concrete soil of the culture to which he belongs. Pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a unique occasion for ripening the idea that the incarnation of God's Son occurred in the human and religious world of the Jews and so we can draw the necessary conclusions.
A Theological Itinerary
Ancient pilgrims were obliged by the difficulties on the way to keep to a precise route and to visit the holy places in the order in which they found them along the route. But today it is possible to make contact with the Holy Land from viewpoints more in accordance with the perspectives of Christian theology. The best place to begin is the basilica of Calvary and of the Anastasis, there where the great announcement resounded on Easter morning: "Why do you seek the living among the dead"? (Lk. 24:5). Making a pilgrimage actually means re-reading the story in the Bible and especially the Gospel accounts with awareness that Jesus of Nazareth, towards whom all history tends, is risen and is in glory. Such consciousness makes us first lift our eyes to heaven, where he is enthroned as the Lord. It produces an expectation of the eschaton in the believer, when Christ will return to establish the kingdom fully. It makes us desire above all to know him in faith through the Word and the power of the Spirit. Thus, the places mentioned in the Gospels, while maintaining their importance as eloquent witnesses to the Saviour's historical existence, are nevertheless relativized.
The Easter or paschal perspective also enables us tohave true understanding (lotus legere) of many passages in the Gospel, giving us a grasp of their theological importance, since they were written with this faith and in this light. The pilgrim is thus delivered from the temptation of considering the Gospel as the chronicle of Jesus' life. This point of view makes the visitor more ready to affirm without difficulty the fact that it is not possible to find concrete elements at each and every holy place that would prove its authenticity. He is thus helped to found his faith solely on the Word and on true ecclesial tradition, without needing to seek false certainties and to indulge in facile credulity.
The risen Christ also becomes the key whereby the Christian reads the deep meaning in a number of Old Testament happenings. These have an autonomy of their own and they are to be understood for what they signify in themselves within the historical context to which they belong, yet it is also true that the light of the Easter event gives new depth to a journey to Sinai, where the Lord's first victory was achieved, as a prophetical announcement of the cross. Likewise a visit to Shechem, Beersheva and Mambre take on a different significance in the light of the faith that the promise made to Abraham was fulfilled in Christ. By reading events in this perspective, we gain better understanding of the unity and the continuity of God's great plan of salvation.
The Science of Archeology
It would he ideal for the pilgrim to make an attentive and, as far as possible, scientific approach to new archeological discoveries, especially if he be able to make more than one pilgrimage. This approach fits in well with the spiritual dimension of the journey if it be a balanced approach. Indeed it becomes an indispensable element for gaining awareness of the variety and concreteness of the experiences undergone in the land of the Bible. The Old Testament excavations at Samaria and Megiddo set before us the succession of various cultures that the land of Palestine has seen, from that of the Canaanites and Hebrews down to the hellenistic. An attentive visit to the recent discoveries on the south side of the Temple at Jerusalem cannot fail to give us a better understanding of how this sacred spot looked in Jesus' time. Likewise remains from the Constantinian, Byzantine and Crusader periods at the most sacred places of Christianity bear witness to the unbroken chain of interest and love that has ever surrounded these sites. Many archeological finds relating to the Bible lack the impressiveness of the remains of Greco-Roman civilization and may seem to be only heaps of stones to the eyes of the profane, but we ought to remember that stones also speak provided we know how to listen.
Ecumenical Dialogue
A fresh dimension is open to pilgrims of our day, the dimension of ecumenical dialogue. In the new political unity of the State of Israel numerous groups among the population desire to get back to the rhythm of Jewish religious life, to relive the liturgical tradition and solemnly celebrate its feastdays. A visit to Israel may provide a precious opportunity for a serious encounter with representatives of the Jewish religion, especially if the pilgrim be already prepared for such a dialogue. Such encounters can really help the Christian to recognize (perhaps to discover) the value of the Jewish tradition in liturgy, Midrash and Targum; it is possible to attain to a more perspicacious reading of the New Testament in their light. Such a Christian may even come to a more mature theological understanding of the significance of Judaism today in order to give a more genuine expression to his own Christian life. On the other hand, now that life in Eretz Israel has enabled the Jews to define their identity better, since they are no longer under the threat of long centuries of diaspora, Jews are more disposed to face the problem of Jesus of Nazareth, him whom Martin Buber called 'the Jewish elder brother'.
The Christian people is essentially defined as the people summoned by God to walk towards the Promised Land, towards the eschatological feast. Its most genuine spirit is therefore that of the Exodus. This perspective is emphasized by the Word, and is constantly lived in the signs of the Christian liturgy as well. The three processional moments occurring during the eucharistic celebration — those of the introit, offertory and communion — are intended to signify this dimension of the believer's pilgrimage through this world to God (even though they are not often understood in this way). This wayfaring aspect of the Christian was once amply represented also in the Lenten processional stations, together with the attached penitential practices. The classic architecture of the Latin church contributes to giving awareness of the idea of wayfaring, with its long nave leading towards the apse, where the image of the Pantocrator reigns. It was natural that pilgrimages to the Holy Land should have found their significance in this biblical and ecclesial concept of Christian existence and should have so developed as high periods of the spirit, as fundamental experiences capable of giving force to this basic dimension of the believer's life. But as St. Jerome pointed out so long ago, it is not sufficient merely to go on pilgrimage: its success depends upon the pilgrim's ability to journey in faith, with a new heart and with a will to conversion, for otherwise his journey might be the same as any other.
1. H.E. IV, 26, 14. PG 20, 396.
2. Ibid. VI, II, 2. PG 20, 547.
3. Cf. Eusebius, De Vita Constantin III, 25-43. PG 20, 1085-1106.
4. Hieronymus, Ep. 46, 10. PL 22, 489.
5. H. Leclerq, Pelerinages aux Lieux Saints, in Dictionnaire d'Areheologie Chretienne et de Liturgie, XIV, Letouzey-Anê, Paris 1939, col. 65-176.
6. Itineraria et Alia Geographica in Corpus Christiana-rum, Series Latina 175, (CCL), Brepols, Turnholt, 1965. N.B. passages from Itinerarium Burdigalense, from Itinerarium Egeriae, from Anonimi Placentini Itinerarium, from Petri Diaconi Liber de Locis Sanctis refer to this edition and divisions.
7. Ep. 108, 9. PL 22, 183-184.
8. Itinerarium Egeriae, in CCL, X, 7. Eteria, Diana di un Viaggio, Paoline, Alba 1976. Some texts use the name Eteria, others Egeria to refer to the same pilgrim.
9. Ibid. X, 8.
10. Itinerarium Burdigalense in CCL, 589, 9.
11. Ibid. 591, 4.
12. Petri Diaconi Liber de Lads Sanctis in CCL, p. 98.
13. Anonimi Placentini Itinerarium, in CCL, 6.
14. Itinerarium Egeriae, in CCL, II, 3.
15. Anonimi Placentini Itinerarium, in CCL, 37. 38.
16. Ibid. 4.
17. Ibid. 8.
18. Ibid. 5.
19. Ep. 58, 2-4. PL 22, 580-582.
20. Ibid. 2. PG 46, 1009-1015.
21. Ibid. 47, 2. PL 22, 493.
22. P. Alphandery, A. Dupront, La Cristiana() e !Idea di Crociata, Mulino, Bologna, 1974, cap. I: Pellegrinaggi e Crociate, pp. 19-48; Vita Aderaldi, cap. II, in AASS, Oct. VIII, p. 992 and Vita Silvini, cap. I, 9 in AASS, Febr. III, p. 30. See also: C. Kopp, Pelerinages aux Lieux Saints Anthrieurs aux Croisades in Dictionnaire de la Bible Supplement, VII, Letouzey-Ana, Paris 1966, col. 589-605; A. Fliche, V. Martin, Stork della Chiesa. vol. III, SAIE. Torino 1961, pp. 455-462; B. Koetting, Peregrinatio Religiosa, Wallfahrten in der Antike and das Pilgerwesen in der alten Kirche, Regensburg-Muenster, 1950; R. Oursel, Pellegrini del Medio Evo, Jaca Book, Milano, 1979. E. Pietrella, I Pellegrinaggi ai Luoghi Santi e it Culto dei Martini in Gregorio di Nina, in Augustinianum I (1981), 135-151.
