Pilgrimage

pilgrimage

Journey to a shrine or other sacred place undertaken to gain divine aid, as an act of thanksgiving or penance, or to demonstrate devotion. Medieval Christian pilgrims stayed at hospices set up specifically for pilgrims, and on their return trip they wore on their hats the badge of the shrine visited. The chief attractions for pilgrims in the Middle Ages were the Holy Land, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, and Rome, but there were hundreds of local pilgrimage sites, including the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi and that of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury. More recent pilgrimage sites include the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico (1531), Lourdes in France (1858), and Fátima in Portugal (1917). The tradition of pilgrimage is also important in Buddhism, with sites including Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha received enlightenment, and Varanasi, where he delivered his first sermon. In Islam all members of the faith are enjoined to perform the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in their lifetime.

---

Pilgrimage 

a journey of believers to what are called holy places, undertaken in the hope of receiving “supernatural aid.” In antiquity, pilgrimage centers included the temples of Amon in Egyptian Thebes, Osiris in Abydos, and Apollo in Delphi. In the fourth century, Christians began making pilgrimages to Palestine, from which they usually brought back a palm branch. The pilgrimage aspect played an important role in the preparation for the Crusades, with religious motives often serving to conceal commercial and expansionist aims.

Both for the encouragement of pilgrimages and for religious propaganda, numerous guidebooks, or itineraries, were compiled. Many of them, along with descriptions of the pilgrimages themselves, later became important historical sources. In addition to Palestine, to which Christians, Jews, and Muslims make pilgrimages, other pilgrimage centers include, for the Eastern Orthodox, Constantinople (in the Middle Ages) and Mount Athos in Greece; for Catholics, Rome and Loreto in Italy and Lourdes in France; for Muslims, the hajj to Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia and Karbala and al-Najaf in Iraq; and for La-maists, Lhasa in China. Hindu pilgrimage centers are Allahabad and Varanasi (Benares) in India and for Buddhists and Shin-toists, Nara in Japan.

Church organizations use pilgrimages to strengthen the influence of religion and to spread legends about the “miracles” performed at pilgrimage centers. They are also an important source of revenue.

M. M. SHEINMAN