What is a Pilgrimage?

What is a Pilgrimage?

As we hopped on the bus at Saint Vincent de Paul Church on our way to Los Angeles Airport, Father began by explaining that we were about to depart on a journey not as tourist, but pilgrims.  A pilgrimage is a journey with a purpose, usually to venerate sites in connection with our Catholic faith.  Early Christians made journeys to the sites associated with Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.  This tradition continued and expanded to following the footsteps of the apostles, Marian apparitions and important locations of Saints and Christian Martyrs.  The purpose always to enrich our faith while carrying special prayer intentions.  During my trip, continuously I heard a woman in our group repeat, “I have to remember, this is not a vacation, but a pilgrimage.”  She kept repeating this at moments when I believe she needed to remember Christian charity because in our group we had older people with difficulty in mobility.  One day one of the members in our group got lost, another day someone got their purse stolen and these issues affected the group since we travel as a large family.  Thus, the journey is also an exercise in Christian virtue.

Does it cost money?

Some people think that if one has a good relationship with the priest and is involved with the parish that one is selected to travel free of charge.  Unfortunately, no discounts are made nor do priests use the Sunday collection to sponsor trips for their favorite parishioners.  If one is interested in joining a group on a pilgrimage one is responsible to pay for the trip and to bring money to spend during the trip.

What happens during the journey?

A pilgrimage is journey with a purpose.  The pilgrimage I just went on, had the themes of following in the footsteps of Saint John Paul II and Divine Mercy.  Thus, we toured areas that correlated with the themes of our journey.  Usually we have a qualified guide that will share information about each of the sites we are visiting imparting lots of great knowledge.  In addition, every day we have a chapel reserved for daily Mass and time to pray the rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet together as a group.  Usually, we also have some free time for reflection.  

Pros & Cons:

I love traveling with other Catholics because I feel safe and I learn a great deal from them.  My experiences have always been really positive because for the most part it feels like one is traveling with one’s family.  We do get to visit both religious and secular sites.

The downside is that sometimes the scheduling can be a little overwhelming with activity.  This recent trip I felt like we were always rushing - fighting against time.  Our "on our own" lunches were always an hour or so long (which in European countries this is never long enough), we didn’t have much free time, some people missed not being able to shop, and I missed not being able to reflect on my day (alone).  My roommate one day said, “I don’t want to see the inside of another church again.”  She meant that we were seeing so many that the details of each were starting to get confused in our minds.  Yet, it seemed like God heard her because after that we began exploring the historical sites of each country.

Closing Thoughts:

Though this pilgrimage that I just came from was too full of activity, I still had some super meaningful moments and I learned a great deal both culturally and spiritually.  Each pilgrimage is different, but the objective is always to get closer to God.  Thus, for me this will always be an option for travel.