On Pilgrimage
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by Doris Froelich
How does pilgrimage differ from sightseeing? My husband and I have close friends who traveled to Ireland and Spain the same summers that we were on pilgrimage in these places. They asked us how our pilgrimage differed from their trips. It was hard for us to put into words. We saw many of the same things, did many of the same things, but came away with quite different remembrances of our visits. Douglas Vest, in his book On Pilgrimage, expresses it well: "Pilgrimage has an avowed spiritual dimension. It is more than a physical movement away from home to new surroundings, for it is an inward journey as well as an outward journey, into the self as well as to new places. The path of pilgrimage offers new settings that can stimulate us, make us more alert and open to wonder, fascination, and awe."The first time I left home to "go on pilgrimage" was in 1989. Shalem sponsored its first pilgrimage that year, with Tilden Edwards and Carole Crumley taking a group to Assisi, Italy, to walk "in the footsteps of Francis and Clare." After settling into our lodging in Assisi, we pilgrims gathered to introduce ourselves to each other and to answer the question: "Why are you here; what brought you to join this pilgrimage to Assisi?"
While I knew very little about either Saint Francis or Saint Clare prior to applying, the fact that my future husband and I had been introduced at a dinner party celebrating Francis' feastday created a desire in both of us to come and learn about this extraordinary man. We were not disappointed. The rhythm of the days, time together and time alone, the holy places we visited, and leaders' presentations and invitations to travel inward were richer than ever I could have asked for or imagined. They truly stimulated us, made us more alert and open to wonder, and helped us accept as gift the surprises each day might bring. The other pilgrims, too, were gifts; traveling prayerfully with people who are actively striving for a closer relationship with God added the dimension of comfort and "family."
I found, somewhat to my surprise, that I drew on my Assisi experiences when we were in the Holy Land and the Sinai Desert. Again, in Ireland and later in Spain, learnings from the previous pilgrimages were more fully appreciated and re-experienced in the new setting.
This learning from Assisi I will never forget: Tilden talked about St. Francis seeing a leper coming toward him and, after first turning away, Francis got down from his horse and embraced the leper. Tilden then asked us, "Is there something in your life today which is a leper for you? Can you embrace it?" For me, yes, there was something in Assisi which I needed to face and try to embrace. When I finally did, it was transformed into something very good and beautiful and made a wonderful difference throughout the rest of the pilgrimage. I have remembered this lesson and put it to work for me many times, both at home and on pilgrimage.
Vest also advocates advance planning, imagining the journey ahead of time and learning as much as possible about where you are going. In preparation for our next pilgrimage-back to Spain this July-we are in training to do something we have been yearning to do since the pilgrimage of 1996. We plan to depart for Spain two weeks before Shalem's pilgrimage begins so that we can walk a portion of the ancient Pilgrim Path to Santiago de Compostela which has been trod by millions since the Middle Ages. We are gathering information and communicating with people who have walked the Path in recent years, and our excitement is mounting. We go to the gym four mornings each week for weight training to strengthen all our muscles, and we take walks to increase our endurance. In the spring, we will add backpacks and increase our walks to ten miles a day on hilly terrain.
In addition to the physical journey, there is always the spiritual journey- the spiritual deepening that happens through visiting various holy sites, the sharing and praying with fellow pilgrims, and the being open to the gifts and surprises God brings. And we try to prepare for this, too-by praying, reading about Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, and readying our hearts for the journey.
In many ways, we feel we have already begun this next pilgrimage and look forward to seeing and touching the places we are reading and dreaming about, to the deepening love of God that always occurs. On July 22, we hope to join the rest of the pilgrims to praise God in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and to continue our inward and outward sacred journey in Santiago, Segovia and Avila.
Doris is a Shalem Board member and Shalem's volunteer librarian.
© 2008 The Shalem Institute.