Why Do People Go On Pilgrimage?

by Michael Shackleton · January 2, 2017

Pilgrimages to certain holy places seem to have a long history among Christians. What prompted people in the first place to want to travel just in order to pray at a special spot? Couldn’t they pray just as well at home, considering that God is everywhere? S Greene

The film ‘Camino’ follows five pilgrims as they hike from southern France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The trek takes about 30 days. Santiago de Compostela is a famous Catholic pilgrimage site because what are believed to be the remains of St. James were discovered there. (CNS photo/courtesy CaminoDocumentary.org)

Going on pilgrimage is not merely a visit to a holy place to ask God for a particular favour in that place or to recharge spiritual batteries. It is an exceptional and deeply personal effort made by the individual Christian. It is the willingness to leave home and everyday life, and set out with courage in the company of others to demonstrate our common depth of faith and our need for spiritual reawakening.

The Jews of the Old Testament used to do this sort of thing when they journeyed at least once a year to the Temple in Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:2 points to the Temple and predicts that all the Gentiles will in time also become pilgrims to it.

As the early Christians began to spread out into the Greek and Roman civilisations around them, they found many shrines to pagan gods such as Apollo, to which pilgrims flocked. They regarded these as superstitious and vain practices. This, together with the persecutions of the time, explains why there were no Christian holy places devoted to pilgrimages.

When Constantine the Great allowed tolerance of Christianity in 313, things changed. Free to travel in comparative safety, Christians started visiting holy sites, such as the graves of martyrs and saints, and also as indications of their desire to repent for their sins.

It did not take long before pilgrims set out for the Holy Land, especially Jerusalem. Constantine’s mother Helena travelled there and is reputed to have discovered the True Cross of Christ. Christians, keen to visit the places highlighted in the life and death of Christ, soon followed to manifest their piety and to ask for forgiveness, healing, blessings and favours.

In medieval times penitential pilgrimages became popular as well as journeys to shrines dedicated to Our Lady and the saints. Pilgrimages of all sorts have followed.

You wonder why people impose such a huge task on themselves when they could just as well pray at home. Every person is different. Some have profound spiritual needs that will not be satisfied without doing something extra special. Some feel they need to expiate their sins in only this or that way. It is a matter of personal preference.

Christ expects us to lay up treasure for ourselves in heaven (Lk 12:32). The pilgrim may find this treasure on the road to and from a shrine. Another may find it at home. In both cases their prayer and desire to encounter God is never in vain.