[Asceticism and Mystical Theology.doc]

Pilgrimage to sites associated with religious founders and teachers is a tradition Christianity shares with other world religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.  Judaism, too, once emphasized pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem; but the destruction of the Temple in 70, the transformation of Jerusalem into the Roman City of Aelia Capitolina, and restriction of Jewish presence in the city following the Bar-Kokhba revolt of 132-136 rendered Jewish pilgrimage to the Holy City impossible. The conversion of the Emperor Constantine to Christianity in 313, his building programs at the presumed site of Jesus’ burial, and the example of his pious and energetic Christian mother, Helena, gave impetus to Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem and other sites associated with Jesus and his apostles.  Around 333 a pilgrim from Bordeaux wrote brief descriptions of sites he visited in Jerusalem and its environs, together with a more extensive list of stages in his route from Gaul to Palestine (see The Bordeaux Pilgrim; Stewart 1887).  About fifty years later the Spanish nun Egeria wrote a more detailed travel-diary that attests to the popularity of Christian pilgrimage not only to sites associated with Jesus, but also to monasteries where monks offered spiritual counsel, a practice described in detail by John Cassian and Palladius.   Egeria’s diary also reveals the popularity of sites associated with Christian martyrs and their relics (see Egeria, Diary of a Pilgrimage; Gingras 1970).   Rome which boasted the tombs of Peter and Paul was a popular destination for pilgrims, as was Edessa in Syria, where Egeria was shown the Letter to Abgar, allegedly written by Jesus himself, and where several decades later a miraculous portrait of Jesus’ face, the Mandylion, would be exhibited for the veneration of pilgrims.

     Christian veneration of martyrs and their relics is described as early as the mid to late second century (The Martyrdom of Polycarp 18; Roberts 1885a: 43).  The transfer or translation of relics or portions of relics from the site of the original martyrdom to other churches facilitated the creation of pilgrimage sites throughout the Christian Roman Empire, including the imperial city of Constantinople.  During the Middle Ages Compostela in Spain came to be revered as the site of St. James’ relics, while in Germany the Apostle Matthias and the robe of Christ were venerated in Trier, and all three Magi were claimed by the cathedral in Cologne.  The martyrdom of Thomas Becket in 1170 established Canterbury as an international pilgrimage site until the Reformation; and modern apparitions of the Virgin Mary have resulted in regular organized pilgrimages to cities in Portugal (Fatima), France (Lourdes), Egypt (Zaitoun, Cairo), and indeed throughout the world.

        Christian pilgrimage has thus been popular almost from the beginning and remains so today; however the significance of pilgrimage as an ascetical practice has varied over the centuries.  During the fifth and sixth centuries, especially in the Celtic monastic tradition, the concept of pilgrimage took on a penitential quality through association with the ominous penalty of exile.  Missionary activity was envisioned as a voluntary, heroic pilgrimage for Christ whereby one abandoned the safety of clan and culture to travel dangerous roads for the sake of the gospel.  The tradition of pilgrimage was combined with the ideals of martyrdom and the Old Testament concept of holy warfare in the proclamation of the First Crusade by Pope Urban II (d. 1099). 

        Fascination with sites imbued with a sense of sacred history has perennially been coupled with an expectation of supernatural manifestations, such as prophecy and miraculous healings. But from at least the fourth century Christian pilgrimage to sacred sites has also been associated with the desire for personal transformation mediated by sacred relics, living spiritual guides, or some other aspect of God’s presence unique to the holy place.  An important mystical goal of pilgrimage has always been the hope for a deepened sense of communion with God by means of physical contact with a place rendered holy by the Christ or the saints.  The need to prepare oneself spiritually for such an encounter has always been taken for granted, and opportunities for extended prayers and sacramental celebrations are often available at the site.  The fact that travel to a distant locale was often arduous and dangerous in the past, and that it also entailed prolonged separation from family and friends added an ascetic and often penitential aspect to the experience.  For those unable to travel, pilgrimage to the Jerusalem via dolorosa¸was domesticated in the medieval West through pictorial “stations of the cross” that remain an important feature of Roman Catholic churches today.  “Making the Stations” in a slow, penitential progress around the church remains a very popular form of western ascetical practice today.  Veneration of successive icons in Orthodox churches serves an analogous purpose; however the icon is not necessarily a focus for penitential meditation, but serves rather a kind of sacred window into the presence of the saint or sacred event depicted.

This Webpage was created for a workshop held at Saint Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, California in 2003....x....  ’ “”.