The Spiritual Meaning of the Pilgrimage

The Christian pilgrimage is a symbolic external journey that fully integrates with our internal journey in our discipleship journey towards God. It is a journey that also involves an expression of penance and usually leads to a destination of sacred meaning. Pilgrimage is a journey with a purpose, which invites us to make sense of the ordinary things of life, including places we frequent, relationships, and ways of living with which we sustain our lives. In this light, we realise the opportunity to start relating once again with God in complete integrity with our behaviours.

Therefore, a pilgrimage implies a decision. Even if the pilgrims are not necessarily foreigners, they must acknowledge that they are foreigners on this earth to embrace within themselves the risks of the journey. This embracing of every area in our lives, the joys and disappointments, integrates the material journey with the inner one with the hope that we will ultimately benefit from one spiritual benefit: our personal encounter with God.

The meaning of pilgrimage in today’s world

In a contemporary society, pilgrimage touches on various aspects of life. Generally, the need for pilgrimage emerges from a desire to connect with oneself and to get out the comfort zones of daily routines. Such desires provide us with the opportunity to rediscover not only our emotions and values, but also our faith. It is a search through which we discover the call to fellowship with God through relational encounters with people, even strangers, who share such experiences with us.

It is an experience that we often continue remembering throughout our whole lives and that often requires us to somewhat change the way we live.

1. Choose a destination or route you would like to take in 2025. It would be ideal to view of a Holy Door on the journey. This site can either be a temporary stop along the way or the ultimate destination of the journey.

2. Choose who you will travel with. The possibilities are three: to travel alone, with people who are familiar to you (relatives or friends), as well as with people who are complete strangers to you. If you are not experienced, it would be wise not to do your first pilgrimage alone, especially if you are not familiar with the whereabouts.

3. Decide how much time you want to spend on the journey. Take considerate care not only of how many days you have available, but also of your physical health. It is advisable to prepare yourself in trips that you are familiar with before the pilgrimage itself in order to be aware of your own pace and limitations.

4. Always remember to carry the essentials with you: a comfortable backpack, clothing suitable for the destination country’s temperatures, drinking water, raincoat, hat, sunglasses and sunblock.