Angela Varga: Creation of Christian Pilgrimages

The idea of a pilgrimage was not new to me coming into this class. I feel like I’ve learned about Muslims and their hajj to Mecca since I’ve been enrolled in history classes in elementary school. However, I did not realize that there were different types of pilgrimages. On page 4 of Turner’s texts he talks about Christianity and how it “generated its own mode of liminality for the laity. This mode was best represented by the pilgrimage to a sacred site or holy shrine located at some distance away from the pilgrim’s place of residence and daily labor” (4). It’s interesting that Christian pilgrimage began with the laity. One would think that the most devout, aka the monastics, would be the ones engaging in pilgrimages, but the fact that it was the laypeople that journeyed is very interesting. I think the creation of pilgrimages for the laity was a way for the laity to become more involved with their religion instead of just attending mass. Ideally the monastics were connected to God always, but the laypeople were only connected to God while attending mass. It’s no wonder pilgrimages were created in Christianity as a pilgrimage would allow the laity to discover their spirituality and strengthen their connection with their god.