From Our Sunday Visitor
by Mary DeTurris Poust
It’s easy to turn the idea of a pilgrimage into something larger than life. We imagine Lourdes, the Holy Land, Rome, Assisi, and file our pilgrimage plans away on some sort of spiritual bucket list, thinking we have to wait until we’ve saved enough money or vacation time to make it happen.
But the truth is that pilgrimage doesn’t require a passport, or even a long-distance drive. There are plenty of opportunities to become pilgrims without leaving the confines of our own diocese, state or country. In fact, true pilgrimage doesn’t …
Read more
Tags: DoR History, Orthodoxy at Work
|
In the Middle Ages, Catholics who wanted to make a pilgrimage but did not have the means to travel that distance,walked a labyrinth inside their cathedral.The labyrinth was an eleven circuit design divided into four quadrants.The labyrinths were laid into the floor of the cathedral and were referred to as a pavement maze.If the labyrinth was used as penance, the pilgrim would walk on their knees. If a pilgrim was making a pilgrimage, they would walk the labyrinth standing on their feet. The pilgrimage taken on the labyrinth was “a questing, searching journey with the hope of becoming closer to God.” The most famous remaining labyrinth is the Chartres Labyrinth. This substitute that would serve as actually taking a journey to Jerusalem camed to be called “”Chemin de Jerusalem” or “Road of Jerusalem.”
It would be a special spiritual treat if this “Road of Jerusalem” was brought back for those who would like to do this unique spiritual pilgrimage.