A Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey undertaken for a religious reason. Since the
time of Jesus Christians have visited the places associated with his
birth, life and death. In addition to these sites in Israel there are
many other centres of Christian pilgrimage Lourdes in France,
Walsingham, and Canterbury in England, Holywell and Saint Davids in
Wales, Rome, to name but a few.
[IMAGE]
The Roman Catholic Church has always taught that pilgrimage is a
useful way to strengthen one's Christian faith. The Protestant
Churches generally rejected the idea of pilgrimage because they
believe that if it gives people the wrong idea about God. Pilgrimage
was always popular in the Middle Ages, and is increasingly in
popularity again, perhaps because Christians are searching for a
Christian identifying in the hurly-burly of the twentieth century
life.
WHY I WENT ON A PILGRIMAGE
==========================
I have three reasons why I went on a pilgrimage. They are:
· To visit the sites of Jesus' birth, life and death in order to
experience the atmosphere and gain a deeper understanding of his
teaching.
· To walk in his footsteps of a saint who was very special to us
(Christians), especially if a miracle is connected to the site of the
pilgrimage.
· To thank God for a blessing he has given them.
· To be with fellow Christians from all round the globe. Christianity
[IMAGE]
THE HOLY LAND AND WHAT I DID
----------------------------
I began my pilgrimage in the place of Jesus' birthplace, BETHLEHEM.
The story of Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a small town, which lies about five miles south ...
... middle of paper ...
...ich juts into the Sea of Galilee. Here, it is
thought, the risen Jesus appeared to the disciples, and especially to
Peter. As I stood outside this place, with the sound of the water
lapping at the edge of the lake, one pilgrim read aloud the words from
the Gospel According to St. John, chapter 21 verses 4-17, which tell
of the risen Jesus appearing and talking to Peter. Again easier to
visualise the scene beside the peaceful lake, and it was certainly
easier to pray here.
Now that I am home and look back on my pilgrimage, I find that I am
not just left with memories: the experiences of visiting and praying
at these holy places have strengthened my faith and made me more
determined to be better Christians. Certainly the pilgrimage for me
was 'a journey of a lifetime', a truly spiritual experience.
THE END.
... of saint because he had the strongest desire to do good for others. He exemplified great virtue and because of this a community was able to move forward.
the redemption of the innocent. His heart and mind lay in the correct place by leaving the
to fulfil his life to the fullest. Louis Armstrong will always be remembered as a wonderful
What is a Crusade? How did a Crusader crusade? What caused him to seek “holy war?” Is a Crusade a Holy War or a Pilgrimage? Did a crusader only leave to find his own economic benefits? What caused the success of the first crusaders? These are some of the many questions that laid before me when I started my research. The crusading movements are such widely debated among the modern historian that they leave many readers confused about what actually caused the crusades, and what a crusade actually entails. In the coming pages I hope to give my reader something to ponder, understand, and acknowledge about it’s origins, and eventually lead my reader into the first crusading movement. Thus, the argument I intend to make examines the events in previous centuries, and the culmination of political and moral changes, as well as economic ones that occurred before Urban’s call for crusade. We will explore Feudalism, it’s war-centric society and how this caused Urban (as well as some Popes and religious figures before him) to seek a peaceable solution that would ensure safety for the clergy, the peasant, and the non-violent. Furthermore, Pope Urban sought to continue Pope Gregory's (and Cluniac) reform to solidify Papal authority over Christendom, and respond to years of Muslim raids along the Mediterranean and upper Italian Coastlines that threatened Italian unity. In effect, the first crusading movement represented and embodied the European culture, society, and ideologies of the time.
to be his spiritual advisor on the day of his death. During this phase of the
If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friend, and never see them again… then you are ready for a walk. -Henry David Thoreau (Haberman 12)
...s is related to his philosophy about doing the right thing and about a being a good person. But it goes beyond this. He spoke often about having true compassion. It isn’t enough to help those in need, but we must truly care about them, to take a good look and see how they got that way. He asked us to examine how we as a society can change the conditions that led them to be there in the first place. Doing this makes us better as people. I have found that it also makes me feel better. Never give up on your dreams. While his life was cut tragically short, he died in pursuit of his dream and in spite of everything he faced, he never gave up on it. He faced obstacles I could never imagine having to face, and still persisted. This reminds me that the small things in my life that often seem insurmountable, are just my excuses for not taking action and are not obstacles.
The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative that appears in novels, storytelling, myth, and religious ritual. It was first identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell in his book A Hero with Thousand Faces. Campbell also discussed this pattern in his interview to Bill Moyers which was later published as a book The Power of Myths. This pattern describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds. Campbell detailed many stages in the Hero’s Journey, but he also summarized the pattern in three fundamental phases: Separation, Ordeal, and Return that all heroes, in spite of their sex, age, culture, or religion, have to overcome in order to reach the goal. Alice in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll, provides a good example of the Hero's Journey. This story describes the adventures of Alice, a young English girl, in Wonderland. Although she lacks some of the stages identified by Campbell, she still possesses many of them that are necessary for a Hero to be considered a Hero.
to find peace after the deaths of his brother, William, his best friend, Clerval, and the family
Dhanpat Rai Shrivastava was born on July 31, 1880 in the small village of Lamahi, located near the city of Banaras in India. Although born into the Hindu Kaystha caste, made up of professionals including writers, doctors and lawyers, his family was poor. His father was a low paid postal employee. His mother died when he was only eight years old. His father remarried, but Dhanpat Rai did not like his stepmother. He studied Urdu and Persian, languages used in literature and administration in 19th century North India at a nearby school. He recalles his childhood fondly in one of his stories, so it is fairly safe to assume that he was a happy and well cared for child.
The Spiritual and Moral Journeys in The Quest of the Holy Grail. The Quest of the Holy Grail is an exciting tale that follows the adventures of King Arthur's knights as they scour the countryside for the legendary Holy Grail. Throughout their journeys, the knights engage in many exciting jousts and sword fights with a variety of enemies. The author of The Quest of the Holy Grail intends for the story to be more than just entertainment: the knights' search for the Holy Grail is analogous to the pursuit of morality and spiritual chivalry, showing success through asceticism, confession, chastity, and faith.
because of what his father told him as a young boy. His father said "he 's a true saint of God, a remover of worries and troubles, were it not for him I would have died miserably. This remark had stuck in his mind for years but became
The author of The Pilgrim's Progress is well described by Coleridge's remark: "His piety was baffled by his genius; and Bunyan the dreamer overcame the Bunyan of the conventicle." This remark points out the difficulty that Bunyan faces when he attempts to write a religious piece of work in the style of allegory. The Pilgrim's Progress is "pious" because it is a piece written in dedication to God. It contains important religious teachings -- what a good Christian should do and what he should not do. What Coleridge means by Bunyan's "genius" is basically the story itself. The story is so well written that people become so interested in the story and forget the whole spiritual truth behind and this worry Bunyan. Coleridge also indicates in his remarks, the tension between "piety" and "dreaming". "Dreaming", as we know is unreal, and it can hardly be connected with "piety". But Bunyan, through his "genius", not only managed to bring these two things together, but in way that would be satisfiable to all.
I attended a Wesleyan church service in Sandy Lake as a religious event, and will comparing it to my normal church service of Christianity service in my hometown of Grassflat, PA. There were many aspects of the religious services that were different, such as the clothing worn, music sang, and setting. I also experienced many things that were unique to what I was used too. Many aspects of the service also appealed to me, while some parts of the service were unappealing to me. It also relates to many things that I have learned in Western Humanities thus far. Church services have went from a group setting to a more individualized approach to better fit the way people want to worship God.
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s writing, “The Canterbury Tales”, he writes of a pilgrimage and describes every character that is involved, some more in depth than others. Keep in mind that this writing is dated back in the 1300’s, so there is going to be some distinction between those he described on the pilgrimage compared to how one would describe people of today. If Chaucer did write about people today, three people he would most likely choose would be a teacher or professor, a professional athlete, and a song artist.