Motives for Pilgrimage

Motives for Pilgrimage

Many questions are a raised when flipping throughout the history of the religion of Christianity. Why did Christians fight so long against Pagan rulers? Why did their religion mean so much to them, they would risk their life for it? Maybe by narrowing the questions down possible answers can be developed. Possibility one starting point can be, what are the motives for early Christian pilgrimage? Pilgrimages are an essential part of Human culture and are defined, as is a mission to come closer to the Supreme and to experience a communion with God. Usually they are made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion. These missions hold extremely great merit to many Christians as they provided a gateway to their holy land.

During much of the Roman Empire, practice of the Religion of Christianity was outlawed. Up until the time of Constantine it could lead to your death, and it happened very frequently. However the faith still stayed stalwart and people started to become curious of the areas listed in the bible. Eusibeus gave information of Melito, a man from Sardis, who happens to be the earliest known pilgrim to date. He made his travel around 150. There is not a lot of information that is given about his journey, but the info that was salvaged was mentioned. The purpose of his mission was to establish an accurate analysis to the Old Testament. He was more interested in the Jewish traditions on his trip. Hunt gave a view of Melito’s journey by stating; “ The past which he went in search of was the narrative of the Bible, and this he expected to see mapped out in contemporary Palestine. Only a handful of non-biblical reminiscences appear to have caught the pilgrims attention in his travels.”; So the motive that drove Melito was the interests of the places mentioned in the bible.

While Melito was tagged as the earliest known of the Pilgrims, Helena carries the distinction of being the most popular Pilgrim. Helena was the mother of Constantine, who was the man responsible for the Religion of Christianity being accepted in the Roman Empire. The story of Helena holds lots of merit, but there is no one that has linked Helena to any of this. On her pilgrimage she traveled to Palestine and Jerusalem. An article by David Hendin had a list of the many things that Helena has said ...

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... and the response of pilgrims to the wide-scale “promotion” of the Holy Land.” So, to add motive for Christians in that time monks and priests were pushing them towards taking pilgrimages. By these acts the people who depart on these trips can really show their true faith.

Works Cited

Brown, Peter. Religion and Society in the Age of St. Augustine. London, 1972.

Eusebius. The History of the Church. England: Penguin Group,1989.

Hendin, David. “Helena, the First Christian Pilgrim” http://www.amphoracoins.com/article/helena.col.htm Holum, Kenneth G. “Hadrian and St. Helena: Imperial Travel and the Origins of Christian Holy Land Pilgrimage,” The Blessings of Pilgrimage. U. of Illinois, 1990.

Hunt, E.D. Holy Land Pilgrimage in the Later Roman Empire. Clarendon Press Oxford, 1982

Toynbee, J. M. C., The Hadrianic School: A Chapter in the History of Greek Art, Cambridge 1934

Sivan, Hagith. “Pilgrimage, Monasticism, and the Emergence of Christian Palestine in the 4th Century”. The Blessings of Pilgrimage. U. of Illinois, 1990.