Have you ever gone on a religious pilgrimage?

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martha

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Seriously. Have you ever traveled to a place that holds spiritual and/or religious significance for you? Would you like to tell me about it?


And if anyone decides to post a bunch of horseshit about how religious pilgrimages are lame because there is no God, you will get one of these : :tsk: and a kick in the pants.
 
I've actually always wanted to go to one particular place, just never got around to it.

But I have been away on religious retreats for a few days, on two or three separate occasions. I really enjoyed one of them. It was a Catholic retreat at something akin to a monastery in the wilderness. During the day we did a lot of group activities, indoors and outdoors, and it was a great spiritual experience. Working in a small group outside in snow up to your butt, and you get a real appreciation for the people you are with, their backgrounds and what they have to contribute to your little group which if you extrapolate to the world is important on a small scale as well. We did have small single rooms at night and I very much liked that. Another time I went to a place that had more of a dorm-like setting which resulted in basically somewhat of a party at 2 am, kind of defeated the purpose.
 
Not yet.

I met a great girl from Spain on the ship to Ometepe, and she was from Santiago de Compostela and she and her brother told me to visit. She worked in the north of Nicaragua, a shame I lost her address. :|

This year I still have to make a small pilgrimage to a little town called "Holy Cross" to thank for my exams. Some people are crazy, walking for days and days, but I would maybe do it. At an interesting place.

Reminds me of Tibet, lotsa pilgrimage there.
 
I went to Knock Shrine in Ireland-not specifically for that purpose but I was in Ireland already.

It was beautiful. I found it very peaceful there, the church there is gorgeous. I didn't much care for the tacky souvenir shops(but I assume some of that money goes back into the shrine and the local economy) and the fact that people were drinking the Holy Water there out of spigots. That's just what they do there.

http://www.knock-shrine.ie/

"The Story of Knock began on the 21st August 1879 when Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist appeared at the south gable of Knock Parish Church. The apparition was witnessed by fifteen people, young and old. From this miraculous occurrence Knock has grown to the status of an internationally recognised Marian Shrine.

The personal pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II in 1979, commemorating the centenary of the apparition, inspired an even greater devotion to the Shrine and endorsed the indelible seal of Vatican approval. Mother Teresa of Calcutta visited the Shrine in June of 1993. One and a half million pilgrims visit the Shrine annually. "
 
I've wanted to visit the Holy Lands, but have resisted the idea because I don't want to worship the place, but worship God.

I have engaged in periods of fasting with the express intent of shutting off the fleshly desires and focus on prayer and worship of God.
 
nbcrusader said:
I've wanted to visit the Holy Lands, but have resisted the idea because I don't want to worship the place, but worship God.

I have engaged in periods of fasting with the express intent of shutting off the fleshly desires and focus on prayer and worship of God.

Maybe you and I can take a field trip someday. I too have wanted to go there.

Great thread idea Martha.

For me, I would have to say that anytime I go into the mountains, and away from civilization, it feels like a pilgrimage to me. When I was younger I would take my clarinet or saxaphone out and play a piece. I felt closest to God at that time.
 
To talk about what feels like a pilgrimage, I can relate to Dread´s post. I have found the holy spirit to be ever-present in nature and in music as well.
 
In June of 2000, I went to Baltimore to visit the Shrine of St. Jude, my patron saint. My sister, who's not Catholic, met me in Baltimore and we went to the Shrine together. I spent about an hour and a half in prayer. My sister is normally not the praying type, but she was moved and knelt beside me in the little chapel. We had time for a secular activity after that and visited the house of Edgar Allan Poe, which was fascinating and sort of a secular pilgrimage itself if that makes any sense.
 
nbcrusader said:
I've wanted to visit the Holy Lands, but have resisted the idea because I don't want to worship the place, but worship God.


Why would you assume that you'd worship the place?

I didn't find that to be the case at all. In fact, while the place may be inspirational to people, it's more often the common bond of going there with somebody you love, or meeting there with people who share a common experience which allows you to worship God than the place itself.
 
Well, there was the pint I had at Docker's and my trip to the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. :D

Seriously, yes, I have. Back in high school, Pope JP II visited Denver for World Youth Day and I went with a youth group I was involved in at the time. :) A great experience.
 
Although I was an Atheist then and still am, I did go on a 30 day tour of the "Holy Land" about 6 years ago. Tour included Israel, Jordan and Egypt. It was a great time and Jordan was definitely the highlight of the trip for me.
 
I travel to see my spiritual Master all the time but it's never about the place.

There is a place in India I'd like to visit sometime, though.
 
martha said:
I found places where God has physically been to be very powerful; does visiting the place then become an act of worship?

Do you mean places where, for example, Jesus walked?

I can look out the window and see His power and majesty in His creation.
 
joyfulgirl said:
I travel to see my spiritual Master all the time but it's never about the place.

There is a place in India I'd like to visit sometime, though.

Who is your spiritual master, and which place is that? :hmm:
 
whenhiphopdrovethebigcars said:


Who is your spiritual master, and which place is that? :hmm:

Eh, I really don't want to go there in this forum. It's too sacred to me and people are too judgmental (not you). I'll only discuss it privately with people who are sincerely seeking something spiritually beyond what they've found thus far.

The place in India is an ashram where many past Masters and disciples of the teachings I follow have lived since the late 1800s. We have nothing like it in America and though my teacher isn't Indian, the teachings are the same and I think it would be an incredible place to visit--especially since it's still an active ashram with a living master and thousands and thousands of devotees live there.

I agree with martha. The energy of these places can be very powerful and if they raise your consciousness (sometimes permanently) I do think it can be a form of worship.
 
I'm Ready said:
I bet there is atleast one Muslim on board who has pilgrimmed to Mecca

How did you know? I am a Muslim. I haven't been yet, but my parents are there right now, as I am writing.

Hopefully one day.
 
Since I'm only 21 and my family never travels, I haven't really had the opportunity to try a religious pilgrimage.

However, swimming in Lake Victoria sure felt like one! It's the worst I've ever felt and the best I've ever felt - the worst b/c I was so sick for two weeks from whatever I caught and completely exhausted from the heat and lack of edible foods, but the best b/c the water was 80 degrees, the sun was shining, the beach was clean, kids were playing on their way home from school, local people were fishing with their nets...it never felt so good to be so far from home.

This isn't really a pilgrimage, but a few months ago, our air compressor in our computer shop at work broke. Another collegue was showing me the room where the air pipe originates, so we could check for a leak. The room was upstairs in the college library, where they store a bunch of old cool books. We were kinda joking around until we got to the room and the guy said "don't touch ANYTHING". At that time I didn't know what was in the room, but it was full of old Bibles. I stopped right in front of one from the mid-1500s. It was probably one of John Calvin's own Bibles, since our college is named after him and we're from a Calvinist denomination. I just stood there frozen in front of that book; I was afraid to breathe on it. It was so creepy and cool at the same time.
 
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U2 Beginner said:


How did you know? I am a Muslim. I haven't been yet, but my parents are there right now, as I am writing.

Hopefully one day.

Hi and welcome here. Hope you enjoy the board.

Being a cranky and not religious person the whole pilgrimage thing kind of escapes me. However, I always hear about pilgrimages to Mecca and am interested in the whys and wherefores. So if you're comfortable giving a bit of a primer, I'm interested in hearing it.

Thanks!
 
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