) for performing sacrifices and prayers.
Modern pilgrimage in Russia[ | ]
Currently, the pilgrimage of believers to holy places is beginning to revive in Russia. Active monasteries and churches play a big role in this by organizing such events. Pilgrimage services have emerged, specializing in organizing pilgrimage trips around the world. Some travel companies are also actively involved in this process.
According to the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, Orthodox Christians from Russia, Ukraine and Moldova who come to this city on pilgrimage make up about half of the spiritual pilgrims from all over the world.
Outside of Russia, Russian pilgrims, in addition to Palestine, visit the Greek Athos, the Italian city of Bari, where the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker rest, the Montenegrin capital Cetinje, where the right hand of John the Baptist and other Christian shrines are located.
Despite the apparent external similarity of pilgrimage with excursion tourism, their internal essence is very different: while excursion tourism aims to visit interesting places, pilgrimage involves preliminary spiritual work, “cleansing the soul,” before visiting a shrine. However, pilgrimage is often replaced by excursion tourism, when people are simply taken to “excursion sites” without prior internal, spiritual preparation. Therefore, back in the spring of 2003, the Interreligious Council of Russia submitted a proposal to the State Duma of the Russian Federation to distinguish between the concepts of “pilgrimage” and “tourism” at the legal level.
The meaning of pilgrimage[ | ]
To encourage pilgrimages, numerous guidebooks (itineraries) were compiled, many of which, like descriptions of the pilgrimages themselves, subsequently became important historical sources. Descriptions of “walks” to the Holy Land, compiled by some pilgrims, played a huge role in the spread of legends and apocryphal literature in Rus'.
Religious motives were often a cover for trade and aggressive goals. For example, pilgrimage played a significant role in the preparation of the Crusades. And among the pilgrims in Jerusalem in the Middle Ages one could also meet nobles seeking knighthood at the Holy Sepulcher; and political and military agents of kings; and adventurers who sought occult knowledge in the East full of wonders; and scientific researchers; and, finally, merchants who visited Palestine for trading purposes.
PILGRIMAGE
In various religions there is a phenomenon that in Russian is usually expressed by the concept of “pilgrimage”. Despite the commonality of the name, the traditions of pilgrimage, the criteria for its evaluation in different religions differ significantly. Therefore, the word “pilgrimage” in its full sense is correct to use only in relation to Christian pilgrimage.
The concept of "pilgrim" comes from the word "palm", which is the translation of the corresponding Latin word. They were originally called pilgrims - participants in the religious procession in the Holy Land on the feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (otherwise this holiday is also called Vai Week, or, in the Russian Orthodox tradition, Palm Sunday). Subsequently, pilgrims began to be called pilgrims traveling not only to Jerusalem, but also to other Christian shrines.
ORTHODOX PILGRIMAGE
At the VII Ecumenical Council, which marked the victory over the heresy of iconoclasm, a determination was adopted according to which God should be served, and icons should be worshiped. This definition, which has the character of church dogma, is also connected with the topic of Orthodox pilgrimage. Pilgrims in the Byzantine church tradition are called worshipers, that is, people who travel for the purpose of worshiping shrines.
Since the definition of the VII Ecumenical Council was not accepted in the Catholic West, a difference arose in the understanding of pilgrimage within Christianity. In many European languages, pilgrimage is defined by the word “pilgrim,” which translated into Russian means only “wanderer.” Pilgrims in the Catholic Church pray at holy places and practice meditation. However, the worship of shrines that exists in the Orthodox Church is absent in Catholicism.
Protestants have moved even further away from Orthodoxy, not venerating saints, icons, or holy relics. Due to such a difference in the understanding of the pilgrimage tradition in Christianity, we can talk about Orthodox pilgrimage.
PILGRIMAGE AND TOURISM
Nowadays, you can often hear such phrases as “pilgrimage tourism”, “pilgrimage tour”, “pilgrimage excursion”, etc. All these expressions stem from a misunderstanding of the essence of pilgrimage, from its rapprochement with tourism due to purely external similarities. Both pilgrimage and tourism are related to the theme of travel. However, despite the similarities, they have different natures. Even when visiting the same holy places, pilgrims and tourists do so in different ways.
Tourism is a journey for educational purposes. One of the popular types of tourism is religious tourism. The main thing in this type of tourism is getting to know the history of holy places, the lives of saints, architecture, and church art. All this is described on the excursion, which is the most important element of the trip for the tourist. An excursion can also be part of a pilgrimage, but not the main one and not obligatory, but an auxiliary one. The main thing in pilgrimage is prayer, worship and religious worship of shrines. Orthodox pilgrimage is part of the religious life of every believer. In the process of making a pilgrimage, the main thing during prayer is not the external performance of rituals, but the mood that reigns in the heart, the spiritual renewal that happens to an Orthodox Christian.
Calling on its believers to make a pilgrimage, the Russian Orthodox Church also respects tourists visiting Christian shrines. The Church considers religious tourism an important means of spiritual enlightenment of our compatriots.
Despite the fact that pilgrimage is essentially a religious activity, in the Russian Federation it is still regulated by tourism legislation.
TRADITION OF PILGRIMAGE IN Rus'
Russian Orthodox pilgrimage dates back to the first centuries of the spread of Christianity in Ancient Rus', i.e. from IX-X centuries Thus, Russian Orthodox pilgrimage is already more than 1000 years old. Russian people have always perceived pilgrimage as a holy undertaking necessary for every believer. At first, pilgrimage in Rus' was perceived as a pilgrimage to the holy places of Ecumenical Orthodoxy - to the Holy Land, to Egypt, to Mount Athos, and so on. Gradually, Rus' developed its own pilgrimage centers. Traveling to them has always been perceived as a spiritual and physical feat. That is why they often went on foot to worship. When going on a pilgrimage, Orthodox Christians receive a blessing to perform it from the diocesan bishop or from their spiritual mentor.
Archbishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, Secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate for Foreign Institutions
Edicule - the place of the three-day burial of the Savior
PILGRIMAGE IS AN ANCIENT SOUL-SAVING TRADITION OF ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS
Pilgrimage, unlike tourism, always has, as a rule, one main goal - worship of a shrine, which is associated with a lot of intense spiritual work, prayers and divine services. Sometimes pilgrimage is associated with physical work, when workers (as these pilgrims are called) have to do physical work in holy places. Pilgrimage attracts hundreds of thousands and even millions of people, because in a holy place prayers are more effective, and all Orthodox believers dream of visiting holy places associated with the earthly life of the Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos. It is very important what a person carries with him in his soul during a pilgrimage to a shrine, how sincere he is. If he comes only for the sake of curiosity or to learn new things, this is not a pilgrimage, but religious tourism. And if a person arrives at a holy place with reverent prayer and supplication to our Lord Jesus Christ and the Most Holy Theotokos, coming from the soul itself, with faith, then the person receives special grace from God in the holy place.
The main mistake of those who consider pilgrimage a type of tourist travel: tourism arose earlier than pilgrimage. But this is certainly not the case, because Russian Orthodox pilgrimage alone is more than 1000 years old, and Christian pilgrimage in general is more than 1700 years old. Mass tourism in its modern sense arose only in the first quarter of the 20th century.
The shrines of Ecumenical Orthodoxy are, first of all, the Holy Land, and not only Jerusalem, but also Bethlehem, Nazareth, Hebron and other places associated with the earthly life of the Savior. By the way, Egypt, which everyone is accustomed to considering as a traditional holiday destination for modern Russians, is also one of the centers of Christian pilgrimage. Here the Savior spent the first years of his life together with the Mother of God and righteous Joseph, hiding from King Herod. The Holy Family also lived in Cairo at that time. These places have always been very revered by Orthodox pilgrims. In Egypt, in the 3rd-4th centuries, ascetics of piety shone forth and created Christian monasticism. The first monastic communities arose there, in the deserts of Egypt. An important part of the Holy Land are Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, where there are also many holy places associated with the acts of the holy Apostles and other saints of God.
There are many holy places of Orthodoxy in Turkey and Greece. After all, the territories of these states over five hundred years ago formed the basis of the Orthodox Byzantine Empire. And as before, the capital of the empire, the former Constantinople and present-day Istanbul, is a holy city for every Orthodox Christian. And the main shrine of Greece is considered to be Holy Mount Athos. The pilgrimage to this blessed place never stopped.
In Italy, the two most important cities for Orthodox pilgrims are Rome and Bari. There are a lot of Orthodox shrines in the Eternal City. After all, the Church was united for a whole thousand years, and during this time many saints of God shone here, whom Orthodox people still worship. First of all, of course, to the Holy Apostle Peter. And in Bari rest the honest relics of St. Nicholas of Myra, and there, of course, the path laid by Russian pilgrims is not overgrown.
Orthodox shrines are also located in other large cities and capitals of European countries. For example, many Lyudmila go to Prague to venerate the honorable relics of the martyr Princess Lyudmila of Bohemia. There are also many relics in Paris, including the Savior's crown of thorns.
In our Fatherland, saved by God, pilgrimage has long become widespread in many regions. Today, many traditional and folk forms of pilgrimage are being revived. For example, multi-day religious processions to a specific shrine or from one shrine to another. Many pilgrims come to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Processions to the Tsar's martyrs have resumed in Yekaterinburg. Almost every diocese has shrines to which Orthodox people living in neighboring cities and villages go. A huge role is played by the pilgrimage services created in more than 50 dioceses, which organize this work, guide people, bless, receive, and nourish them in churches, monasteries and parishes. Millions of people in Russia go and worship to the miraculous icons of the Savior and the Mother of God, to holy springs, and the honest relics of God’s righteous people.
There are many shrines worshiped by Russian Orthodox pilgrims in Ukraine and Belarus. These are primarily the Kiev-Pechersk, Pochaev and Svyatogorsk Lavras, as well as the Polotsk Spaso-Euphrosinievsky Monastery.
Pilgrimage is one of the most ancient manifestations of worship. It has existed as long as humanity can remember, it has existed in all religions, among all peoples.
Who is a pilgrim? This is a person who makes certain efforts, experiences the hardships associated with travel, in order to worship and touch the shrine dear to his heart.
Why do we go on pilgrimage? After all, any shrine spreads grace far beyond its material component. We can pray with faith and hope, and the Lord, the Mother of God, and all the saints will undoubtedly hear us, wherever we are.
So why from time immemorial has it been necessary for a person to make a pilgrimage, to physically touch and feel a shrine? Because a person is not only soul and spirit, but also flesh, body. The human body actively participates in prayer through the sign of the cross, bowing from the waist and bowing to the ground; a person carries his mortal, sometimes resisting body to the temple, and partakes of the Sacraments not only spiritually, but also physically. To nourish the shrine of a person’s mental and physical senses - sight, hearing, touch - there is church art. Seeing the beauty of the decoration of temples and the warm fire of candles, listening to euphonious singing, smelling fragrant incense, a person tunes his bodily senses to a more elevated mood, to the perception of the spiritual world.
On a pilgrimage, a person is enriched with new sublime impressions that lift him above the bustle of everyday life. By venerating and touching miraculous icons and holy relics, we not only give honor to the shrine, but thereby sanctify our flesh. Christians do not deify the bodies of saints as such, but venerate them as the receptacle of the Holy Spirit; they do not worship icon boards, but those depicted on them.
Thus, pilgrimage for a Christian is one of the main ways to unite the spiritual and physical principles.
Christians travel to holy places for the sake of thanksgiving, repentance, renewal of their spiritual life, prayer to the Lord for the healing of soul and body, and sometimes for the sake of fulfilling their vows to God. In any case, when making a pilgrimage, a person strives to touch another world that really exists both in eternity and in physical space and time. And God, seeing the desire to get closer to Him, helps man, using shrines as conductors of His grace.
It can be said without exaggeration that Greece is a treasure trove of places of pilgrimage. Only active monasteries in a relatively small area of the country 
more than 1000. In recent years, many young people have come to the monastery; they labor with the ardent faith of the first Christian monks who fled from decaying Rome into the desert. This phenomenon gives hope. Especially when we remember that the population of Greece is only ten million people who were prohibited from openly practicing their faith for five hundred years of Turkish yoke. And in the 20th century, Greece experienced a devastating Italian and German occupation during World War II, and a bloody civil war that almost destroyed the country. But the power of faith, the miracle of Orthodoxy allowed the Greeks to survive, to survive as a nation, to preserve their great shrines and the grace of Orthodox civilization, which every person who comes to Greece on pilgrimage feels.
A lifetime is not enough to visit all the holy places of Greece dear to the heart of a Christian. And yet, without a pilgrimage to Greece it is impossible to understand and feel the greatness of universal Orthodoxy.
Welcome to the holy land of Hellas!
The going of believers to holy places to worship has been known since ancient times. For Christians, pilgrimage began in the 4th century. to Palestine, where the divine acts of the Savior were performed. Russian Orthodox pilgrimage dates back to the first centuries of the spread of Christianity in Ancient Rus', i.e. from the 9th–10th centuries
What is a "pilgrimage"?
The concept of "pilgrim" comes from the word "palm", which is the translation of the corresponding Latin word. They were originally called pilgrims - participants in the religious procession in the Holy Land on the feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (otherwise this holiday is also called Vai Week, or, in the Russian Orthodox tradition, Palm Sunday). Subsequently, pilgrims began to be called pilgrims traveling not only to Jerusalem, but also to other Christian shrines.
Despite the apparent external similarity of pilgrimage with excursion tourism, their internal essence is very different: while excursion tourism is aimed at visiting interesting places, pilgrimage involves preliminary spiritual work, “cleansing the soul,” before visiting a “shrine.” However, pilgrimage is often replaced by excursion tourism, when people are simply taken to “excursion sites” without prior internal, spiritual preparation.
From the history of the pilgrimage:
In the Middle Ages in the West, Venice served as the departure point for pilgrims. The pilgrims stocked up on a guidebook, grew a beard and put on pilgrim clothes - a kaligi, a brown or gray cloak, a Greek hat with a very wide brim, usually decorated with shells; a stick, a bag and a bottle (a hollowed-out pumpkin) completed the pilgrim outfit. Pilgrims attached a red cross to their cloak and hat. In Venice, the pilgrim entered into a contract with the shipowner (patron), who undertook not only to transport him to the Holy Land and back, but also to accompany him on his journeys to holy places, provide him with food and protection throughout the journey, pay taxes for him to the Muslim authorities and etc.
Gradually, further mitigations began to be allowed: a noble gentleman could send a servant or a mercenary in his place. Even secular guilds of professional hired pilgrims (called Sonnweger in Germany) were formed, which soon multiplied greatly, since this unique trade turned out to be very profitable. In the 16th century a pilgrim could be sent from an entire community at its expense.
In Russia, pilgrimages to the Holy Land began already in the early times of Russian Christianity. The difficulty and danger of the journey forced pilgrims to gather in “squads.” Making their way mainly through Constantinople, ancient Russian pilgrims borrowed costumes from Western pilgrims. By the 12th century. the passion for pilgrimage spread so much that the church authorities found it necessary to restrain overly zealous worshipers.
From the half of the 15th century. a turning point is taking place in the Russian pilgrimage. Already the former “pilgrims” were full of complaints and indignation at the oppression of the “sratsyns” and “evil araps”, and the capture of Constantinople by the Turks finally betrayed the Christian shrines of the East into the hands of the infidels.
Visits to the Holy Land were resumed only in the second half of the 16th century. But more often these are, so to speak, “official pilgrimages” made by people who were sent by the Moscow government to the East with errands and alms. And since the 18th century. A new, more conscious and critical attitude towards the East begins to prevail.
The long wars with Turkey during the reign of Catherine II (second half of the 18th century) did little to favor the pilgrimage of Russian people to the East. However, in the 19th century. the convenience and safety of communications led to its strong growth in the Holy Land. An important role, of course, was played in this by the establishment of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem in 1847.
Where do pilgrims go?
St. The traditions of Ecumenical Orthodoxy are, first of all, the Holy Land, and not only Jerusalem, but also Bethlehem, Nazareth, Hebron and other places associated with the earthly life of the Savior. By the way, Egypt, which everyone is accustomed to considering as a traditional holiday destination for modern Russians, is also one of the centers of Christian pilgrimage. Here the Savior spent the first years of his life together with the Mother of God and righteous Joseph, hiding from King Herod. The Holy Family also lived in Cairo at that time. These places have always been very revered by Orthodox pilgrims. In Egypt, in the 3rd–4th centuries, ascetics of piety shone forth and created Christian monasticism. The first monastic communities arose there, in the deserts of Egypt. An important part of the Holy Land are Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, where there are also many holy places associated with the acts of the holy Apostles and other saints of God.
There are many holy places of Orthodoxy in Turkey and Greece. After all, the territories of these states over five hundred years ago formed the basis of the Orthodox Byzantine Empire. And as before, the capital of the empire, the former Constantinople and present-day Istanbul, is a holy city for every Orthodox Christian. And the main shrine of Greece is considered to be Holy Mount Athos. The pilgrimage to this blessed place never stopped.
In Italy, the two most important cities for Orthodox pilgrims are Rome and Bari. There are a lot of Orthodox shrines in the Eternal City. After all, the Church was united for a whole thousand years, and during this time many saints of God shone here, whom Orthodox people still worship. First of all, of course, to the Holy Apostle Peter. And in Bari rest the honest relics of St. Nicholas of Myra, and there, of course, the path laid by Russian pilgrims is not overgrown.
Orthodox shrines are also located in other large cities and capitals of European countries. For example, many Lyudmila go to Prague to venerate the honorable relics of the martyr Princess Lyudmila of Bohemia. There are also many relics in Paris, including the Savior’s crown of thorns.
In our Fatherland, saved by God, pilgrimage has long become widespread in many regions. Today, many traditional and folk forms of pilgrimage are being revived. For example, multi-day religious processions to a specific shrine or from one shrine to another. Many pilgrims come to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Processions to the Tsar's martyrs have resumed in Yekaterinburg. Almost every diocese has shrines to which Orthodox people living in neighboring cities and villages go. A huge role is played by the pilgrimage services created in more than 50 dioceses, which organize this work, guide people, bless, receive, and nourish them in churches, monasteries and parishes. Millions of people in Russia go and worship to the miraculous icons of the Savior and the Mother of God, to holy springs, and the honest relics of God’s righteous people.
There are many shrines worshiped by Russian Orthodox pilgrims in Ukraine and Belarus. These are primarily the Kiev-Pechersk, Pochaev and Svyatogorsk Lavras, as well as the Polotsk Spaso-Euphrosinievsky Monastery.
In the Orthodox tradition, the understanding of pilgrimage as a phenomenon of religious life is closely connected with the teaching of the Church about holy icons.
It was in the Orthodox Church that the veneration of holy icons became an integral part of doctrine and worship. It is impossible to separate the worship of icons from the prayer practice of Orthodox believers. In the same way, worship of holy places is an integral part of church life.
In the history of Orthodox thought, the perception and awareness of the sacred (sacred) essence of these two sides of the Orthodox Tradition, the two components of spiritual practice, largely developed along a similar path. If icon painting is the internal work of the Church, theology (or “speculation”) in color, then exactly the same internal work of the Church is the worship of places associated with the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother, and later His closest disciples. For all Christians, the events of New Testament history, as part of the Divine economy, have a special and enduring significance, and the places where these events took place are revered as saints.
The key to the theological understanding of the tradition of pilgrimage to holy places that already existed at that time was the decisions of the VII Ecumenical Council, held in Nicaea in 787. 60 years earlier, under the patronage of Emperor Leo the Isaurian, the heresy of iconoclasm spread throughout the Byzantine Empire. Its supporters, based on the Old Testament commandment: “You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything that is in heaven above... you shall not worship them or serve them” (Ex. 20:4–5), accused the Orthodox who prayed in front of icons and images of the Holy Cross, in idolatry.
The participants of the Council were faced with an important task: to clearly define the difference between a Christian’s attitude to God and His image, or image (the Greek word “icon” translated into Russian means “image”).
As a result, the Fathers of the Council clearly separated and delineated man’s relationship to God and his relationship to holy icons, defining in both cases each with its own concept. Man's relationship to God has been called service. The attitude towards icons is worship.
The definitions of the Council explain the fundamental difference established by the fathers between the concepts worship And service. Worship is due to icons. The Acts of the Council note that “by denoting [an icon] by a well-known name, we attribute its honor to the prototype; By kissing her and worshiping her with reverence, we receive sanctification.” Calling “to place in the holy churches of God, on sacred vessels and garments, on walls and on boards, in houses and on paths, honest and holy icons, painted with paints and made from mosaics and from other suitable substances, icons of the Lord and God and Our Savior Jesus Christ, our Lady, the Holy Mother of God, also the honorable angels and all the saints and reverend men,” the Fathers of the Council testified: “The more often they are visible through the image on icons, the more those who look at them are encouraged to remember the prototypes themselves (των πρωτοτύπων) and to love them and to honor them with kisses and reverent worship, not with that true service according to our faith (λατρείαν), which befits only the Divine nature, but with veneration according to the same model, as it is given to the image of the Honest and the Life-giving Cross and the Holy Gospel, and other shrines, with incense and the lighting of candles, as was done according to pious custom and by the ancients. For the honor given to the image goes back to the prototype, and the one who worships (ο προσκυνών) the icon worships (προσκυνεί) the hypostasis of the person depicted on it.”
So, service befits only God, on the contrary, worship- a concept that determines our attitude towards sacred images. One of the documents of the VII Ecumenical Council also affirms the identity of the concepts of “kissing” (ἀσπασμός) and “worship” (προσκύνησις), based on the etymology of the verb κυνεῖν - to kiss.
In the minds of the Orthodox Church, the same principle was applied to pilgrimage. Holy places are thus places worship. A person who performs such worship was from ancient times called fan.
Unfortunately the word fan turned out to be undeservedly forgotten, as well as other Russian words denoting a believer who goes with prayer to worship holy places - pilgrim, wanderer. Both of these words traditionally referred to people who left home in order to perform intense prayer works in some famous monastery, in front of a revered local image or the holy relics of the saints of God resting there.
Origin of the term pilgrim– Western. It is derived from palm tree– lat. palmarius A palm tree is someone who carries a palm branch. This refers to the participants in the procession of Vai Week, better known in Russia as Palm Sunday. The Christians making this procession were likened to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who, according to the Gospel narrative, with green palm branches in their hands, solemnly greeted Christ as the long-awaited Messiah, coming to accept the earthly Kingdom. People then took palm branches with them as a memorable relic, reminiscent of the pilgrimage.
So, the naming itself pilgrim (palm-dweller) indicates two things. It indicates the place and time of the pilgrimage. Pilgrimage, as a phenomenon, was originally associated with the Holy Land. The name pilgrim also indicates the preferred time for the pilgrimage; speaks of the desire of believers to celebrate the holiday of Holy Easter exactly where the events described in the Gospel took place. And in our time, the largest number of Orthodox pilgrims come to Jerusalem precisely for Easter.
Another word also of Western origin, which we often hear in our time in connection with the topic of pilgrimage, is pilgrim. This concept, widely used among Catholics, comes from the Latin peregrinus - “wanderer”, “traveler” and is not directly related to pilgrimage in its true sense. Pilgrim– this is, first of all, a person on a journey. The religious aspect in this concept is a secondary and “optional” element. Obviously, the idea of worshiping holy places is missing here.
Despite the historical connections and common names, traditions of pilgrimage, the criteria for its evaluation vary significantly not only in different religions, but also in different Christian denominations.
Pilgrimage in Catholicism and Protestantism
The idea of pilgrimage in the Catholic Church differs from that existing in Orthodoxy. The reason for this is rooted in the divergence of teaching about holy icons. In the Latin West, icons were treated as “the Bible for the illiterate,” in the figurative expression of the Pope, St. Gregory the Great.
According to a number of historians, more or less the first fundamental document, which was subsequently often referred to by representatives of the Roman Church, was a letter from Pope Gregory the Great, written around 600 to the Bishop of Marseilles Serenius, who ordered the destruction of all holy images in his city. In response, the pope scolded the zealot a little and sent him some of his thoughts on this topic: “It is one thing to worship paintings, and another to recognize through what is depicted in the paintings what should be worshiped. What the written word teaches to those who can read, the picture communicates to the illiterate (idiotis) who look at it, since these ignoramuses see what they should imitate. Painting is reading for those who do not know letters, and serves the role of reading, especially among the pagans.".
The dogmas (or Decisions) of the VII Ecumenical Council, which approved the veneration of icons, were considered and rejected at a council of Catholic clergy held in Frankfurt am Main in 794.
An important role was played by the clearly expressed negative attitude towards the Ecumenical Council of Emperor Charlemagne held in Byzantium. Having read the translation of the conciliar acts, which did not convey the semantic difference between service And worship, Karl and his advisers declared the document unacceptable. In 790 they compiled a refutation treatise in four books, known as the Books of Charles (Libri Carolini), which could not but be taken into account by the bishops of the Roman Church meeting in Frankfurt. As a result, in the West, the position was recognized as consistent with church teaching, according to which “images serve only to decorate churches and remind of ancient deeds.” Subsequently, the Council’s definitions nevertheless received recognition in the Catholic Church.
So, for Catholics, icons are, first of all, illustrations of Sacred History. Therefore, holy places, according to the spirit of Catholic teaching, are not places of worship, but of remembrance of the biblical and church-historical events that took place here. That is why the Holy Land is often called the land in the Catholic tradition sacred memories.
The attitude of the Western Church to pilgrimage as a spiritual feat of believers has also undergone significant changes, becoming one of the ways of bringing “satisfaction” to God for sins committed before Him. Catholic priests ordered penitents to take this path as penance.
For the same reason, Papal Rome promised forgiveness of sins to all participants in the Crusades, regardless of what the true goal was that drew them to the holy places. Rich Europeans, forced by confessors to make a pilgrimage, could replace themselves with servants or “professional” mercenary pilgrims who made up entire “corporations” in medieval Europe.
“For Catholics, a certain amount of sins are forgiven for a pilgrimage to Rome. Here, the journey to holy places is self-sufficient, valuable in itself, an undertaking for which God will certainly pay. Such a view is obvious paganism,” is how the Orthodox writer, Archimandrite Mikhail (Semyonov) characterized Catholic pilgrims 100 years ago.
Vivid evidence of the Western formal attitude towards visiting holy places can also be seen in the images in Catholic churches of the so-called “stations” of the Way of the Cross. The tradition of making a religious procession along the road that Christ, condemned to death, walked from Pretoria to Golgotha, was formed in Jerusalem by the 15th century under the influence of Franciscan monks. It was they who established 14 “stations” along this route, designed to recreate in the memory of believers the main moments of the Savior’s suffering. Since not everyone could visit the Holy Land, even in the Middle Ages, episodes of the Way of the Cross in the form of 14 paintings or reliefs began to be created in Catholic churches. Near each such image, sequentially located along the inner wall of the church, the corresponding position of the Way of the Cross was established. As believers move from one image to another, they are encouraged to stop before each one to pray and reflect on the event depicted. In the 17th century, one of the Popes finally fixed the number of “stops” and the content of the depicted scenes, and the indulgences associated with this Way of the Cross were equal to those received by pilgrims who visited the holy places in Jerusalem.
Faithful since ancient times to the spirit of scholasticism that has prevailed in it, the modern Roman Catholic Church, depending on the route chosen by the Christian, distinguishes between the great - peregrinationes primariae and the small - peregrinationes secundariae pilgrimages. The first includes visiting Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostelo and Loreto. The second includes shrines located in different places in Europe and America. Modern pilgrims, of course, no longer take on the road the specific vestments of their medieval predecessors - a staff, a bag, a brown or gray cloak and a wide-brimmed hat, decorated with shells and the obligatory red cross. However, their approach to visiting holy places remains equally pragmatic.
In Protestantism, with its denial of all external ritual manifestations of religiosity - the veneration of icons, holy relics and other material evidence of the Divine presence, there is no pilgrimage as such. A visit to the Holy Land, as well as European attractions associated with the activities of the leaders of the Reformation, for people belonging to this Christian denomination, is exclusively in the nature of memories.
In connection with the above, it follows that the concept of “pilgrimage” in the full sense of the word is applicable only in relation to Orthodox pilgrimage.
Moreover, in Russian culture we call “pilgrimage” not only Orthodox “worship” and visits to holy places by Western Christians, but also travel for religious purposes in Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. Indeed, in all these cases we are talking about the experience of modern communication with spiritual and religious heritage and its “earthly imprints.” However, it is necessary to understand that the content of these concepts in each of the traditions is not completely identical, but, strictly speaking, differs significantly.
Pilgrimage in Judaism
In modern Judaism, pilgrimage (in Hebrew הָּיִלֲע, aliyah, literally - ascent, לֶגֶרְל הָּיִלֲע, aliyah leregel) is an integral part of the religious tradition. The Old Testament tells how in the 10th century before Christ, King Solomon built the first temple to the One God in the history of mankind on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, the capital of the Kingdom of Judah. From that time on, visiting the city of Jerusalem and the temple, especially on the days of Passover (Passover), Pentecost (Shavuot), the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), and participating in general worship became a religious norm for Jews, which primarily applied to adult men.
Believers, if they lived far away, were allowed to travel to Jerusalem on horseback and in carts. However, it was necessary to climb to the temple on Mount Moriah itself, which was called the Temple Mount, due to the holiness of this place. The elders of the Jewish community and those Jews who treated the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law with special reverence most often walked the entire path: from their home to the temple.
An obligatory element of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem on holidays was the making of temple offerings, the nature of which was also strictly defined. For example, on Pentecost (Shavuot) the first harvest of fruits and vegetables was sacrificed, as well as bread baked from wheat flour of the new harvest. Sacrifice outside the temple was prohibited. The Jews so strictly observed the Old Testament commandment about the obligatory annual three-time visit to the temple that even after its destruction by the Babylonians in 422 BC, pilgrims from Egypt, Syria, Babylon and other countries continued to arrive in Jerusalem on holidays.
The second destruction of the restored Jerusalem temple that followed in 70 AD deprived the Jewish people of their main shrine, changing the centuries-old pilgrimage tradition. However, according to the rabbis (Jewish religious teachers), the only remaining western wall of the temple building, also figuratively called the Western Wall, continues to be a place of special Divine presence.
All practitioners of this monotheistic religion are still required to visit Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Pilgrims from all over the world gather at the Western Wall to pray on Friday evenings, on the eve of Saturday, and on holidays. In addition to prayer, in the cracks between the stones of the wall, they often insert notes with their requests and wishes addressed to God, in the confidence that in this holy place He will certainly hear and fulfill everything asked.
Jews also visit the tombs of the Davidic kings on Mount Zion in Jerusalem and the Cave of Machpelah, located in the center of ancient Hebron, in what is now the Palestinian National Authority. According to the Old Testament, it is here that the forefathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, their wives Sarah, Rebbeka and Leah are buried, and according to the religious traditions of the Jews, also Adam and Eve. However, in terms of their significance, these traditional places of pilgrimage are inferior to Mount Moriah, with which the Jews, among other things, associate their messianic expectations.
Pilgrimage in Islam
Muslims call the pilgrimage hajj. The founder of this world monotheistic religion, Muhammad, himself, according to the Koran, set an example in this for his followers. Having visited the sanctuary of pagan Arab tribes located in Mecca in March 632, Muhammad ordered his followers to cleanse the place of idols of tribal deities. The Kaaba, an ancient rectangular building located in Mecca, which had a sacred meaning in the eyes of the Arabs, was declared by them to be a holy house, built by Adam at the behest of Allah and renewed by Ibrahim, or Abraham (Abraham), and his son Ismail, so that the faithful from all over the world gathered here, testifying to their faith. It is believed that it was during this period of stay in Mecca, called Hajat al-Wida (The Last Pilgrimage) in the Koran, that Muhammad received instructions from above about the rules of the Hajj, which still guide all Muslims to this day.
The Hajj lasts two weeks and includes visits to the cities of Mecca and Medina. It is considered one of the five pillars, or obligatory actions, of belonging to Islam, along with 1) public testimony of faith in Allah as the one God and recognition of Muhammad as his messenger, 2) praying five times a day, 3) paying a special tax for the benefit of the poor and 4) fasting during the month of Ramadan. This pilgrimage is required to be performed at least once in a lifetime by every adult Muslim, unless illness, family or financial circumstances prevent it. A wealthy person, who for some reason is unable to personally participate in the Hajj, can send another pilgrim in his place, paying his expenses. Young Muslim women must be accompanied either by their husbands or close male relatives, with whom marriage is excluded.
The Hajj consists of several obligatory stages, each of which is marked by a special ritual. Many of them have symbolic meaning and are designed to recall events in the life of Abraham, his wife Hagar and son Ishmael. They must be performed in a state of ritual purity, the visible symbol of which is the specially cut white robe that every pilgrim puts on when crossing the border of Mecca.
An important moment of the Hajj is the seven-fold counterclockwise circumambulation of the Kaaba, performed by believers on the first and last days of the Hajj.
The most important part of the pilgrimage, the central rite of the Hajj, is considered to be Vukuf (Vukuf bi-Arafa) - prayer standing on the sacred mountain / near the sacred Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad delivered his last sermon. Wuquf begins at noon, on the 9th day of the Hajj, immediately after the Sun passes the zenith point, and ends before sunset. Here pilgrims listen to the sermon (khutbah) and pray to Allah: “Here I serve You, Lord!” This prayer is read repeatedly and in a loud voice.
Following this, the participants symbolically beat the evil spirit with stones, throwing them at specially installed pillars.
A special place in the Hajj is occupied by the sacrifice of cattle, camels and sheep, which must be performed within three days in the prescribed form, remembering the name of Allah. Pilgrims eat the meat of sacrificial animals themselves and also treat the poor. At the end of the pilgrimage, Muslims visit the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina.
The Hajj is allowed only at a certain time - in the twelfth month of the Muslim lunar calendar, as a result of which this period was called “dhu-l-hijja”, that is, “possessing pilgrimage”. A visit to Mecca at any other time, even if all rituals are strictly performed, is not considered a pilgrimage. Upon returning home, the pilgrim receives the honorary prefix “hajj” to his name and the right to wear a green turban and long white clothing (galabaya).
Another traditional site of Muslim pilgrimage is the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, revered as the site of the night ascension of the Prophet Muhammad. In some Middle Eastern countries, for example in Syria, Muslims visit Christian holy places associated with the name of the Mother of God, called in Islam the mother of the prophet Isa. However, in all these cases, no special religious rituals are performed.
Pilgrimage in Buddhism
The main places of pilgrimage for followers of Siddhartha Gautama are associated with his name and are located in Northern India and Southern Nepal. According to legend, Buddha himself bequeathed to his disciples to visit these places. Tibet, where Buddhist spiritual centers and monasteries are located, is also a recognized center of pilgrimage routes.
The main motive for making a pilgrimage for a Buddhist is the desire to acquire virtue and thereby atone for sinful acts committed in past births and in the present life, as well as to gain hope for a more favorable embodiment in the future.
During the period of pilgrimage, the believer temporarily takes ascetic vows, similar to monastic vows, and imposes strict restrictions on food and entertainment.
The traditional complex of Buddhist pilgrimage rituals currently includes repeated circumambulation of the revered place in a clockwise direction, reading mantras, which are a combination of several sounds or words in the Sanskrit language. From a Buddhist point of view, every word, syllable, or even individual sound of a mantra has a deep religious meaning. Reading is equivalent to the rotation of the so-called prayer drums - wooden or metal cylinders of different sizes with mantras printed on the surface of the instrument or written on paper scrolls inserted inside the drum. In front of a sacred object, such as a statue of Buddha, believers prostrate themselves in repeated prostrations performed in a special way. As a sign of gratitude and appreciation, the pilgrim can leave in front of the Buddha statue or bring an offering to the respected ascetic monk, usually symbolic: water for ritual ablution, flower garlands, incense, food. Purifying ablutions or sprinkling with water are practiced. In Tibet, a pilgrim can receive the blessing of a priest - a lama, who, touching the crown of the believer, thereby transfers part of his holiness to him or gives him a red or yellow silk rope, a kind of “protective” amulet. The implementation of the listed rituals, their sequence and order do not have clear regulation and depend on the religious mood of the person performing them.
Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailovsky
