First Steps
I have just been writing a sermon about persistence – a topic which comes back again and again when you start to investigate pilgrimage. In doing so, I was trying to remember where my fascination with the subject first began.
It all goes back to a visit in the Summer of 2007 to the little port of Port a la Duc on the North Brittany coast. The port is now largely silted up, and consists of a string of pretty cottages, one of which is pictured below. Just to the left of the cottage is a grassy path, and beside it stands a sign. Click on the picture and you can see it for yourself, courtesy of the Cap Frehel Tourist Board.
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Hundreds of years ago, pilgrims, blessed by their Bishop back home, would arrive by rowing boat from Weymouth in this little port. Stepping out onto an unfamiliar shore where people spoke a strange tongue, they would begin their long journey on foot all the way to Santiago de Compostella in Spain. Along the way, watched over by Templars (see above) they would face all manner of dangers. Ever since then I have been seized with a fascination about what made them do it then, and what makes people do it now.
Some of the elements of pilgrimage which sprint to mind so far are:
- Discomfiture – an unease which makes the pilgrim leave home and look for something more.
- Discomfort – in the rowing boat, under a hot and unfamiliar tongue, reliant on the kindness and provision of strangers.
- Uncertainty – little or no certainty about where each night would be spent and where each meal might come from.
- Conspicuousness – by name, outfit and language the pilgrims were sure to stand out. Modern pilgrimages, such as the annual Northern Cross walk to Holy Island, emphasize this aspect.
- Homesickness – how much did the pilgrims long for the home they had left..or did their thoughts turn increasingly to the home to which they would one day come?
- Tenacity – to sustain a journey of up to 1000 miles on foot would have taken real endurance.
These, surely, are all qualities and challenges faced even by the most modern of disciples?
Watch this space…
