The importance of religious pilgrimage.

On September 15, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI visited Lourdes in France, the shrine where a 14-year old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed that she had seen a "lady" on February 11, 1858 in the cave. Initially nobody believed her and she was even prohibited by her parents to visit the place again. But, under the protection of darkness at night time, she went there again on March 25, when she was told by the ”lady”: “I am the Immaculate Conception”. The shrine at Lourdes is now one of the most important pilgrimage places for Christians; 4-6 million visit there annually and the head of the Roman Catholic church celebrated on September 2008 with thousands of believers the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a sacred place or shrine of importance to a person's beliefs. Members of many major religions participate in pilgrimages. For example, Buddhism offers four sites of pilgrimage: the Buddha's birthplace at Kapilavastu, the site where he attained Enlightenment Bodh Gaya, where he first preached at Benares, and where he achieved Parinirvana at Kusinagara. In Islamic religion, Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca, it is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world. It is the fifth pillar of Islam, an obligation that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. It is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to Allah. The Holy Land acts as a focal point for the pilgrimages of many religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith. In addition, there are many lesser known pilgrimage sites where miracles claimed to have been witnessed.
When I was growing up in Central Europe and served regularly as altar boy in the Roman Catholic Church, I participated in annual pilgrimages where village people walked in procession for 20 km to the Holly Well Chapel of the Queen of Rosary in Vasvar. The valley of Holy Well (Szentkút) is a famous place of pilgrimage in Hungary. The simple Classical chapel was built at the Well in 1863. The story goes that a hussar soldier regained his sight after washing his eyes in the spring water. He built the chapel to show his gratitude to God and the Virgin Mary.
Our processions to the Holly Well Chapel usually consisted of about 200 people, 5 by 40 persons in an orderly column, with the priest and 2 altar boys in the middle. The priest and about 5 parishioners would chant one-liner prayers after which all would respond “Maria help us” or “Lord hear our prayer”. Most people participated in this pilgrimage to be closer to God, asking for God’s blessing, asking for God’s forgiveness, and the sick came (usually on a horse drawn carriage following the procession) hoping for a miracle cure. When after the 1956 revolution I ended up in refugee camps, my mother continued this pilgrimage, praying to the Virgin Mary to protect me in foreign lands. Every year I got a new picture from her of the Holy Well Chapel, blessed by our parish priest or the Bishop, and she asked me to carry it with me for protection. I believe that the pilgrimage helped during my lifetime, at least the picture was a symbol of my mother’s love, I wasn’t alone especially in those early years when I struggled to re-build a shattered life. At the same time it helped my mother, she was comforted in her belief that she was still able to protect her son. Now that I am a grandfather, I appreciate the importance of this a lot more than I did at the time it was occurring.
I believe that religious pilgrimages helps millions of people around the world in attaining inner peace with their creator and getting comforted when facing difficulties in everyday life.