A deep dive into the practice of pilgrimage

Pilgrimage figures prominently into the curriculum and instruction the Rev. Dr. Melanie Dobson shares with her students as they prepare for lives of spiritual leadership. In 2023 she led a Maymester course that engaged students in a series of local pilgrimages associated with racial history and social justice. In her semester-long spiritual practices course, students take a deep dive into the history, theology and practice of pilgrimage in the modern world.

“This is a practice that speaks to the spiritual and social longings all humans feel, for God, community, connection and healing,” said Dobson. “Pilgrimage satisfies the need to find meaning through experience, through encounter with places infused with a sense of holiness.”

The act of pilgrimage became a popular practice during the Middle Ages, when travel of any kind was costly and hazardous, which underscored the material sacrifice of undertaking the journey to a holy site, usually associated with saints, miracles and/or healing. Participants had to prepare for such excursions by settling affairs with their families, attending confession and opening their spirits for a journey into the unknown.

“Pilgrimage involves a choice to leave behind what it familiar and safe, to move into the unknown because it is a journey that provides a chance to engage with something greater than ourselves,” Dobson explained.   

In the modern era, the logistics of pilgrimage have become easier to navigate, and the possible destinations have broadened beyond shrines, relics and cathedrals to also include journeys into nature, to museums or historic locations, to participate in public service.

“You’re selecting a site that holds holiness for you – that place could be on another continent or around the corner,” shared Dobson. “It becomes a pilgrimage through intention and through discipline – listening, saying only what is necessary, engaging in prayer before and during the journey, and reflecting on what you’ve learned from the experience after you return.”