Pilgrimage today

Originally, pilgrims were those who made a journey to the Holy Land to venerate Christian shrines there. Because they usually brought back palm branches, they were called palomniki in Russia. With time a pilgrimage came to be understood as a journey to other holy places as well. In Russia, the tradition of pilgrimage goes down to the 11th century. Traditional itineraries for Russian pilgrims were the Holy Land, Mount Athos and national shrines.

Pilgrimages, just as all the external forms of religious activity, were almost fully interrupted in the Soviet period. The tradition of pilgrimage has begun to revive since the early 90s. Many Orthodox believers have already made trips to the newly-opened monasteries and churches. Orthodox pilgrimage services have appeared. During the last decade, this process has developed to take more organized and diverse forms.
What is Orthodox pilgrimage today and what significance does it have for every believer and for the Church as a whole? Lying in the heart of pilgrimage is certainly spiritual effort and experience in prayer acquired when a pilgrim visits shrines. The significance of pilgrimage, however, is not reduced to it.

One of the most important aspects of pilgrimage is its contribution to spiritual education. Visiting holy places, people learn the history and spiritual traditions of monasteries and churches and peculiarities of their worship. They also learn about the saints and zealots of devotion whose life and work were connected with the shrines included in their pilgrimage itineraries. Pilgrims have an opportunity to talk to monks and some of them have found among them spiritual directors for themselves.

Pilgrimage also plays an important role in general education of pilgrims. Monasteries and churches in Russia have always been not only places for spiritual growth, but also cultural centers. For centuries they have accumulated books, icons, and works of applied and folk art. Monastery and church buildings were major architectural monuments of their time, especially in the 18th century. It is interesting that many monasteries, even in the Soviet period when they were no longer used for their original purpose, preserved their role of cultural centers as museums. A pilgrimage, therefore, provides an excellent opportunity for pilgrims to get acquainted with the Russian history, architecture, iconography and handicrafts.

Taking into account the spiritual and educational function of pilgrimage, many pilgrimage services have developed special programs to introduce pilgrims to the history, architecture and the cultural significance of the most interesting places encountered on their itinerary. Unlike secular excursions, these pilgrimages highlight the history and architecture of a particular place as related to the significance this place has had for the Russian spiritual culture.

Some pilgrimage services have organized trips for non-church or insufficiently inchurched people who wish to know better the culture and history of their country. These trips are arranged more as excursions, with pilgrims accommodated in hotels rather than monasteries. These trips have often played the missionary role helping to inchurch its participants.

Charity is another important component of pilgrimage programs. Almost all the pilgrimage services try to find out the needs of monasteries before bringing pilgrims to it. They give this information to the pilgrims. The service itself is often engaged in fund-raising. Coming to a monastery, pilgrims bring over essentials and foodstuffs and make monetary donations. For many reviving monasteries, this support is essential, especially when it is given on a regular basis. Besides, part of the pilgrimage returns has been used to restore churches under which some pilgrimage services work.

http://www.rondtb.msk.ru/info/en/pilgrimage_en.htm