Pilgrim - what is it? Everyone at least once in his life, but heard this word. Maybe on TV or from parents. But does everyone know its true meaning? But a whole layer of medieval culture is associated with it. Although one of the young ones will say that this is the name of a rock band or feature film.
Let's turn to the dictionary
In general, pilgrims are, of course, wanderers. Holy travelers, deeply religious wanderers. A word came from the Latin peregrinus, which means "wandering" in translation. In tsarist Russia, this word was also found, but more often it was modified in the pilgrimage.
A kind of Russian version. They called it such a pious mighty wanderer. Tales about him also composed. In principle, a pilgrim is a synonym for the word “pilgrim”.
Nowadays
In the modern world, there are also pilgrims. Christians travel to holy places to this day. But more on that later. And every Muslim must at least once make a pilgrimage to Mecca. In addition, a significant proportion of the inhabitants of the United States consider themselves descendants of the pilgrims. Why?
History tour
In the strict sense of the word, the pilgrim fathers are not pilgrims at all, and they did not go to holy places. In fact, they called it one of the first Europeans to land and establish a colony in what is now called the United States of America. And it happened at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Then, in 1620, a group of British Puritans persecuted for dissent by the Church of England decided to find a new place to live. As part of a hundred and two people (among whom were also women and children), they went to the shores of the New World. But traveling by themselves in those days was difficult, and therefore they enlisted the support of a large trading company. Not for free, of course.
They had to work their way out. However, it turned out that after a long voyage, the ship docked completely not where it was planned. And without thinking twice, the Puritans founded a settlement on the site of modern Plymouth. They were the first settlers in the history of New England. And having decided that since they still didn’t get to the place they agreed on, the travelers considered themselves completely free from any obligations. They signed the so-called Mayflower Agreement. The latter was a colony self-government treaty.
Life, of course, was not easy for them. The first winter suffered only half of the immigrants. Clashes with local Native American tribes began almost immediately. But thanks to more advanced weapons, the Europeans managed to gain a foothold in the occupied territory. Not all natives, of course, were hostile to them. One of the Indians, who later became a legend, even helped the settlement survive. He taught Puritans to grow cereals in a new place for them.
Well-chosen word
But why did all these people come to be called pilgrims? And it all started with a "red word". In 1793, at a feast dedicated to the first settlers, Rev. Father C. Robbins delivered a sermon. In it, he called the colonists who arrived there, pilgrim fathers. His idea, in principle, is clear: people sought freedom of religion. And they made a long and difficult journey for this. Then this name took root among politicians. And after some time, the English poetess F. D. Hemans wrote her poem “The Arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England”. But this, of course, is not the whole story. The first true pilgrims appeared in medieval Europe. They traveled mainly to the Holy Land, to Jerusalem.
Pilgrims road - what is it?
It is also called the path of St. James. And she leads the pilgrims of the whole world to the grave of this apostle, which is located in the Spanish Santiago de Compostela. But there is another way for the pilgrims. This is the name of the ancient stone road in Jerusalem. On it, believers went to a religious ceremony.
A long time ago
Why is this man so famous that only the black plague could stop the thousands of pilgrims going to him? The latter, as you know, killed half the population of medieval Europe. True pilgrims, no doubt, already know this.
According to tradition, the apostle died a martyrdom in the year 44 from the birth of Christ in the Holy Land. And his remains were placed in a boat and released into the Mediterranean Sea. It so happened that this ship nailed to the shores of Spain, where the aforementioned saint preached during his lifetime. There it was considered a miracle. True, this happened only in 813. Then on the shore of the ark with imperishable relics discovered a hermit monk named Pelayo.
Half a century later, a church was built on this site by decree of King Alphonse III. And this place began to be called only Compostela ("a place designated by a star").
There are legends that the apostle miraculously appeared and helped during the battles with the Moors. One way or another, but he became considered the patron saint of Spain. During his life, St. James also made a long journey, like a pilgrim. That this would make him the patron of all pilgrims, he could hardly have imagined then. By the way, he passed from the Holy Land to Spain.
Meanwhile, the city of Compostela, since one of the twelve apostles was buried on its territory, becomes a shrine not only in Spain, but also in the entire Catholic world.
There is a legend that Emperor Charlemagne had a dream. In it, the Lord showed him the way to the shrine - the Milky Way, which went through France and Spain. And God commanded him to clear the way of the pilgrims from the Moors. The latter was of considerable importance for the establishment of tradition. The emperor sent troops there and, one might say, paved the way.
And when in the twelfth century the Spanish crown established the military knightly order of St. James, whose task was to protect the pilgrims, this path became even more “comfortable”.
Compostela was equated with Rome and Jerusalem - Pope Calixtus II granted believers going there the right to indulgence. Since then, the place has become very popular. Pilgrims were sent there from all over the world. And the pilgrims road was overgrown with churches and inns, which had a positive effect on the economic situation of the region.
Meanwhile, the road was paved in such a way that pilgrims could visit other shrines along the way - the relics of the Holy Faith, Mary Magdalena and many others. Famous pilgrims also walked along this road. This is, for example, Bishop Godescalc.
In the nineteenth century, the road was rediscovered. And every year the number of pilgrims walking along it is only growing.
Route
The road begins in the south of France and the Pyrenees, along it you can pass through the passes Ronseval or Somport. But in Spain, this path runs from Pamplona to Santiago de Compostela. He is also called the "road of the French kings."
In the Middle Ages, the pilgrims going there were guided along the Milky Way. It, according to legend, was drawn in heaven by the saint himself. So he showed the way here to Emperor Charlemagne. Therefore, this cluster of stars in heaven is also often called the “way of St. James”.
Finally
So, the pilgrim - who is it? First of all, a believer. He has a goal and the path that he must follow in order to achieve it. Pilgrims were in the past, are in the present and, in all likelihood, will be in the future. It is respectful that many Americans remember and are proud that their ancestors were deeply religious people. Perhaps, the first immigrants to distant planets will also someday call themselves.