In this week’s centre spread, we look at the fabulous Aussie Camino, a multi-day walk from Portland in Victoria, up to Penola, South Australia. The route follows in the footsteps of St Mary MacKillop, a journey of some 193 kilometres through the prettiest landscapes in the nation.
The Aussie Camino was inspired of course by the 800km Camino de Santiago in Spain, arguably the world’s most famous pilgrimage.
Both our Aussie Camino and the Spanish original are but two of many Catholic pilgrimages, ranging from Lourdes, and Fatima, to Chartres and El Rocio.
The earliest Christian pilgrimages were to the Holy Land, way back in the 4th century AD. One of the first was taken on in 326AD by Saint Helena, the mother of Constantine, who went in search of relics, finding the nails of the crucifixion and placing one of them in Constantine’s helmet.
These early pilgrims used an itinerarium to find their way around. Think of it like a very basic Lonely Planet Jerusalem, but without the colour photographs. The oldest itinerarium we know of dates to 333AD and records the travels of a pilgrim from Bordeaux in France to Jerusalem.
And if you’ve ever wondered where the word itinerary came from, it’s derived from the Latin, itinerarius (iter and itineris), meaning a path, or a way.
But a pilgrimage doesn’t necessarily have to involve a new pair of Nikes and an arduous walk over hundreds of kilometres to worship at a shrine or a relic.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
“Pilgrimages evoke our earthly journey toward heaven…” (CCC: 2691)
The word pilgrim comes from the Latin word peregrinum, meaning a wanderer or traveller.
One of the first uses of the term was in Saint Augustine’s The City of God (De Civitate Dei) completed 426 AD:
“So long as this heavenly city is a pilgrim on earth, then, it calls forth citizens from all peoples and gathers together a pilgrim society of all languages.”
In Augustine’s philosophical treatise, the City of Man, and the City of God, co-exist in the same space-time, and we experience both simultaneously, although the telos of each city is entirely different.
“We live in the glory and beauty of the city of God while also trudging through the earthly city,” explains theologian John Eger.
Augustine refers to our “way” through the two cities as a “wretched pilgrimage.”
The concept of pilgrimage was also central to the Celtic Church, where one of the greatest pilgrims was Columbanus, the great Celtic Saint known for his peregrination pro amore Christi—a journey for the love of Christ; guided by the Lord himself.
The peregrination pro amore Christi was a self-exiled wandering to find a spiritual homeland, and was a common practice among Celtic monks.
Most importantly, the Celts realised that the pilgrimage was as much an inner journey as an outer one.
Indeed, the inner pilgrimage is the key to transformation.
In a 2013 homily Pope Benedict XVI tells us:
“Faith draws us into a state of being seized by the restlessness of God and it makes us pilgrims who are on an inner journey towards the true King of the world and his promise of justice, truth and love.” [Eucharistic Celebration on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord].
Most evenings I make a pilgrimage from my home to my local church. It is a distance of only 200 metres, but during that humble journey, I meditate on Christ, I ask him what he wants from me, I look around at the world he has created—the currawongs, the lavender, the clouds, and the bees—and give him thanks.
When I arrive at the church, I sit there in the shadows. Usually it’s just myself and God, so I am able to hear him in the divine silence. This is the most precious moment of my day.
This Advent, take a pilgrimage of your own. Like me, it could a daily stroll to your church. It might be a wander along a beach. Or a walk through a garden in the cool of the evening.
As you walk, take an inner journey with God.
You never know where you might end up.