in the Bible. For practicing Protestants, the Bible is a very important part of daily life and Protestants and Evangelicals are extremely well versed in both the Old and New Testament, which have personal meaning for them above and beyond the liturgical significance of the texts. That’s why Protestants are particularly interested in personally seeing the sites where the events of Jesus’ life transpired, as well as places that are as similar today as possible, to how they appeared in Jesus’ time. Churches, those built of stone or other materials, even those with a traditional pedigree, are of lesser interest to them. They want to stand in the places where Jesus stood, contemplate at these spots and read what is written in the Bible at the very places where Jesus spoke those words. Some, especially believers belonging to the more Fundamentalist denominations, may even see in them eschatological signs. When members of a Protestant pilgrimage group ride on a boat across the Sea of Galilee or walk along the streets of Capernaum, their experience of the Bible is enhanced, and this impacts their lives in a very significant way. Now when he or she reads the Bible, the Protestant pilgrim can say: “It comes to life for me because I have seen real places, real people, real Galilean terraces and real Jerusalem stones from the Temple with my very own eyes.” Catholics, on the other hand, are experiential in their approach to their religion more often than not, searching for the tangible and the palpable. Much of what they seek is inspirational, reinforced by the significance of the site, not the stones and mortar, and this style of tourism - if it may be called that - may be a ramification of the sacramental aspects of Catholicism’s religious rites. Having said this, distinctions need to be drawn between the various cultures from which the individual Catholic pilgrim originates. While generalizations are not always totally accurate, it would be fair to say that by and large, Catholic pilgrims from South America are almost always more pious and often less sophisticated than their guide, and he or she must be aware of this. On the other hand, Catholics from France may be more sophisticated, more Cartesian and have a different way of encountering the sites central to their faith.” Other than these differences in approach, Protestant pilgrimage itineraries are more likely to incorporate Old Testament sites. Spiritual - and Tangible Souvenirs Pilgrimage is a time of soul-searching, and inevitably pilgrims come away with clearer thoughts about their own life, family, future. It may be a time of new resolutions and strengthened commitments. The experiences of the pilgrim are usually shared with others - either spiritual
leaders or co-travelers, or people along the way. Very often, close interpersonal relationships are forged on such a journey. Pilgrims return home enriched by the love and concern of the people they have met. These new friendships may be the best memories of all, for did Jesus not say, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)? The memories that a pilgrim brings home are unique. The journey has been an intense spiritual experience. The words of the Bible have become a living reality and Sunday readings will never be the same again. Early pilgrims were always searching for pieces of the true cross, the remnants of cloth worn by the Virgin Mary, and other holy relics. Though what may be termed “the age of the relic” flourished between 1000 and1200 AD, pilgrims in the fifth and sixth centuries mention the horn of oil used to anoint David and Solomon as King of Israel, as a recognized relic then. With the onset of the modern wave of Holy Land pilgrimage travel, and the recognition that part of the pleasure of traveling in foreign places, comes from acquiring and accumulating tangible objects that are pregnant with meaning in their own right, or take on significant because of the
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