Pielgrzymka i Sanktuarium w sensie historycznym teologiczno-biblijnym

Pilgrimages and Shrines in the Historical Sense and From the Aspect of Biblical Theology

Summary: Pilgrimages and shrines had been in existence before Christianity. Pilgrimages were a familiar form of worship in other religions, centred on many other deities. In Christianity pilgrimages were only one of the forms of worship, but the roots of Christian pilgrimages went back to pre-Christian times, that is over two thousand years. In the Scriptures the terms "pilgrim" and "pilgrimage" have a metaphorical sense, and refer to man's journey towards eternity, towards God. The Greek term, per-epi-demos, was applied to both pilgrims and ordinary travellers.The Latin term, peregrinus, means one who passes per agros, "over the fields", that is one who covers a tract of land, beyond his domicile. On the basis of texts from the Scriptures pilgrimage may be defined as "a journey by a person or group of persons to a place which is regarded as holy by virtue of a special manifestation of the power of Godt here, in order to perform specific acts of religious worship and penance." Thus a pilgrimage may be undertaken for purely religious reasons. The destinations of Christian pilgrimage have been manifold. Three basic types of pilgrimage, which have come down to us today, evolved: pilgrimage to holy places associated with the life and memory of Jesus; pilgrimage to venerable persons; and pilgrimages to the tombs of the Saints. Through prayer (love through prayer), penance (penitential love), and the community (communal love) pilgrimage is regarded as a symbol of man's love for God. There is a mutual correlation between shrines and the pilgrimeges to them. According to the Consilium Primarum Anno Mariali Celebrando, in the modern Roman Catholic Church shrines are "holy places exhibiting a special presence of the Lord, havens for the penitent and pilgrim People of God whose special objective is the worship of God, the profession of their faith, the liturgical commemoration of Christ's mysteries of salvation, and both private and public prayer".

Peregrinus Cracoviensis, 1996, z.4, s. 205-211.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

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