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Sacred Tracks: Two Thousand Years of Christian Pilgrimage
Ever since the Magi trekked from the East to witness the birth of Jesus, pilgrims have undertaken long and often dangerous journeys to seek out holy Christian places. Sacred Tracks tells the two-thousand-year-old story of Christian pilgrimage and the saints and pilgrims, shrines and cathedrals, relics and practices of a tradition that is still flourishing today.
Drawing on contemporary accounts and a wealth of illustration, Sacred Tracks captures the atmosphere of pilgrimage through the ages. Divided into three sections—"Early Paths," "Medieval Roads," and "Modern Ways"—the book describes every aspect of pilgrimage past and present, from the practicalities of setting out to the difficult conditions of travel, to the great sites, such as Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela, and Canterbury. The book looks at the pilgrims themselves, from St. Brendan, who is said to have cast himself adrift, letting God guide his search for a paradisal holy island, to the penitents, cure seekers, and adventurers who in the Middle Ages set out for the unknown in their millions.
In recent times pilgrimage has recaptured the popular imagination. For the increasing numbers who each year follow in the footsteps of their medieval forbears, Sacred Tracks describes the popular places of contemporary pilgrimage, such as Lourdes, Fatima, Walsingham, and Knock. Seven new and revived pilgrimages are described in detail, while a gazetteer provides information about a further seven in Europe, Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Entertaining, colorful, and informative, this book is both a fascinating history of Christian pilgrimage and the perfect traveling companion for the pilgrim of today.
Drawing on contemporary accounts and a wealth of illustration, Sacred Tracks captures the atmosphere of pilgrimage through the ages. Divided into three sections—"Early Paths," "Medieval Roads," and "Modern Ways"—the book describes every aspect of pilgrimage past and present, from the practicalities of setting out to the difficult conditions of travel, to the great sites, such as Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela, and Canterbury. The book looks at the pilgrims themselves, from St. Brendan, who is said to have cast himself adrift, letting God guide his search for a paradisal holy island, to the penitents, cure seekers, and adventurers who in the Middle Ages set out for the unknown in their millions.
In recent times pilgrimage has recaptured the popular imagination. For the increasing numbers who each year follow in the footsteps of their medieval forbears, Sacred Tracks describes the popular places of contemporary pilgrimage, such as Lourdes, Fatima, Walsingham, and Knock. Seven new and revived pilgrimages are described in detail, while a gazetteer provides information about a further seven in Europe, Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Entertaining, colorful, and informative, this book is both a fascinating history of Christian pilgrimage and the perfect traveling companion for the pilgrim of today.
192 pages, Paperback
First published June 6, 2002
8 people want to read
About the author
James Harpur
66 books10 followersJames Harpur has had four poetry collections published by Anvil Press: A Vision of Comets (1993), The Monk’s Dream (1996), Oracle Bones (2001) and The Dark Age (2007). Anvil have also published his Fortune’s Prisoner, a translation of the poems of Boethius. In addition, he has published a sequence of religious poems called The Gospel of Joseph of Arimathea (Wild Goose, 2008). His prose publications include Love Burning in the Soul (Shambhala, 2005), an introduction to the Christian mystics.
After studying Classics and English at university, he taught English on the island of Crete then worked as a lexicographer. He is now a freelance writer.
James has won a number of prizes for his poetry, including the 1995 British National Poetry Competition. He has received various awards and bursaries, such as from Cork Arts, the Eric Gregory Trust, the Society of Authors, the Arts Council (UK), and the Hawthornden Foundation. His poems have been broadcast on national and local radio in Ireland and the UK and have appeared in various anthologies. These include Staying Alive (Bloodaxe, 2002), Ireland’s Love Poems (Kyle Cathie, 2000), The New Exeter Book of Riddles (Enitharmon, 2002), The Forward Book of Poetry (Faber, 2001), Voices in the Gallery (Tate Publishing 1986).
He has performed his poetry widely at poetry festivals and venues, including the Triskel Arts Centre (Cork), the Voice Box (London), the ICA (London), and the Irish Writers’ Centre (Dublin). He has held poetry residencies at the Munster Literature Centre in Cork and at Exeter Cathedral in the UK.
He is currently poetry editor of the Temenos Academy Review, a publication founded by the poet and William Blake scholar, Kathleen Raine, and of Southword, one of Ireland’s leading literary journals.
He lives in County Cork, Ireland.
After studying Classics and English at university, he taught English on the island of Crete then worked as a lexicographer. He is now a freelance writer.
James has won a number of prizes for his poetry, including the 1995 British National Poetry Competition. He has received various awards and bursaries, such as from Cork Arts, the Eric Gregory Trust, the Society of Authors, the Arts Council (UK), and the Hawthornden Foundation. His poems have been broadcast on national and local radio in Ireland and the UK and have appeared in various anthologies. These include Staying Alive (Bloodaxe, 2002), Ireland’s Love Poems (Kyle Cathie, 2000), The New Exeter Book of Riddles (Enitharmon, 2002), The Forward Book of Poetry (Faber, 2001), Voices in the Gallery (Tate Publishing 1986).
He has performed his poetry widely at poetry festivals and venues, including the Triskel Arts Centre (Cork), the Voice Box (London), the ICA (London), and the Irish Writers’ Centre (Dublin). He has held poetry residencies at the Munster Literature Centre in Cork and at Exeter Cathedral in the UK.
He is currently poetry editor of the Temenos Academy Review, a publication founded by the poet and William Blake scholar, Kathleen Raine, and of Southword, one of Ireland’s leading literary journals.
He lives in County Cork, Ireland.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 21, 2021
Details how pilgrimages began, what constitutes them and what makes a person a pilgrim.
Features the main places of Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela.
Also with many full page colour photos/drawings.
Features the main places of Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela.
Also with many full page colour photos/drawings.
September 1, 2019
This could be a "coffee table" book. The photographs are beautiful, but not much of a reader.
October 28, 2021
I thought this was very interesting and beautifully illustrated! I learned a lot about the concept of pilgrimage, and, as a Protestant, many of the sites covered were unfamiliar to me. Very exciting!
November 12, 2016
Beautifully illustrated simplified history of Christian pilgrimages through the ages.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews