The Pilgrim Journey: A History of Pilgrimage in the Western World

by James Harpur

Pilgrimage in the Western world is enjoying a growing popularity today, perhaps more so than at any time since the Middle Ages. Paths, trails, and roads once again greet spiritual travelers who seek out grand cathedrals and roadside chapels, mountain shrines and ancient abbeys, sacred wells and holy islands. Pilgrim destinations across Europe and in the Americas are visited as much for the physical journey they demand as for the spiritual power they radiate.

The Pilgrim Journey tells the fascinating story of sacred travel in the how pilgrimage was born and grew in antiquity, how it blossomed in the Middle Ages and faltered in subsequent centuries, only to reemerge stronger than before in modern times. It describes the pilgrim routes and sacred destinations past and present, the men and women making the journey, the many challenges of travel, and the spiritual motivations and rewards. And it explores the traditional stages of pilgrimage, from preparation, departure, and the time on the road, to the arrival at the shrine and the return home.

The Pilgrim Journey is both the colorful chronicle of numerous pilgrims of centuries past searching for heaven on earth and an illuminating guide for today's spiritual traveler.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

208 pages, Hardcover

First published August 11, 2015

About the author

James 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.

Reviews

[Janet]

UMW Reading Program 2020

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not think a book on such a rich subject like pilgrimage could be so….dry.
The author’s use of “allegedly” and other such words to describe what may have happened at shines was annoying. If I wanted to read someone’s skeptical recounting on pilgrimage I would read a modern pilgrim’s travelogue, not a well recommended book on how pilgrimage was such a huge part of the historical Christian life.

Read for my book club’s Travelogue month.

[Jo Lynn Linville · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than expected

It was much more interesting than I expected and worth the reading. It was educational and enlightening as well as thought provoking.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book about a little known subject. I enjoyed it very much.

[Cathy Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of religious pilgrimages over the ages and why they were important. Also a lesson in why and how pilgrimages were done, where and when.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

A history of pilgrimage in the Western world will inevitably invite the reader to ponder some interesting questions, about faith’s history and practice if nothing more. James Harpur’s well-researched The Pilgrim Journey introduces readers to pilgrimages, icons and relics, from Christianity’s earliest times, comparing and contrasting past and present, the practices of different faiths, and the hopes and aspirations of rich and poor through passing centuries. It’s a smoothly written, fascinating read, which neatly addresses the excesses that led to the Reformation, the mysteries of more recent Marian appearances, and the spirituality of people through all ages.

Added to the religious implications, author James Harpur looks too at the geographic components of pilgrimage, and the historical records of those who undertook these journeys. An inspiring image appears of the historical world, through war and peace and everything in between, with small towns and nations obliging, encouraging and benefiting from pilgrimage, just as the pilgrims themselves benefit from devotion, labor and love.

I wasn’t sure what I would make of such a serious historical read, but I really enjoyed it—an intriguingly different aspect of the past, rarely touched upon, but reassuringly real and generously portrayed.

Disclosure: I was given a copy and I offer my honest review.

[Rose Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a short history of pilgrimages in the western world beginning with Roman and Greek times (journeys to their temples) and the early Christian times when people were preserving the places where Christ walked, lived and died. During the Middle Ages, people traveled great distances to visit the Holy Land and Rome in order to receive indulgences. The Reformation saw a decrease in pilgrimages but also an increase in visiting shrines to local saints such as St. Thomas Beckett. The book explains many Mary apparitions (Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima, Walsingham) and tells of the many pilgrims to this site. Another chapter talks of the history of Santiago de Compostela. I enjoyed reading about the long travels of pilgrims during the Middle Ages, and I found it inspiring to read about so many people taking such spiritual journeys.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy but thorough fulfillment of its title. Ideally an illustrated version would be lovely but it wasn’t difficult to find the items for today.