Man animates the pilgrimage routes (presentation)

Presentation in Eugendorf on the occasion of a project meeting of the European Way of St. James in Eugendorf, 25 September 2008

The task for Toni Winterseteller's presentation was to illuminate and present the spirituality of pilgrimage, with particular emphasis on Christian spirituality. The life-giving spirit, as an expression of spirituality, animates people and thus also the pilgrimage routes.

Personal approach to the topic:

- Passionate pilgrim
- Our monastery is located on an old pilgrimage route (history of the monastery's foundation)
- Our community has discovered pilgrimage (3 days of pilgrimage once a year)
- Responsible for the care of pilgrims in the monastery

My relationship as a Benedictine to this topic of the spirituality of pilgrimage is somewhat fraught. As a Benedictine, I must, of course, first try to establish a connection between pilgrimage and the Rule and spirituality of Saint Benedict. Unfortunately, there is no chapter in the Rule that refers to pilgrimage as a spiritual activity of monks. He does not prescribe that monks should make a pilgrimage to Rome or Jerusalem once a year.

Indirectly, however, we usually find references to the pilgrimage practices of his time. In the chapter on the types of monks and the chapter on the reception of guests, Benedict describes the types of pilgrims he encountered.

In the chapter on the types of monks, his skepticism toward a type of pilgrim monk becomes very clear. He literally calls them:

"A truly disgusting breed of monks who spend their lives wandering up and down the country, settling in monasteries for two or three days. Always on the move and never settled, they are slaves to the whims of their own will and the desires of their palate." (RB1,10)

This is what Saint Benedict writes in his Rule. A clear and unambiguous message right at the beginning of his Rule.

That is one side of pilgrimage. The other side we encounter in the chapter on welcoming guests. There Benedict writes

“All guests should be given due honor, especially brothers in the faith and pilgrims.” (RB53,2)

In this chapter, a completely different tone begins to resonate. Pilgrims, in particular, should be treated with honor and reverence. This clearly demonstrates the high status that pilgrims enjoy under Benedict.

From the Rule and experience of Saint Benedict, we can learn that there are two types of pilgrims within us. On the one hand, the gyrogenic pilgrim, who remains trapped within his own limitations and seeks only selfish spiritual self-gratification in pilgrimage. On the other, the pilgrim who seeks in pilgrimage the capacity for devotion and relationship, the foundation of a vibrant spirituality.

As a rule, there's nothing else about pilgrimage. Thank God, as a Benedictine, I can and am allowed to refer to the Holy Scriptures, otherwise I would have to stop my presentation.

Therefore, I would now like to refer to central scriptures and images of the NT that establish a Christian spirituality of pilgrimage.

There are three passages in the Gospel of Luke that I refer to:

Mary's visit to Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-56); The Transfiguration of Jesus (Luke 9:28-36); The encounter with the Risen One on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)

All 3 positions have the following in common:

1. People set out on a journey: Mary goes into the hill country of Judea; Jesus goes up a mountain with Peter, John and James; Two disciples go to the village called Emmaus
2. They come to one place: Mary in the house of Zechariah; Jesus and his disciples at the top of the mountain; The disciples and Jesus in a house in Emmaus
3. An encounter takes place at this place: Mary meets Elizabeth; The disciples meet Jesus, Moses and Elijah; The disciples of Emmaus met a stranger on the way
4. In this encounter, an experience of God occurs: In Mary's womb, the child leaped for joy at meeting Jesus; Jesus revealed himself to the disciples as the Risen One in the Transfiguration; in the sharing of the bread, in the opening of their eyes, and in their burning hearts, the disciples of Emmaus recognized the Risen One.
5. They return again: Mary returned home; Jesus, Peter, John, and James came down from the mountain; the disciples of Emmaus returned to Jerusalem.

What can we learn from these three stories about the spirituality of pilgrimage and the spiritual experience on the pilgrimage route:

A spiritual experience requires a path and a change of location
The reason why more and more people are beginning to go on pilgrimages today isn't just a fad. Consciously or subconsciously, people sense that a spiritual experience, which many people long for today, requires a path. This is deeply biblical and Christian. I believe we have forgotten this in our church and in our Christian faith communities.

We as Christians must be careful not to degenerate into a sitting and meeting community.
This profoundly contradicts the fundamental character of Christianity. Being a Christian means, first and foremost, following God.

Jesus does not say, “Stay where you are.”
He also doesn’t say, “Follow you.”
He says: “Follow me.”

As a Christian, I must therefore be prepared for three things:

1. I must be willing to go a way
2. I must be willing to let go of the EGO
3. I must be willing to align my life with the life and message of Jesus

Being willing to go a way means being willing to change location
Before his public ministry, Jesus withdraws into the solitude and isolation of the desert.
Mary goes to Elizabeth.
Jesus climbs a mountain with his disciples.
Two disciples walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus.

Walking involves a change of location. Preparation for a spiritual experience requires a change of location. That's why people today retreat to a monastery or spiritual center. They go to another place to fast, remain silent, and pray. When I go on a pilgrimage, I also go to another place. The pilgrimage itself, but also the goal I am moving toward, compels me to change location. I leave the familiar, the everyday, the familiar behind me in order to open myself to new experiences and encounters.

I asked pilgrims why they go on pilgrimage. What their motivation is. What drives them on their journey.

I came across various motifs and would now like to let the pilgrims speak for themselves.

- I surrender myself to HIM and look forward to what the path will show me (from our pilgrim book on the Via Nova path)
- A couple writes: Coming from Telfs in Tyrol, we are on our way to Bischofshofen (Rupertusweg) on ​​the path to ourselves and to our spirituality. Preparing for the 2010 Way of St. James. May God's blessing and energy accompany us. (From our pilgrim's book)
- On the Via Nova pilgrimage route – 3 seekers of God (from the pilgrim's book)
- Thank you for "sending" me on this pilgrimage. Open my eyes, let me find myself again, and make the right decision. Thank you that I can trustfully place my life in your hands. (From the Pilgrim's Book)
I also asked a woman who called me this week about her motivation for a pilgrim's blessing. Every fall, she walks from Wiener Neustadt to Mariazell to give thanks for the past year. This year, she's moving to Bad Ischl, and as a start to her new journey, she wants to walk the Rupertusweg with friends.
- A married couple walks the Way of St. James together in preparation for their wedding. A man who has chosen to become a priest also walks the Way of St. James before entering the seminary.
- A man walks the Way of St. James because he made a vow. His son recovered after a serious illness.

These motives make it clear that a large proportion of pilgrims have a spiritual motivation for their pilgrimage. For another portion of pilgrims, their motives are not explicitly expressed as spiritual. Interestingly, however, when you ask the pilgrims further questions, spiritual motives often emerge.

This was also the case with a Benedictine monk. In preparation for this presentation, I spoke to him about his experiences on the Way of St. James. He had already walked the Way of St. James 20 years ago. He was on the journey for two weeks. When I asked him his motivation, he answered very quickly: "He wanted to know how little he would need to live in those two weeks, because the two-week pilgrimage on this path forces you to reduce your daily routine." I then asked him again whether that was the only reason he had walked this path. He replied, somewhat hesitantly, that he had taken two intentions with him on the journey. One concerned a miraculous image from the monastery he had come from. It had been stolen. For him, pilgrimage was also an expression of a request to St. James that this miraculous image would reappear. The other intention concerned a request from a student of his. She was suffering from cancer. The student asked the monk to pray for her recovery and healing on this path and at the tomb of St. James. He did. I'll tell you how this story ended later.

If you want to have a spiritual experience, you have to walk a path. This is one of the wisdoms we can learn from these three Bible passages.

But it doesn’t just require a path, it also requires places.


For a spiritual experience, places of encounter are needed

Places of lived hospitality
Mary enters a house. She is hospitably received by Elizabeth. Just as Mary was welcomed by Elizabeth, so too are many pilgrims today hospitably received and accepted by people on their journey. Hospitality can become a soul-stirring experience.

Examples:
Pilgrims on the Via Nova Trail, including pilgrim guide Franz Muhr, spoke with joy about the warm welcome and the shared meal. I have also enjoyed this hospitality myself. These are unforgettable experiences along the way.

Or the experience we brothers had this year on our pilgrimage. We walked from Altmünster to St. Wolfgang in three days. When I was reserving the hostels, a woman told me that it was an honor for her to have us stay with her as pilgrims. It touched me deeply. Not to be a burden to the host, but a welcome, even honored guest. This reverence cannot be bought. It is the soul-stirring experience of hospitality along the way.

That's why all those who create these places along the trails and are responsible for them have a responsibility. I know that financial considerations play an important role in the creation of pilgrimage routes for the communities along the trail. The warmth of genuine hospitality, which cannot be bought, must not be neglected.


Places of prayer and contemplation
Jesus goes up a mountain with his disciples to pray. It is an image of the encounter between God and humanity. On pilgrimages, pilgrims repeatedly encounter places in nature or in churches that invite contemplation, prayer, silence, and encounter with God. Pilgrims often tell me that along pilgrimages there are always places and churches where it is very easy to pray. It is as if the place itself is already praying, and I only need to open myself up to immerse myself in the flow of prayer. I believe that walking makes me more sensitive to sensing these places. When I am traveling by car, I cannot feel the landscape or the path. The car and the speed create a distance between me and my surroundings. But walking brings me into closer contact with what surrounds me. Walking promotes openness and sharpens the senses.

Openness to chance encounters along the way

“I surrender myself to HIM and look forward to what the path will show me.”

Trust in God and trust that I will encounter signposts along the way that have a message for my life. The woman speaks a biblical truth. Through chance encounters along the way, experiences of God can occur. The same thing happened to the disciples of Emmaus. They walk a path together. Along the way, they engage in a conversation, and a third, unknown person joins them. He enters into communication with them. He has a message for them. Whether I perceive, accept, and absorb this message depends on my mindfulness and openness. I would like to tell you a story that happened on the Way of St. James:

It is the story of a woman who walked the Way of St. James. She is an atheist because she grew up in the former GDR. She does not believe in God, but walks the Way of St. James anyway. As luck would have it, she injured her foot and had to be treated by a woman. After the treatment, the woman told her to pray for her at the tomb of St. James. You can imagine what that meant to the atheist. She, who does not believe in God, is suddenly supposed to pray for a woman at the tomb of St. James. Unfortunately, I do not know how this story ended. Whether she prayed for her, or whether she learned to believe through this encounter, I do not know. The challenge alone of this request in this chance encounter speaks for itself.

Such chance encounters can change people. They can even turn things upside down. As happened to me when I accompanied a group of pilgrims over the Falkenstein.

There's a chapel there with the Schlupfstein. As a pilgrim, you have to crawl through the Schlupfstein. It's a symbol of new birth. When you slip through, you feel like you're in a birth canal. We performed the ritual. I always stand at the end of the Schlupfstein to assist the pilgrims like a midwife. As luck would have it, I missed the last participant. I went back down to the chapel to join the other participants. Suddenly, I heard shouting and rocks clattering in the cave after the Schlupfstein. All I thought to myself was, "Quick, up into the cave; someone needs my help." At the entrance to the cave, there's a waist-high ledge that you have to climb over. In my rush, my foot got caught on the ledge. I hit the ground headfirst. At first, all I saw were stars. I realized that I'd almost cracked my skull trying to save myself. Thankfully, I escaped with just a scratch and a black eye. The participant resurfaced on her own. Unfortunately, she continued in the wrong direction, so she ended up in a short side arm of the cave. She couldn't go any further from there.
A year later, I met her again. She told me that her experience at the Schlupfstein had changed her professional life. In the cave, when she couldn't go on any longer, she saw very clearly that the situation was the same as in her job. Something had to change; she had to turn around. This change and turnaround manifested itself in her changing jobs. Now she is happy with her situation and her job.
The woman further told me that this experience on the pilgrimage was a spiritual one for her. At the moment of turning back in the cave, it suddenly became very clear to her that the path she was taking at work was leading to a dead end. She also needed to turn back in her everyday life.

This experience makes it clear that a spiritual experience on a pilgrimage leads into everyday life. It has transformative and transforming power. It is not aloof and detached from the world. I don't have to be an angel floating half a meter above the ground to have a spiritual experience. The experience of God occurs in my humanity, in being rooted, in standing with both feet on the ground of my reality.

In summary, we can say:

Biblically speaking, a spiritual experience while on a pilgrimage requires a
AWAY
CHANGE OF LOCATION
PLACES OF ENCOUNTER
OPENNESS TO WHAT HAPPENS TO ME ALONG THE WAY

How a spiritual experience occurs, what it actually is, and what impact it has? We haven't talked about that yet.

With regard to the scriptures, the following can be said about spiritual experience:

1. A spiritual experience cannot be had by humans. It is always a gift that occurs in relationships and encounters.

The fact that the child in Elizabeth's womb begins to jump for joy is not her doing. The child jumps because it recognizes the Savior and Redeemer in Mary's womb. The fact that Jesus is transfigured on Mount Tabor is not something the disciples do because they are praying so piously. On the contrary, they are asleep. That too is a gift. The fact that the disciples recognize the Risen Christ in the breaking of bread was not their doing. On the contrary, they were blind. The fact that they were suddenly able to see had nothing to do with having had eye surgery. The fact that they were able to see and recognize was a gift.

2. A spiritual experience transforms and changes.

The disciples, who sadly walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus, returned to Jerusalem with hope, joy, and confidence. The light emanating from Jesus illuminates the darkness and the disciples' sleep. Sadness can be transformed into profound joy when the inner child within begins to leap for joy again. Saint Benedict speaks of the expansive heart that one gains when one follows a spiritual path. The narrowness of the heart is transformed into spaciousness. Where fear once constricted the heart, it becomes wide as one walks a path.

3. An experience needs interpretation to become a spiritual experience
Fundamentally, it must be said that every pilgrim has experiences along the way. It doesn't depend on whether I am religious or not. Whether and how these experiences then become spiritual depends on the pilgrim's religious reference point. A Buddhist will interpret an experience differently than a Jew. A Muslim or an atheist will interpret the experience according to their respective religious reference point. If I start from a Christian spirituality of pilgrimage, then the first point of reference for interpretation is the Holy Scripture. This is where I see the great opportunity and the task of the pilgrim guides. Just as Jesus walks a path with the disciples of Emmaus and reveals the meaning of Scripture to them through conversation, so I see the task of the pilgrim guides. They are responsible for offering the participants a religious framework through their inspiration and their guidance, so that the meaning of their experience can become clear to the pilgrims in light of Jesus' message. It is not about forcing the message on others, but rather about establishing a connection between the experiences along the path and the message of Jesus.
As a pilgrim guide, one's message should not obstruct the Way, but rather accompany the Way and open up religious access. The experiences along the Way offer many opportunities for this.

4. A spiritual experience leads back to everyday life

“Whoever immerses himself in God emerges again in man.” (PM Zulehner)

A spiritual experience, an experience of God, leads back to everyday life. Mary returns home after a stay with Elizabeth. Jesus descends the mountain with his disciples. The disciples of Emmaus return to Jerusalem.
In the past, it was customary for pilgrims to return home after reaching their destination.
For those who avoid the daily routine, a spiritual experience is and remains merely self-gratification. Benedict criticized this in the case of the wandering monks because they had lost touch with everyday life. The experience of God requires everyday life. Just as prayer requires everyday life and work. The two belong together and enrich each other. What is given to me on the pilgrimage must prove itself in everyday life. The goal of Christian spirituality is not the spiritual experience alone. Life and everyday life, my actions and deeds, must be permeated by this experience.


I compare such a pilgrimage to a baptismal experience. You enter the realm of pilgrimage and emerge changed and transformed. You return different from the way you left.

The pilgrimage the couple has undertaken in preparation for their wedding certainly provides them with essential experiences and insights. However, the image of being on a journey together in marriage must be lived out in everyday life. Walking a pilgrimage together can continually strengthen and reinforce the relationship, but it cannot replace the everyday life of the relationship.

5. A spiritual experience makes pilgrims into soulful messengers of the Way

The disciples of Emmaus return to Jerusalem with a message. They must proclaim it there. Their message of the journey is the Risen One. Every pilgrim who returns inspired from the journey is a messenger for the journey. I believe most pilgrims who set out on the journey do so because they have heard about the inspiring experiences of the journey from other pilgrims. The shared experiences are often contagious, so I set out on the journey myself to be inspired by the journey.

In this respect, the title of the lecture “Man animates the pilgrimage routes” is correct.

By the way, I forgot something I promised you at the beginning: the ending of the story with the Benedictine priest. The starting point was the monastery's stolen miraculous image and the student suffering from cancer……….

Br. Emmanuel Hessler, Deacon