Opinion Articles

* On the road to find out is a worthy journey
By Tracey Edstein
Tracey Edstein is the editor of Aurora, the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.
According to the dictionary, a pilgrim is ‘a person who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons', ‘a person regarded as journeying through life'.

The first of these categories is the narrower and in the Christian faith, relatively few adherents are in a position to make a pilgrimage to a distant place. Probably the most renowned pilgrims' route is Santiago de Compostela in Spain , which has honoured St James the Apostle for a thousand years.

Muslims, of course, are asked to journey to Mecca - the hajj - at least once if at all possible.

Others, including Indigenous Australians, make a personal pilgrimage to a place that is significant - because it is a birthplace, or the site of a momentous event, or has other spiritual significance. Many young Australians include Gallipoli on their itinerary when they travel overseas.

I have recently returned from a pilgrimage to sites in Spain, France and Italy associated with the Catholic religious Order of Preachers, “Dominicans”. This group of women and men who live by the motto veritas - truth - was founded in 1206 by Dominic Guzman, later St Dominic, born in the town of Caleruega in Spain. This year the Order celebrates 800 years of the ‘ Dominican Way ' of life.

The pilgrimage experience was a rich one and is highly recommended. While most of the pilgrims had not met, there were no strangers, because all were united by a common commitment to a gospel way of life.

While there was a meticulously planned itinerary, often it was the surprises along the way which had most impact. We met a young Russian Dominican named Antonia who had walked parts of the Santiago de Compostela track and was continuing, as funds allowed, to make a personal pilgrimage. Dominic was known as a joyful person; Antonia said, when asked about leisure interests, “I love to live!”

Travellers to Europe usually visit the great galleries and churches and see sculptures, paintings, tapestries and wonderful architecture. Often, we were able to see not only beauty, but insights into the human experience and condition. The magnificent frescoes of Fra Angelico were painted on the walls of the friars' cells in San Marco, Florence, never intended for public viewing. Art was Fra Angelico's way of preaching and theologising - and over 600 years later, the homily remains.

As a pilgrim, you enjoy the luxury of ‘time out' from usual responsibilities and obligations. You are able to live ‘one day at a time', needing to think no further ahead than the next stop, even enjoying the occasional nap! There are no emails or phones to answer, although some could not resist the lure of the text message.

The second definition of a pilgrim, ‘a person regarded as journeying through life', can apply to each of us. The opportunity to heighten, for a time, the awareness of the journey is one to be eagerly accepted!

*This article was published in The Newcastle Herald, 5th June 2006.