The Beginnings of Lenten Pilgrimage
The earliest known Christian pilgrimage is Saint Helena’s journey to the Holy Land as she searched for the cross where Christ was crucified. Legends and some written records chronicled how the Roman Empress keenly traversed the Holy Land for the places related to Jesus Christ. Yet, if one asked themselves, what made the Roman Empress go to Jerusalem? Was it deep devotion? A prayer needed to be heard? The answer, based in the same notion of the oral traditions and scarce records, Saint Helena was driven to go to the Holy Land for both devotion and prayers—a prayer that especially intercedes for her son, the Emperor Constantine I, because of his orders that led to the execution of her grandson. In her search and archeological exploration of Jerusalem, Saint Helena was carrying a prayer for her family, to guide Constantine’s soul back to the one true God. With the empress' undying faith, s...