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, she successfully found the cross of Christ and even the places related to Him like His birthplace in Bethlehem. How Saint Helena discovered the true cross was also a fascinating tale itself. According to traditions, the empress found three fragments of a cross. She called upon three different folks with ailments and each one kissed the three other pieces of a cross. The first two kissed the two fragments and nothing happened. The third, however, turned different. When the third person kissed the third fragment, miraculously, his ailment was gone.
After many centuries, Christianity grew widespread, and the spot where Saint Helena found the cross became the Holy Sepulcher Church. The specific location of the discovery was on the Franciscan Chapel of the church where it remained venerated by devotees up to this day.
This tale of Saint Helena and her pilgrimage has become an inspiration to all Catholics around the world. During Lent, the season for Christians to reflect and to repent—tailed with this is the tradition of fasting and unending days and nights of prayers.
Filipinos were true and faithful Catholics down to their bones as we diligently complied with the traditions hailed during the Lenten season. There was the need to go to confession, to give alms to the poor, to visit and pray at different churches, the fasting from certain foods and habits, and most especially listening to the mass that recalled the seven last words of Jesus when He was nailed to the cross. But two traditions, reminiscent of Saint Helena’s pilgrimage, are fervently followed by the Catholics. These traditions are doing the “Stations of the Cross” or “Via Dolorosa”, church pilgrimage or “Visita Iglesia”. The two, along with the Siete Palabras mass, are the highlights of the Lenten traditions that we Catholics do, accompanied with our prayers.
Via Dolorosa or Stations of the Cross is a procession or pilgrimage commemorating the suffering and passion of Jesus Christ as He made His way to Calvary. Devout Catholics do this tradition as they reflect on each station and fervently pray the novena. There is also the Visita Iglesia or church pilgrimage, a Filipino sacred vow, inspired by the Roman tradition led by Saint Philip Neri that dates back to the 16th century. This tradition became part of the Filipino culture when friars brought it from Europe. Filipino Catholics do this penitent every Maundy Thursday and Good Friday (though sometimes earlier than those days) and visit seven to fourteen churches. Seven, in honor of the seven last words of Christ or His seven wounds. Fourteen is honoring the stations of the cross. Another fact about these two traditions is that people do not use cars to take themselves to different churches. Instead they walk miles to go from church to church.
Just like Saint Helena, Filipino Catholics prefer our prayers aided with penitence not just because we wanted our prayers to be heard amongst the rest, or to be seen as deeply faithful individual, instead we see the struggle in those traditions as putting ourselves in the footsteps of Christ—understanding His pain and undying love for us. Like the ever-faithful Saint Helena, following these Lenten traditions is our way of searching Christ within us—deeply scouring and reflecting our faith and relation with God. Even in our quietness, the aches on our feet as we do the Visita Iglesia or Via Dolorosa, all is about love entailed in little sacrifice.
Lenten is the season of reflection, repentance, and rising above the adversities that came upon us.
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