Category: Part 1: Local Pilgrimage

In the spring of the year, as the birds begin to sing, the buds appear on the trees, and the fawns are seen grazing in the meadow, we are reminded of new life. For the Christian this bespeaks the Resurrection of Christ by which we have hope for eternal life in the land where there…

To thee I lift up my eyes,O thou who art enthroned in the heavens!2 Behold, as the eyes of servantslook to the hand of their master,as the eyes of a maidto the hand of her mistress,so our eyes look to the Lord our God,till he have mercy upon us. 3 Have mercy upon us, O…

About the author: Karl Trautmann is a Catholic husband and father to three young children with the hopes of more to come. A private music teacher turned police officer with a love of reading, writing, and all things outdoors. — I joined my university’s choir in September 2016, because they were going to Europe in…

I was glad when they said to me,“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”2 Our feet have been standingwithin your gates, O Jerusalem! 3 Jerusalem, built as a citywhich is bound firmly together,4 to which the tribes go up,the tribes of the Lord,as was decreed for Israel,to give thanks to the name of…

About the text: The Diary of Egeria was written by a woman from Spain during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the early 380s. Egeria was part of a community of women religious—what we would today call a “nun”—and was writing to her sisters back home. This is the earliest surviving firsthand account of…

I lift up my eyes to the hills.From whence does my help come?2 My help comes from the Lord,who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved,he who keeps you will not slumber.4 Behold, he who keeps Israelwill neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper;the Lord is…

Fr. Kenny Ang About the author: Kenny Ang is a Research Professor in the Department of Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, where he earned his Doctorate in Sacred Theology. His teaching and research focus on Trinitarian theology, with particular attention to Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, and the…

About the text: The “Psalms of Ascent” are a series of psalms (Psalms 120-134) that were traditionally prayed by the people of Israel as they ascended Mount Zion to approach the Temple of God. The first four of these psalms are reproduced here revealing a progression akin to that of the pilgrim, from dwelling in…

About the text: The Catechism of the Catholic Church was compiled under the direction of then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) to serve as a compendium of Catholic doctrine. This is one of only two catechisms prepared for the universal Church, the other having been produced in 1566. The following excerpts discuss the…

Geoffrey Chaucer About the text: The Canterbury Tales is the best known of Geoffrey Chaucer’s works. As the prologue indicates, it tells the tale of several pilgrims on their way to Canterbury to visit the shrine of St. Thomas Becket, the famed Archbishop of Canterbury who stood firm against Henry II on the rights of…