Some sites of pilgrimage, such as Lourdes in France, have a history for healing. Some people visit these places in the hope that they will be healed, or that the experience will help them come to terms with their illness and accept it. In a similar way, Christians who feel far from God might go on pilgrimages for spiritual healing.
Finally, although pilgrimage is strictly different from a holiday, some Christians who are thinking of going on holiday instead visit a place of pilgrimage, for example the Holy Land. There they enjoy themselves but also meet with other Christians and worship God.
Pilgrimages can have a dramatic effect on people’s lives. Christians going on pilgrimage come back refreshed, feeling close to God and ready to preach his word to others. Pilgrimage can resolve any doubts they have about God and Christianity.
Many people claim that the result of them going on a pilgrimage led them to ‘be saved’; this is quite a major effect on people form pilgrimage as it converts them to Christianity.
The effects of pilgrimage can also be very spiritual and unexplainable. For example there have been many cases where people have claimed to have seen vision like the transfiguration. As well as this many people have claimed to received strange and wonderful gifts i.e. speaking in tongues.
A group going on pilgrimage together can also benefit collectively, getting to know each other better due to their common belief in God. New friends can also be made from other countries, particularly if the place of pilgrimage is somewhere like the Holy Land, visited by pilgrims from all over the world. Getting to know about the Christian Church in other parts of the world in this way can help Christians understand God better, and encourage others to as well.
Not all pilgrims visiting Christian places of pilgrimage are Christians. Pilgrims who have just gone on pilgrimage to be healed of a physical disability may be converted to the Christian faith, whether or not they are healed. For example, some pilgrims visiting a site renowned for miracles of physical healing return regularly after their initial visit, because they enjoy the experience and also, perhaps more importantly, because it helps them to come to terms with their illness. Therefore, if the person is healed their life will change dramatically, and may be extended by a number of years. Problems other than long-term illnesses, such as depression possibly, can also be cured by pilgrimage, this is because the pilgrim sees others experiencing joy and presence other have in God and wanting to follow their example.
