Lough Derg is totally different to Lourdes. It is on a little island in Northern Ireland and is sometimes referred to as St. Patrick’s Pilgrimage. You can only visit Lough Derg between 1st June and 16th August. It is the shrine for St. Patrick, where he lived. To embark on this pilgrimage you have to be at least 14 years old, fit and healthy and have no disabilities. This is a very physically demanding experience compared with Lourdes and for the whole experience you are in your bare feet to get you to understand what it was like for St. Patrick. It is like a form of self-sacrifice, like Jesus did for us. You are there for 72 hours in which you have a vigil from 10pm the first day to 10pm the second day where you deprive yourself of any sleep. While you are at Lough Derg you begin a fast in which you are only allowed to eat dry toast or oatcakes, and drink black tea or coffee twice a day. There are nine stations at Lough Derg that will be covered over the three days and these involve a lot of walking which can be very demanding.
Pilgrimages are for anyone anywhere who wants to go and further their faith and belief in their religion. They seem to come back a much better and changed person from their experiences. And many seem to enjoy it so much that they keep on coming back to these sacred shrines and places of worship.
AO2 Explain the part pilgrimage plays in the religious life of Christians. In your answer include reference to the places of pilgrimage you have mentioned above.
(Target AO2 = 350-525 words, 14 marks)
Pilgrimage can play many parts in a person’s life and mean a different thing to each person. Some Christians go there to feel the holiness of the place, as it might be a place where a vision has been seen or a saint has lived. For example in Lourdes, Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette eighteen times so the people who go to Lourdes feel as if this place is special as it was where an apparition happened. Also, Lough Derg is where St. Patrick the patron saint of Ireland lived. People go to visit these places because they feel they are different from the rest and special because a holy person actually chose to come there, they feel a stronger connection to that person. Also many feel a stronger connection with God or that they are closer to him. These places are very holy so they boost a person’s faith and make them feel spiritually enlightened.
At Lough Derg, rather than worshipping Our Lady and praying for the sick like at Lourdes, people go to seek a way of showing repentance, go to regain or boost their spiritual life, others may simply feel a call to face the challenge of the exercises of the island and some others may still go but have no clear idea of why they simply know that it is something they have to do.
People go on pilgrimages for many different reasons. People can go to worship; either publicly in services or they do their own private worship. Some pilgrimages can be very physically demanding, e.g. Lough Derg or climbing Croagh Patrick. They can be painful and you can suffer but this shows a kind of self-sacrifice to God. Another reason is for healing. This is probably the most important and is what attracts the most people to come to Lourdes. Many people go to receive healing in either mental, spiritual or a physical form. Miracles have been known to occur at Lourdes for example where people were cured of certain physical disabilities or illnesses.
Christians can go on pilgrimage to ask for God’s forgiveness. They pray to God and tell him all the things they have done wrong and that they realise they were wrong. They then do a penance to try and make up for it. This also shows their devotion to God as they take time out of their own lives to travel sometimes a very long distance to show their faith to God and worship him. People also go to ask for and receive God’s help. They can sort out their problems or maybe even get a cure for an illness.
Christians also take time out to go on pilgrimage to strengthen their faith in God and help them prioritise their life. It gives them time to think and pray and get their lives in order. They can get away from their normal hectic lives and gives them a break. Pilgrimage can be very beneficial to all Christians as it has so many activities to do. You can in a way renew and strengthen your faith, enjoy yourself and it can help you to put your life into perspective.
AO3 “Places of pilgrimage tend to be very commercialised these days. This is bound to reduce the value of a pilgrimage for a Christian.”
Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer, showing that you have considered more than one point of view.
(Target AO3 = 250-375 words, 10 marks)
Supporters of this statement would argue that places of pilgrimages have become very commercialised these days. They would also say that it would reduce the value of a pilgrimage for a Christian because they have changed so much, from quiet shrines to a massive tourist like attractions. Some have turned into more of a business than a holy place of worship where you can come to pray and reflect.
A key point backing this viewpoint is the sheer size of some of the places of pilgrimage. Take Lourdes for an example. It has become huge compared to about 20 years ago. Now it has at least doubled in size and it takes thousands of workers (doctors, nurses, priests) to keep it up and running. This just shows that they have become very commercialised and take away the value the pilgrimages used to hold. There is a reason for this though, it’s because of transport. Nowadays, all you have to do is get on a plane and fly to where you want to go. You used to have to travel miles and miles on your feet, it could take weeks even months, compared with now only a few hours. So now that it easier to go on pilgrimage a lot more people do.
Furthermore, just look Jesus in the temple. In which he threw the traders out of the temple as they were ripping people off and acting as if they were a business. He turned over their tables and told them to leave. This shows that these places of pilgrimage will lose value if they become too commercialised and too much like businesses rather then holy shrines of important people. Also there are a lot of tacky souvenirs that take away value as they make these places look cheap.
On the other hand, those who oppose this view would argue that it is still just as holy and holds just as much value to Christians as it did years ago. They would argue that pilgrimages had to expand and commercialise as they were becoming more and more popular.
A key point in support of this position is that the population is growing quickly so there are more and more people in the world. They would say that it needed to expand because of the vast amounts of people that want to visit these places and that if they stayed the same then the places of pilgrimages would simply not be able to cope. Especially as many people who come to visit are disabled or old, which means they need special treatment, so these places of pilgrimage had to commercialise. Also disabled people need more space than others so that’s another reason for the expansion and commercialisation.
After considering the different points of view and the supporting evidence I think that places of pilgrimages have not become too commercialised to a point where it takes the value away for Christians. I think this because now the pilgrimages have become so big that more people go, so you can feel more like part of a group and feel proud to be a Christian, so in a way gives more value, especially in the masses. But also I feel it can take some value away due to the size of the places, you don’t feel as spiritually healed or that you can connect as much with God because of all the people around you. Some places can get too big and so don’t feel special at all. So, I do think that the places of pilgrimage don’t really lose any value due the expansion of them and commercialisation. They are only big because they need to be, but haven’t lost any value in my opinion.