Comments, Readings and a Map

At the end of class last Thursday there was a question about Jewish pilgrimage. There is a book by David Gitlitz (2005) Pilgrimage and the Jews addressing that subject. The George Mason Library does not seem to have a copy, but the book is in-print and available from the publisher Greenwood Press:

Individually and as joint authors David Gitlitz and his wife Linda Davidsohn, teachers of Spanish Language and Jewish studies at the University of Rhode Island, have written extensively on pilgrimage-related topics as well as on issues of Jewish history.

A useful encyclopedia they edited is Pilgrimage: From the Ganges to Graceland: An Encyclopedia. Once more the George Mason library does not seem to have the title, and the two volume set is out-of-print, but it can be obtained from used book sellers like the on-line Alibris.

A Map showing the location of the pilgrimage sites in Argentina discussed on
26 March:

This rather poor quality map of Argentina shows the location of the three pilgrimage sites discussed on 26 March: 1 Lujan, 2 Difunta Correa, and 3 Bermejo (San Expedito)

Tomorrow I plan to post the outline for this week's topic "Sacred Spaces."

Introductory Session 26 March 2009

Some notes after class on 26 March

Wikipedia is a useful initial source on many topics related to pilgrimage, although it is always best to verify information from that source with additional reading.

Santa Maria de Luján

Interestingly, there is no Wikipedia entry in English, so the selection below is from the article in the Spanish language version of the encyclopedia on the pilgrmage site:


"En el mes de mayo de 1630,la imagen de la Virgen de Luján llegó a la Argentina procedente de San Pablo, Brasil. Antonio Farías Sáa, era un hacendado radicado en Santiago del Estero que quería colocar en su estancia una capilla para la Virgen. Este hombre encargó desde Brasil, dos imágenes que representaran la Inmaculada Concepción de María. En su venida, la caravana con el encargue, se detuvo a orillas del Río Luján a 67 km de Buenos Aires, en una hacienda. Al llegar el otro día los carreteros iban a proseguir con el viaje, pero la carreta que llevaba la imagen no se movía, intentaron de todas las formas posibles que caminara, bajaron la mercadería, colocaron más bueyes, pero todo fue inútil, las dos imágenes estaban en el fondo de la carreta en dos pequeños cajones.
Los carreteros retiraron una imagen y no se movió, la subieron y bajaron la otra, y la carreta marchó normalmente. En ese instante los hombres comprendieron que estaba ocurriendo algo milagroso. Al ver que la Virgen no quería marcharse se dirigieron a la casa más cercana.
La familia se emocionó al ver la imagen y la colocaron en su casa, la noticia corrió por toda la región, y se enteraron hasta en Buenos Aires. Las personas empezaron a viajar al lugar, entonces don Rosendo construyó una pequeña capilla, entre los pajonales de la pampa, en este lugar permaneció la virgen desde 1630 hasta 1674. El lugar empezó a poblarse con los devotos de la Virgen. De esta forma el paraje se convirtió en una aldea que se llamó Pueblo de Nuestra Sra. de Luján, en 1755 se le otorgó el título de Villa. La devoción por la Virgen fue creciendo año tras año, así como los milagros que ocurrían y el 23 de octubre de 1730, Luján era instituida parroquia.
El Padre Salvaire, en 1886, presentó al Papa León XIII, la petición del Episcopado y de los fieles del Río de la Plata para la coronación de la Virgen, el Pontífice bendijo la corona y le otorgó Oficio y Misa propios para su festividad, que quedó establecida en el sábado anterior al IV domingo después de Pascua. La Coronación se realizó en mayo 1887."


Saint Expeditus


Saint Expeditus (San Expedito in Spanish) was an early Christian saint, although there is debate as to when he was first venerated. The beginning of his cult may have been as late as the 19th century. San Expedito is a particularly popular saint in Chile and adjacent portions of Argentina. The Wikipedia article on Expeditus is a useful if incomplete summary of his life, martyrdom, and subsequent veneration:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expeditus

For those who can read Spanish (Castellano), veneration in Argentina is discussed on:

http://www.misanexpedito.com.ar/

Difunta Correa


The sheer oddity of Difunta Correa makes it easy to find descriptions and websites. Most of the major guidebooks for Argentina have sections as do travel web sites on the country. As always the Wikipedia site is an interesting if not completely authoritative place to begin research on the subject.

Maps

A request for maps to illustrate the lecture materials was made by a class member. As I am able to find or compile them, I shall post maps on the website and use them in the class sessions. In a few days I shall post a map showing the locations of the Argentinian sites.

Outline for Session I 26 March 2009

Seattle, Washington
While I am away from Fairfax almost until the class begins, I have managed to bring along my course materials, and as promised here is the outline for the first session:

Pilgrimage Session I

26 March 2009

Pilgrimage, an Introduction

I. A brief description and examination of three pilgrimages.

II. What is pilgrimage?

a. Religious motivations.

b. Secular motivations.

III. Definitions of pilgrimage.

a. A religious definition from the Catholic Encyclopedia (The whole article is worth reading at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12085a.htm )

b. Secular pilgrimages.

c. Social scientific definitions.

IV. Where do pilgrims go?

V. How do they go?

a. The destination alone as the pilgrimage.

b. The route as a key part of the pilgrimage.

VI. Who are pilgrims and why do they go?

VII. A brief overview of the remaining sessions.

VIII. Some Limitations of this course.

a. A socio-cultural examination and not a discussion of theology.

b. Tolerant of almost all religious viewpoints .

c. Biased toward Christian examples in Europe and the Americas.

d. My other biases and my limitations as course leader.

Reading Suggestion:

A good overview of religiously motivated pilgrimages is provided by a well-illustrated book available at the Fairfax County Public Library and the George Mason University Library:

Coleman, Simon and Elsner, John. 1995. Pilgrimage: Past and Present in the World Religions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-66765-4. LCCC BL619.P5C65 1995.

Introduction

OlliPilgrimage is a blog for participants in the Spring 2009 course on Pilgrimage at OLLI at George Mason University. On this blog I plan to post materials relevant to the course including session outlines, suggested readings, and where copyrights allow photographs, maps and other graphics used to illustrate lectures. If you are a course participant, you are invited to submit questions, comments, and links to materials you feel might be interesting for me or for other participants in the course.

In a few days I plan to post the outline for the first session scheduled at Tallwood on Thursday, 27 March.

Taken in 1984, the photograph shows the arch of the main door to the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. On the far left is a depiction of St. James the Major (Santiago in Castellano) dressed as a pilgrim to his shrine in the cathedral. (Photograph Copyright E. O. Pederson)