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 PILGRIMAGES

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PILGRIMAGES

multiplied the annual number of pilgrims. Within the city itself, mention must just be made of the cele- brated pilgrimage to the seven churches, a devotion so dear to the heart of St. Phihp (Capecelatro, "Life of St. Philip", tr. Pope, London, 1894, I, 106, 238, etc.). His name recalls the great work he did for the pilgrims who came to Rome. He cstabhshed his Con- gregation of the Trinita dei Pellegrini (ibid., 1, 138-54), the whole work of which was to care for and look after the thronging crowds who came ever)- year, more espe- cially in the years of jubilee. Of course, many such hospices already e>dsted. The English College had originally been a home for Saxon pilgrims; and there were and are many others. But St. Philip gave the movement a new impetus.

iS(. Albans, Hertford, England, was famous over Europe in the Middle Ages. This is the more curious as the sainted martyr was no priest or monk, but a simple layman. The number of royal pilgrims prac- tically includes the whole list of English kings and queens, but especially de\oted to the shrine were Henry III, Edward I, £dward II, Richard II. During the last century the broken pieces of the demolished shrine (to the number of two thousand fragments) were patiently fitted together, and now enable the present generation to picture the beauty it presented to the pilgrims who thronged around it (Wall, II, 35-43).

Si. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. — Though more cele- brated as a royal burgh and as the seat of Scotland's most ancient university, its earUer renown came to it as a centre of pilgrimage. Even as far back as the year 500 we find a notice of the pilgrimages made by the Welsh bishop, Cadoc. He went seven times to Rome, thrice to Jerusalem, and once to St. Andrews (Acta SS., Jan., Ill, 219).

Si. David's, Pembrokeshire, Wales, was so cele- brated a place of pilgrimage that WiUiam I went there immediately after the conquest of England. The im- portance of this shrine and the reverence in which the rehcs of St. David were held may be gathered from the papal Decree that two pilgrimages here were equal to one to Rome (Wall, 91-5J.

Stv Anne d'Auray, Vannes, Brittany, a centre of pilgrimage in one of the holiest cities of the Bretons, celebrated for its pardons in honour of St. Anne. The principal pilgrimages take place at Pentecost and on 26 July.

Sle Anne de Beaupre, Quebec. Canada, has be- come the most popular centre of pilgrimage in all Canada within quite recent years. A review, or pious magazine, "Les .Annales de la Bonne S. Anne", has been founded to increase the devotion of the people; and the zeal of the Canadian clergy has been displayed in organizing parochial pilgrimages to the shrine. The Eucharistic Congress, held at Montreal in 1910, also did a great deal to spread abroad the fame of this sanctuary.

Sainle-Baume. — .S. Maximin, Toulouse, France, is the centre of a famous pilgrimage to the supposed rehcs of St. Mary Magdalene. The historical evidence against the authentication of the tombs is extraordi- narily strong and ha-s not been really seriously answered. The pilgrimages, however, continue; and devout worshippers visit the shrine, if not of, at least, dedi- cated to, St. Marj' Magdalene. The arguments against the tradition have been marshalled and fully set out by Mgr Duchesne ("Pastes (5piscopaux de I'ancienne Gaul", Paris, 1894-1900) and appeared in Enghsh form in "The Tablet", XCVI (1900), 88, 282, 323, 365, 403, 444.

iS(. Palrick's Purgatory, Donegal, Ireland, has been the centre of a pilgrimage from far remote days. The legends that describe its foundation are full of Dan- tesque episodes which have won for the shrine a place in European literature. It is noticed by the medieval chroniclerB, found its way into ItaUan prose, was

dramatized by Calder6n, is referred to by Erasmus, and its existence seems implied in the remark of Ham- let concerning the ghost from purgatory: "Yes by St. Patrick but there is, Horatio" (Act I, sc. V). Though suppressed even before the Reformation, and of course during the Penal Times, it is still extraordinarily popu- lar with the Irish people, for whom it is a real peni- tential exercise. It seems the only pilgrimage of mod- ern times conducted like those of the Middle Ages (Chambers, " Book of Days", London, I, 725-8; Leslie in "The Tablet", 1910).

Saragassa, Aragon, Spain, is celebrated for its famous shrine dedicated to the Blessed Virgin under the title Xuestra Seiiora del Pilar. Tradition asserts that the origin of this statue goes back to the time of

Padu.v — Ba6Ilic.\ of St. ,\nthony St. James, when, in the lifetime of the Mother of God, it was set up by order of the .\postle. This was approved by Callistus III in 1456. It is glorious on account of the many miracles performed there, and is the most popular of all the shrines of the Blessed \'irgin in the Peninsula and the most thronged with pilgrims (Acta SS., July, VH, 880-900).

Savona, Genoa, Italy, claims to possess the oldest sanctuary dedicated to the Blessed Virgin in all Italy, for to it "Constantine is said to have gone on pilgrim- age. The statue was solemnlj' crowned by Pius \'II, not while spentling his five years of captivity in the city, but later, i. e., on 10 May, 1815, assisted by King Victor Emmanuel and the royal family of Savoy (Champagnac, II, 8.52-7).

Teneriffe, Canary Islands, has a statue of the Blessed t'irgin which tradition asserts was found by the pagan inhabitants and worshipped as some strange deity for a hundred years or so. For some time after the conversion of the islanders it was a centre of pil- grimage (Champagnac, II, 926-7).

Toledo, New Castile, Spain, in its gorgeous cathedral enshrines a statue of the Blessed Virgin in a chapel of jasper, ornamented with magnificent and unique treasures. This centre of devotion to the Blessed Virgin which draws to it annually a great number of pilgrims, is due to the tradition of the apparition to St. Ildephonsus (Champagnac, 11, 944-6).

ToTlosa, Syria, was in the Middle Ages famous for a