An "enlightening but also very funny" (Paul Theroux) account of one woman's personal quest to find the roots of belief among modern religious pilgrims.

An enlightening but also very funny (Paul Theroux) account of one woman's personal quest to find the roots of belief among modern religious pilgrims.

From the Great Panathenaea of ancient Greece to the hajj of today, people of all religions and cultures have made sacred journeys to confirm their faith and their part in a larger identity. This book is a fascinating guide through the vast and varied cultural territory such pilgrimages have covered across the ages. The first book to look at the phenomenon and experience of pilgrimage through the multiple lenses of history, religion, sociology, anthropology, and art history, this sumptuously illustrated volume explores the full richness and range of sacred travel as it maps the cultural imagination. The authors consider pilgrimage as a physical journey through time and space, but also as a metaphorical passage resonant with meaning on many levels. It may entail a ritual transformation of the pilgrim's inner state or outer status; it may be a quest for a transcendent goal; it may involve the healing of a physical or spiritual ailment. Through folktales, narratives of the crusades, and the firsthand accounts of those who have made these journeys; through descriptions and pictures of the rituals, holy objects, and sacred architecture they have encountered, as well as the relics and talismans they have carried home, Pilgrimage evokes the physical and spiritual landscape these seekers have traveled. In its structure, the book broadly moves from those religions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--that cohere around a single canonical text to those with a multiplicity of sacred scriptures, like Hinduism and Buddhism. Juxtaposing the different practices and experiences of pilgrimage in these contexts, this book reveals the common structures and singular features of sacred travel from ancient times to our own.

Ron Austin first wandered purposefully into Mexico more than fifty years ago, when he produced a documentary on Mexican history for American television. Over the next decades, as his acquaintance with Mexico deepened, so too did his appreciation for the rich and contradictory impulses of Mexican culture and for the beauty of its people and their expressions of faith. At once guidebook, history, memoir, and tribute, Austin s Peregrino engagingly explores the spiritual and cultural heart of Catholic Mexico. Though once merely a tourist peering in a stranger to this distinctive faith and culture Austin, now a devout Catholic and part-year resident of Mexico, writes with respect, affection, and deep understanding as he invites fellow pilgrims peregrinos to regard both Mexico and their own cultures of faith in a new light.

“James Martin’s riveting new meditation on Jesus is one of the best books I’ve read in years—on any subject.” — Mary Karr, author of Lit James Martin, SJ, gifted storyteller, editor at large of America magazine, popular media commentator, and New York Times bestselling author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, brings the Gospels to life in Jesus: A Pilgrimage, and invites believers and seekers alike to experience Jesus through Scripture, prayer and travel. Combining the fascinating insights of historical Jesus studies with profound spiritual insights about the Christ of faith, Father Martin recreates the world of first-century Galilee and Judea to usher you into Jesus's life and times and show readers how Jesus speaks to us today. Martin also brings together the most up-to-date Scripture scholarship, wise spiritual reflections, and lighthearted stories about traveling through the Holy Land with a fellow (and funny) Jesuit, visiting important sites in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The person at the heart of the Gospels can seem impossibly distant. Stories about his astonishing life and ministry—clever parables that upended everyone's expectations, incredible healings that convinced even skeptics, nature miracles that dazzled the dumbstruck disciples—can seem far removed from our own daily lives, hard to understand, and at times irrelevant. But in Jesus you will come to know him as Father Martin knows him: Messiah and Savior, as well as friend and brother. WINNER OF THE 2016 ILLUMINATION AWARD (GOLD). WINNER OF THE 2015 CATHOLIC PRESS ASSOCIATION BOOK AWARD

An inspirational argument for the creation of a new pilgrimage tradition in the United States. Pilgrimage is a sacred tradition that has existed around the world for centuries. Every year, more than one hundred million devotees from different cultures and faiths embark on journeys to such holy sites as Santiago de Compostela, Mecca, and Banaras. For some, making a pilgrimage is a spiritual act, while for others it is a secular experience of personal restoration. And yet there has never existed a tradition of pilgrimage within the United States. Cultural geographer James E. Mills makes a compelling case for the creation of a network of American pilgrimage routes to heal societal divisions and foster a new ethos of humanitarianism and environmentalism. He also addresses practical considerations for the development, ownership, and administration of future routes. Pilgrimage Pathways for the United States is for anyone considering a pilgrimage and for those of us who are interested in connecting and protecting our natural world, including environmentalists, interfaith clergy, political leaders, community developers, and activists.

Paul-Gordon Chandler presents fresh thinking in the area of Christian-Muslim relations, showing how Christ--whom Islam reveres as a Prophet and Christianity worships as the divine Messiah--can close the gap between the two religions. He illustrates his perspective with examples from the life of Syrian novelist Mazhar Mallouhi, who seeks to bridge the chasm of misunderstanding between Muslims and Christians through his novels.