Photo: statue at the top of Alto de Pardon, outside of Pamplona, Spain, April 2004
Prayers for Pilgrims
Pilgrimage is traditionally a journey to a holy place — a place where saints have walked, a place where God has met people and blessed them.
People through the ages have journeyed with God on pilgrimage — to perform a penance, to ask for healing, to pray for places where there is war or national disaster, to pray for friends.
Pilgrimage is an opportunity to travel lightly, to walk free of daily routines, to meet people, to make friends, to enjoy and celebrate God’s creation. An opportunity, too, in the travelling, the conversations and the silences to reflect on the journey of our lives and on our journey homewards to God.
Prayers before setting out on a pilgrimage
God of the guiding star, the bush that blazes
SHOW US YOUR WAY
God of the stormy seas, the bread that nourishes
TEACH US YOUR TRUTH
God of the still, small voice, the wind that blows where it chooses
FILL US WITH LIFE
God of the elements, of our inward and outward journeys
SET OUR FEETS ON YOUR ROAD TODAY.
MAY GOD BLESS US WITH A SAFE JOURNEY
MAY THE ANGELS AND SAINTS TRAVEL WITH US
MAY WE LIVE THIS DAY IN JUSTICE AND JOY. AMEN.
[P]ilgrimage is … a sign of contradiction, and of resistance to our prevailing value system, that of the market. Pilgrimage, after all, has no function other than itself; its means is as important as its end, its process as its product. Its utility value is small, and its benefits cannot be quantified or costed. Its value is intrinsic. It is something that is good to do because it is good to do. It states clearly that the extravagant gesture (because it is extravagant in terms of time and commitment) is an irrepressible part of what it means to be human and to walk on the earth. And whether the context for pilgrimage is solitude or community, we will be drawn deeper into the mystery of God and the care of creation. (Kathy Galloway)
Bless to us, O God,
the earth beneath our feet.
Bless to us, O God,
the path whereon we go.
Bless to us, O God,
the people whom we meet. Amen.
To finish
Pilgrim God,
our shoes are filled with stones,
our feet are blistered and bleeding,
our faces are stained with tears.
As we stumble and fall
may we know your presence
in the bleeding and in the tears
and in the healing and the laughter
of our pilgrimage. (Kate McIhagga)
Pilgrimage
Pray for all pilgrims and seekers
and companions on the way;
for all travellers.
Christ, may I walk together with you,
in solidarity with the poor and
with all of God’s creation.
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Pilgrimage is feet-on-the-ground spirituality. (Jan Sutch Pickard)
Follow truth wherever you find it.
Even if it takes you outside your preconceived ideas of God or life.
Even if it takes you outside your own country
into the most insignificant alien places
like Bethlehem.
Be courageous. But concentrate on your search.
Truth is one. All roads lead to home. (George MacLeod)
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The World Peace Prayer
Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth.
Lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust.
Lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace.
Let peace fill our hearts,
our world, our universe. Amen.
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A Creed for Peace
We believe in you, O God,
you who love all humankind
because you are a God of Peace
not of violence nor vengeance.
You created us, women and men,
and your dream is that we discover
community, justice and peace
between all persons
and among all peoples of the earth.
Your holy prophets of old
proclaimed peace,
rejected the powerful of the earth
who tyrannized, creating injustice,
unleashing conflicts,
violence and death.
And so all of us, with faith and hope
proclaim our faith in you,
Confessing that we believe in the God of peace and justice.
We believe in Jesus Christ,
servant and martyr for peace,
who was born among the least
and most peaceful of your people.
In the night of his birth
the angels announced peace
to the shepherds.
Christ came to the world
to bring peace not division.
He rejected sword and violence
and offered instead the special way of non-violence:
the way of truth, goodness, justice and love.
He was condemned to death for proclaiming
the Reign of God and God’s justice,
but God raised Jesus from the dead.
Therefore, together, with faith and hope
we proclaim our faith in you,
Confessing that we believe in you,
Servant of peace.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
Giver of life.
Peace is the gift of the Holy Spirit of God
and is the fruit of the lives
of those who make peace.
We believe in the church,
The community of those
Who are peacemakers,
In the forgiveness of sins
And in reconciliation.
We believe in the promise of a new heaven and a new earth
Where life, justice and peace
Will triumph.
Therefore together, with faith and hope,
We proclaim our faith in you,
Confessing that we believe
In the Spirit of peace.
[With the exception of the Creed for Peace, everything else comes from This is the Day: Readings and Meditations from the Iona Community, Neil Paynter, ed., Glasgow, UK: Wild Goose Publications, 2002]
