1. Date:
Aim: To understand why Christians
go on pilgrimage and the religious
significance it has for them
Do now: Write down what
these 3 pictures have in
common.
2.
3. What is a pilgrimage?
• A pilgrimage is a journey to somewhere
religious or with moral significance.
4. With a partner, make a Spider graph of the
reasons for why people might go on pilgrimage.
To meet To feel
similar more
people. spiritual
To be
Just for fun/
closer to
Adventure
God
A Religious Duty/
Commandment
Pilgrimage
To see a holy
site/
building/ To see a
relic. miracle.
To gain a blessing
6. What do you think is happening?
What kind of pilgrimage is this?
Is there anything you can see which you are
familiar with?
Why are there lots of people?
7. The French town of Lourdes is the most important Christian pilgrimage.
It was here that a girl called Bernadette, born in 1844, had a series of
visions of Mary the mother of Jesus between February 11th and July
16th 1858. There were eighteen appearances in all.
The first occurred when Bernadette was playing with two friends. They
had gone ahead of her and she was about to follow when she became
aware of a movement, then of a golden cloud of light, and finally, to
quote Bernadette, of 'a lady, young and beautiful, exceedingly beautiful,
the like of whom 1 had not seen before.'
When Bernadette's friends returned to find her praying they teased her.
When her mother learned the story she scolded her and told her never
to go near the grotto again.
The young girl felt called by an inner voice to return to the grotto and at
last her mother gave her permission. Her sister, her mother, and aunt
and various other people accompanied her on her visits, and as the
rumour spread crowds waited at the cave for her arrival. No one shared
her experiences, and on 16th July they came to an end.
Only two pieces of 'evidence' survived - a spring of water which had
begun to flow at a place indicated by Mary during the ninth apparition,
and Bernadette's conviction that she had really met the Virgin. Those
who questioned her on behalf of the church authorities eventually
accepted her account of the events she described.
8. Many of the pilgrims who go to Lourdes are
seriously ill or severely handicapped, for
Lourdes has become a place where in
numerous cases the sick have been restored to
health.
Why does one person get healed and
another person not get healed?
How do you think a Christian may respond to this question?
9. Level 3 stories: Level 4 stories: Level 5 stories:
Who is your Who is the person? what does the person believe Will be able to explain what
victim? What’s wrong with in? influences the persons belief
them? system.
Do they go to Church every
week? Do they read the Bible?
What event What happens in How did the event affect their Will explain the impact this
changes their the event? life? event has on their life after the
life? event.
What pilgrimage did Explain what they prayed for
Why do they they go to? and whether their prayers How did the experiences in your
choose to go were answered or not. victims life make his belief
against their system stronger/weaker.
beliefs?
Remember to make your story very detailed and explain HOW the event has changed their
life.
Choose your best one and write it on a post it note.
My friend – rugby player – broke his back – only 25!! From the neck down he was paralysed. Devout Christian. Heard of Lourdes and heard the stories of people being healed from terminal cancer, being able to walk again etc. Went to Lourdes, prayed – wasn’t healed. Still paralysed.This affected his faith to the point he was always questioning – Why didn’t god listen to my prayers? Why wasn’t I chosen to be healed? He turned atheist.
