After a Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage, Part 1

St. Panteleimon Monastery near Skopje, N. Macedonia (photo credit: Kelly Mine)

Blessed are those whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

(Psalm 84 ESV)

I have returned to my humble home after a 16-day pilgrimage. It is good—very good—to be back in my own space with my people that I love so much. It was good to miss and to be missed. It was good to get away from the dailiness of life and experience a timelessness that will never be repeated in exactly the same way.

It is harder than I could have guessed it would be to put words to this incredible experience, but I will make a valiant attempt to do so, because I want to capture it the best I can.

In my post “Why Go on Pilgrimage?” I gave several reasons why I felt it was important—or at the very least desirable—to take this journey. They were: 1) To deepen my understanding of this Orthodox faith, 2) a desire to “meet the family” to which I have committed myself 3) an interest in the art and architecture of this faith, 4) to spend time with my Godmother, and 5) a desire to experience Orthodoxy in a different culture.

All of these reasons were more than satisfied on my journey and then some! Some details about the trip that you might be interested in are found on Orthodox Arts Journal. The trip was organized by Fr. Ilya Gotlinsky, director of Orthodox Tours. Both of these organizations are examples of excellence in their fields. Fr. Ilya planned every detail to the utmost degree and the trip was flawless from start to finish. All meals, transportation, hotels and airport transfers were executed smoothly and without stress for the travelers. The sites organized for us to visit were spectacular. I cannot encourage you enough to check out Fr. Ilya’s Orthodox Tours and gain a fabulous education about the history and culture of your faith and have a great time doing it. Andrew Gould of Orthodox Arts Journal holds degrees in art and architecture, and is a prominent designer of Orthodox churches. He led the trip along with our tour guide Ivan Krucican, who is an expert in medieval art from the National University in Belgrade. He also worked with the National Museum in Belgrade for over 20 years, which was reflected in his profound knowledge and understanding of Balkan history.

On the trip there were 26 of us, mostly Americans, one British lady and one Dutch gentleman. All but four of us were Orthodox. There were professors, a doctoral candidate in Byzantine History, iconographers, a medical doctor, artists, an Orthodox writer and filmmaker, cradle Orthodox, converts, young adults, retirees, a Matushka (priest’s wife), a retired Priest, two Mother / son combos, a couple celebrating their anniversary, and one recently worked-out-of-a-job homeschooling mother who felt very out of her depth and not at all intellectually fit for this crowd. Nevertheless I was determined to learn all that I could. Frankly, the success of the trip was such that it was impossible not to learn. It was impossible to come away from this experience unchanged. It was just that good.

We all came seeking something a little different from the trip, whether it was a deepening of an understanding of Orthodoxy or to help in the grieving of a loved one, or to have a one-on-one experience with church architecture and iconography. The reasons were manifold, and I hope we all were satisfied at the end—I know I was.

It will take me a while to process all of this, so in the next several posts I will address my reasons for going on this pilgrimage as well as share photographs, experiences, and memories along the way. I hope you stay tuned and enjoy the journey with me.