PILGRIM is the name given to a person who travels for the purpose of visiting the ehrines or tombs of holy men, or places which from any cause have come to bo regarded as sacred ; and the act itself is called Pilgrimage. The words pilgrim in English, pilyer in German, pellegrino in Italian, petcrin in French, are all corruptions of the Latin " peregrines," which means a stranger or foreigner. Pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and other places which were the scenes of the Saviour's life and death, and which are included in the general mono of the " Holy Land," began at an early period, probably about the time of Constantine. We are told by Eusebins and others that Helena, Constantino 's mother, proceeded on a pilgrimage to Palestine, and built the church of the holy Sepulchre. The practice became common about the end of the 4th century, and we find it noticed as such by the fathers of the church, Jerome, Augustine, and others. Gregory of Nyasa, in one of his epistles, reproves the indiscriminate custom of pilgrimages, especially by women, who, he observes, were particularly exposed during a long and toilsome journey through countries like Syria, notorious for licentiousness of manners. His opinions concerning pilgrimages are in accordance with those expressed by other fathers of the church. St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom, and St, Jerome, all agree as to the uselessness of such pilgrimages.
In the course of time, however, the practice of pilgrimage increased, and extended to other places besides Palestine. People resorted to the shrines of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome, to that of St. Iago do Compoatella in Spain, of St. Gregory of ioura in France, to the monastery of Einsiedlen in Switzerland, to our Lady of Loreto in Italy, to the tomb of Thomas It Becket at Canterbury, and to many other places.
The pilgrim's garb was a gray or brown gown, n broad-brimmed hat adorned with a palm loaf if going to the Holy Land, or a scallop-shell if going to other places, with a long staff round at one end and pointed at the other; and his pouch was a hollowed gourd.
In the west, the celebration of the Jubilee perpetuated the custom of pilgrimages to Rome. The institution of the Roman Jubilee is duo to Bouitace VIII.. At the beginning of the year 1300, a report was spread at Rome that all those who should visit the church of St. Peter that year would obtain a plenary indulgence, and that every centenary year enjoyed the same privilege. Popo 'loudness searched
the ancient records for the grounds of this report, and he interrogated a man 107 years old, who told him that in the year 1200 his father, a labouring man, had gone to Rome to get the indulgence, and had advised him, if he should live to the next centenary, to follow his example. Some other old men in France and Italy confirmed this tradition. After consulting the College of Cardinals, Boldface issued a bull, stating that "as according to the faithful report of the eldera great indulgences are granted to those who visit the church of the prince of the Apostles every hundredth year, we confirm them, and grant plenary indulgence to all those who have confessed, and, being duly repentant, shall visit the churches of the Apostles during the present year, 1300, and every other centenary year after." This is the origin of the festival which was afterwards called jubilee. Fifty years later, Clement VI. reduced the period of its recurrence to half a century, and styled it jubilee in commemoration of the juhilee of thb Jews, which was celebrated every forty-ninth or fiftieth year, when all slaves became free, and all lands returned to their original owners. (Leviticus, xxv. 10, et seq.) This jubilee began at Christmas, 1349, and it was attended by a prodigious concourse of people from all parts of Europe, it is said, more than a million at a time. Petrarca, who went to Rome on that occasion, speaks with wonder of the concourse of pilgrims. The crowd diminished during the beat of the summer, but increased again towards the fall of the year 1350, at which time the nobility, and especially the great ladies, from distant parts came. It appears that all these ladies came by the road of the March of Ancona, Bernardino da Polenta, lord of Ravenna, one of those robber barons of the middle ages, and his men, lay in wait for them, end ravished some of them, and obliged the rest to pay ransom. The chronicler who relates this adds, that "had they remained at home, such mishaps would not have happened to them ; " and that " indul gences and pilgrimages are not suited to young ladies." (P. Azar, Chronica, fel 359.) Similar misfortunes are reported to have befallen those ladies who in former ages resorted to Palestine, when pilgrims were exposed to insults and even violence.