Every religion in the world has its pilgrimages. When
it comes to Christianity, there are famous sites such as Jerusalem, Rome,
Santiago de Compostela, Lourdes or Mount Athos that are iconic for the
Christian world. In Romania, where Orthodoxy is the religion of the majority
population, every year the month of October plays host to the largest
pilgrimage held in Iași, northern Romania. A phenomenon with huge religious and
social underpinnings, the pilgrimage at the reliquary of Saint Paraskeva of the
Balkans is usually attended by hundreds of thousands of people. This year,
after a two year break when they were denied the joy of taking part in the
pilgrimage, people return to Iași for what they hope to be
the restoration of a tradition prior to the COVID pandemic, which makes for a
much greater joy for Orthodox Christians.
In
the Christian Orthodox church, the typical pilgrimage in Iași
consists in faithful flocking to the reliquary of Saint Paraskeva, queing up
for hours and days to touch the reliquary and join in communion for this
special occasion. Pilgrims are usually men and women of all ages and from all
walks of life, mostly from Romania but also from abroad. From the idyllic image
of a pilgrimage in a faraway hamelt to the modern pilgrimage in urban areas, those
who take part in such events have a diversity of backgrounds. Some commentators
say pilgrimages are post-modern anachronisms. Researchers claim pilgrims have
always been stigmatized, although the phenomenon is not present in Romania
today. Worth noting is that pilgrimages involving large numbers of people
queing up for hours in wait before touching relics of saints is a relatively
recent practice in the Romanian Orthodox Church. The first such pilgrimages
emerged in the late 1990s, when after the fall of communism people felt the
need to come up with something to breathe new meaning into their lives.
Pilgrimages were the successful answer to their question.
The pilgriamge in Iași,
which is expected to end after October 14, will be followed by other
pilgriamges in Bucharest, Cernica, Nicula and Curtea de Argeș. (VP)