A Pilgrim’s Courage

A Pilgrim’s Courage


Robbery. Slavery. Death by natural and foul causes. Medieval Europeans visiting the Holy Land faced these risks and more often than not died for taking these risks. Even with the fall of Jerusalem to Crusader hands in 1099 and the establishment of Christian outposts along the pilgrims’ well-travelled routes, bandits still waylaid pilgrims travelling by land. Going by sea was not entirely safe as storms wrecked the boats and ships and pirates – the bandits’ seaborne cousins – prowled the Mediterranean and adjacent waters. Such was the faith of the medieval pilgrims in God’s protection that they persisted despite the glaring risks.

Robbery. Terrorist bombing. No less than President Aquino came on national television with a warning about a plot to bomb the 2012 Black Nazarene in procession. Pickpockets are a nuisance to Black Nazarene devotees. Terrorists, beasts who find fulfillment and joy in slaughtering the innocent, are entirely different animals. Still, the devotees poured into Rizal Park, Quiapo, and all roads in between in numbers that would not disappointment the seers who predicted eight million participants, a figure that dwarfs Singapore’s 2010 population of five million. Such was the faith of the devotees in the Black Nazarene’s protection that they rushed to the procession despite the President’s dire terror alert.

Robbery. Slavery. Death. Rather than deterring the faithful from their religious journeys, these dark things have made pilgrimages more meaningful and rewarding. Perhaps, it is in the pilgrims' belief that when you are holding a shield called faith, all threats of bodily harm will slam into your shield like feathers hurled at metal breastplates.

-By Prospero Pulma Jr.