R.E Christianity Course work- Pilgrimage
             (A) Describe a visit to a Christian place of pilgrimage, explaining its importance to believers.
             Lourdes, in the south of France is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in Europe. It was in Lourdes, in the year of 1858, when a fourteen year old girl, Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have has a series of visions where the Virgin Mary appeared in the grotto of Massbielle. She predicted that a spring of water would rise from the grotto floor, soon enough a spring appeared, and due to its connection with the Virgin Mary it was considered and reported to have healing properties. Both the church and the predicted spring from then on became international pilgrimage sites. Around 2,000,000 people visit Lourdes every year, mostly they are Roman Catholic, this is because the Roman Catholic church encourages Christians to go on pilgrimage, also the sites have a strong connection with the Virgin Mary, who is looked upon as a Saint, for she gave birth to Jesus Christ. However the protestant's don't look upon the subject of pilgrimage as it being very important, they believe it is instead better to help people who are in need. Some Roman Catholics go on pilgrimage in search of a cure for all kinds of diseases and illnesses. They believe that they must be lowered into the water (into the spring, which Lady Bernadette foresaw,) to be healed, many pilgrims assist the diseased in doing this. Roman Catholic churches from all over the world take parties of needy people to Lourdes each year. While in Lourdes pilgrims visit such places as the shrine, in which they pray to God, they also visit the spring and rock.
             (B.I) Why do Christians go on pilgrimage?
             Christians go on pilgrimage for many reasons. Foremost, that they want to be close to God, even though he is omnipresent, it is believed that some places are especially holy and sacred. This is sometimes because people have had great re...