A Pilgrimage through the Global Middle Ages

Find me between Lincoln Hall and the Main Library

John Moschos' _Spiritual Meadow_

Between the end of the sixth and the beginning of the seventh century, Byzantine monk John Moschos and his friend Sophronius undertook a long pilgrimage to meet the ascetics and wise men of the Eastern Christian world. Their last stop was the monastery of Deir ul-Muharraq.

Travelling from Syria through the deserts of Palestine, Egypt, and Libya, John and Sophronius encountered many monks and hermits who offered them wisdom in the form of stories. John recorded all these stories — from the adventurous to the hilarious to the awe-inspiring and thought-provoking — in a rich collection describing his travels called Spiritual Meadow:

Someone among the fathers told that one of the elderly ones, who was pure and saint, when he “did the proskomide” (i.e. celebrated Mass) saw angels staying at his right and at his left. He had taken over the “proskomide” from the heretics, and since he was ignorant about divine doctrines, he said the words of the offering in simplicity and innocence, not knowing that he was wrong. By providence, some brother, an expert in divine doctrines visited him. It came to pass that the old man made the offering in his presence. The brother said to him (he was a deacon): The words you said for the proskomide, Father, are not of the orthodox faith, but of the bad doctrine. The old one, since he saw angels during the offering, did not pay attention to what was said, but disdained it. The deacon insisted saying “You are in error, good old one, the Church does not accept this”. The old man, seeing that he was accused and blamed in that way by the deacon, saw the angels as usual and asked them: “Since that deacon talks to me in such a way, what is it that he says?” The angels said: “Listen to him: he says the truth”. The old one said to them: “And why did not you tell me that?” They said to him: “Because God disposed thus, that humans should be corrected by humans”. And since then he corrected himself and thanked God and the brother.

A famous huntress, with her arrow and several companion nymphs, crowns this fountain that’s not far from a bustling center of food and gathering that attracts locals and visitors alike.

Kumano Sanzan, or the Three Mountains of Kumano

Nachi 那智, on the southern end of the Kii peninsula in Wakayama prefecture in Japan, is a waterfall and sprawling shrine-and-temple complex that features on not one, but two pilgrimages:

• The Kumano Sanzan/Three Mountains of Kumano. These “mountains” are widely known by the names of their shrines, which are, in turn, part of a broader pilgrimage site called “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes of the Kii Mountain Range” that was designated a world-heritage site in 2004. Aristocrats and royals living in the capital Heian (now Kyoto) started going on pilgrimage to the area in the second half of the 11th century, and it has drawn pilgrims ever since. Although the complex fell into disrepair and had fewer visitors in the 20th century, the world-heritage designation has encouraged a revival of pilgrimages on the mountain trails.
• The Saigoku Kannon / Western Kannon pilgrimage route. Thirty-three (33!) temples enshrine manifestations of the bodhisattva of mercy, Kannon (Skt. Avalokiteśvara, Perceiver of the Cries of the World). Seigantoji, the Buddhist temple at Nachi, is the first stop on the itinerary. While pilgrimages on this route began later than on the Kumano route, it’s still very active today.

Photos of the waterfall and surrounding shrines at the Kumano Kodo official site offer a glimpse of its beauty, and pilgrims both medieval and modern collect stamp-talismans at each shrine.

The Nachi shrines saw several different periods of historical activity:

• Initial pilgrimages began ca. 1050
• A period of intense pilgrimage activity between 1100 and 1570

Like Nachi, Showalter Fountain has an iconic water feature and is built for a walk-by and a longer visit. It’s common to hold festivals on shrine or temple grounds in Japan, and there’s always a market attached to them, so it makes (Japanese) sense to have a festival around a pilgrimage site. Showalter also has three different buildings facing it that match with the modern and contemporary organizational structure at the Nachi site. The core feature at Nachi is the waterfall, but there are three distinct religious institutions located around it:

1. Nachi Taisha, located at the end of the traditional approach, which is a hike along a cedar-lined path from the area where the paddy-fields above the town of Nachi end. The IU Auditorium at the end of the circular drive around Showalter is a good parallel.
2. Seigantoji (Buddhist) next to Nachi Taisha are located on a broad ledge above the waterfall. The iconic pagoda that’s often photographed with the waterfall belongs to Seigantoji, in much the same way that the Lilly Library is often a backdrop for photos of the Showalter Fountain.
3. Hiro Shrine (Shinto), at the bottom of the waterfall anchors the plaza, like the Fine Arts Building and Eskenazi Museum of Art.

Different areas and organizations jockeyed for influence from the beginning, but this clear division — both between institutions but especially between Buddhism and Shinto — is distinctly modern.

Find me where students go to get doctor’s notes for class when they don’t have a doctor off campus.

The Shrine of St. Martin of Tours (47.3946308,-38.3422852) Late 6th-century pilgrims from all over the Mediterranean came to a small shrine in Tours (what is now France) to heal their chronic and acute illnesses at the Shrine of St. Martin. Gregory of Tours, Bishop of St. Martin and author of a number of St. Martin’s miracle stories, was himself healed through prayer at the tomb of St. Martin. He writes about it in The Four Books of the Miracles of St. Martin

Whenever headache comes on or a throbbing in the temples or a dulness of hearing or a dimness of sight or a pain attacks some other part, I am cured at once when I have touched the affected part on the tomb or the curtain hanging before it and I wonder within myself that at the very touch the pain is immediately gone. I shall place first in this book a miracle that I experienced recently. We were sitting at dinner after a fast and eating, when a fish was served. The sign of the cross of the Lord was made over it, but as we ate, a bone from this very fish stuck in my throat most painfully. It caused me great distress, for the point was fastened in my throat and its length blocked the passage. It prevented my speaking and kept the saliva which comes frequently from the palate, from passing. On the third day, when I could get rid of it neither by coughing or hawking, I resorted to my usual resource. I went to the tomb and prostrated myself on the pavement and wept abundantly and groaned and begged the confessor’s aid. Then I rose and touched the full length of my throat and all my head with the curtain. I was immediately cured and before leaving the holy threshold I was rid of all uneasiness. What became of the unlucky bone I do not know. I did not cough it up nor feel it go down into my stomach. One thing only I know, that I so quickly perceived that I was cured that I thought that some one had put in his hand and pulled out the bone that hurt my throat. (Book 3; Preface & Chap 1) The skull of St. Martin (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)