As millions of Muslims made the annual Hajj to Mecca, Virginia Raguin, professor of art history at the College of the Holy Cross, provided insight into the tradition of pilgrimages in several religions.
"In the past, pilgrimage really was vital in Christian religion, certainly in Muslim and in Buddhist. Only Islam requires the pilgrimage — the Hajj — so that it is one of the five pillars of Islam," Raguin said.
She continued, "One of the most common kinds of souvenirs is absolutely the simplest: stones. Stones or dirt from the ground. People who have been on the Hajj and who have engaged in one of the rituals — which is the ‘stoning of Satan’– invariably, they bring some of those stones home with them. You also have Muslims with clay from Karbala, or other holy places, pressed together, that they then use in prayer."
"One of the things the Christians, the Buddhists, and the Muslims constantly come back to is humility. They make the effort, but God grants the grace."
This "Holy Cross in the News" item by Kristine Maloney.
