Pious Pilgrimages to the Virgin Mary of Chlum in the Life of People of the Baroque Period

The culture associated with pilgrimage sites was undoubtedly one of the most significant phenomena of spiritual life in the Czech lands in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. On the basis of a thorough excerpt of official sources and hand-written or printed miraculous answers of the Virgin Mary of Chlum from 1651–1768, the study reflects pious pilgrimages to Chlum Svaté Máří (translated as St. Mary’s Wooded Hillock − TN) during the Baroque period. Pilgrimages were pious journeys to a particular destination, the purpose of which was to ask for a blessing or to give thanks for received grace. They were an indisputable mean of re-catholicisation, which was supposed to strengthen the faithful inwardly and gift them with spiritual graces for their penitent deeds, among which pilgrimages were rightly included. Large gatherings of the faithful increased the sense of belonging together, deepened the awareness of ecclesial community and imprinted an indelible experience on the souls of the participants for along time. The frequency of pilgrimages depended on the liturgical calendar, the weather, and the course of farm works in a particular year. Miraculous healings of the pilgrims were an important impetus to undertake the pious journey to the worshipped Madonna in Chlum Svaté Máří.