A Jerusalem Moment: Worshiping with the Enemy

Schedel's Jerusalem in color

Medieval pilgrimage to Jerusalem was a long and difficult journey over land and sea. What happened when pilgrims finally reached the Holy Land? In last week’s post, we read about one Jerusalem moment, when a group of pilgrims saw the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and, according to the German friar Felix Fabri, “shrieked as if in labor.”

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was without question the highlight of medieval pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But pilgrims wanted to see other sites as well. This sometimes proved difficult.

When Felix Fabri traveled to the Holy Land in 1483, Jerusalem was under Mamluk control. This did not make for an easy visit for Christians. Western pilgrims were allowed to tour the sacred sites only if accompanied by Franciscan guides (the Franciscans were the only western Christians allowed to live in Jerusalem). Even then, some sites were off limits. Saint Anne’s house and the burial site of David and Solomon, for example, had been turned into mosques.

What was the good pilgrim to do?

Well, if you were Friar Felix Fabri, you saw the sites anyway. In his travel account, Fabri describes repeatedly shaking off his guides. For example, he sneaked (more than once) into the mosque covering the burial places of David and Solomon.

Other times, pilgrims fought with their Muslim hosts. Fabri describes trying to visit the Fountain of the Virgin, located in a cave at the foot of Mt. Sion. As the pilgrim group went in, a “fierce Saracen” appeared, waving his arms and screaming and attempting to shoo them out of the cave. What ensued plays out like a fight scene in a movie:

But a certain Lombard knight from Milan went boldly up to this Saracen, seized him by the arm, and dragged him forcibly away from the fountain. Hereupon the Saracen became enraged against the knight, fell upon him, and began to beat him with his fists, and the knight, on the other hand, defended himself with his fists . . .

The Saracen wrangled free and ran to get help, but the pilgrims grabbed him.

[S]ome of the knights untied their purses, and showed the Saracen some money . . . I need say no more: as soon as he saw the money, he changed into a different man . . . and he offered himself, cheerfully and without reserve, to serve us in whatever way we might choose . . . *

The pilgrims drank of the fountain in the cave and ascended.

When I began reading about Jerusalem pilgrimage, I didn’t expect to encounter subterfuge, fights, and bribery. I thought the record would show that visiting the holy sites was like walking a giant labyrinth—quiet, contemplative, and worshipful.

But pilgrimage doesn’t always take place in ideal conditions. In fact, medieval pilgrimage to Jerusalem appears to have been one hardship after another. Fabri, in truth, seems to have reveled in his pilgrimage-turned-adventure. He describes his feats of daring with relish. But his travel narrative does point out that Jerusalem pilgrims endured a good deal to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. They had to enter the land of another faith fully to experience their own.

There’s a lesson for us here. Like Fabri’s journey, our pilgrimage sometimes leads us into battle. We expect a peaceful journey and instead find ourselves worshiping with the enemy—and I don’t mean a political enemy or what medieval pilgrims would call the infidel. We fight a battle within. When I journey to Jesus, I come face to face with the infidels of my heart. Distraction. Sin. Pride. Fear. They do everything to block my path. No sword is enough to defeat them. No bribe will pacify them.

Fortunately, I don’t have to defeat these enemies on my own. I worship someone who, using a cross rather than a sword, can overcome the infidels of my heart.

*The Book of the Wanderings of Brother Felix Fabri, vol. 1, part 2, trans. Aubrey Stewart (London: Palestine Pilgrims’ Text Society, 1896), 524,

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