Sharenda: Like most people around the world, my summer plans have been completely derailed. When classes went online in March, my ever optimist held out hope that it wouldn’t affect the summer plans. Was I ever wrong!
Here is a peek at my original plan for Summer 2020:
May/June/July: Lead Wheaton College students on a study abroad trip to Spain
July: Volunteer/Research at the Pilgrim’s Office in Santiago
July: Hike in Japan on the Kumano Kodo
August: Research and walk in England and Scotland with Susan
Susan: My summer was not as full as Sharenda’s, but I been looking forward to spending time in Florida and Savannah with my family. I was also very much looking forward to our research trip to England where we had plans to go to The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham during the Youth Pilgrimage to interview participants and complete research for our book project.
Sharenda: Instead, one by one, each trip was cancelled, and hopes for archival research to start my Fall Sabbatical diminished. What to do? Libraries were closed. Our amazing summer research assistant, Maddie Cash was not allowed to live on campus, so we had to shift our meetings to Zoom. Things were looking pretty grim and based on conversations with other colleagues, they were feeling the same feelings of loss.
Scholars in Pilgrimage Studies have often criticized pilgrims for using technology while walking a pilgrimage route such as the Camino de Santiago. Last year, at the Pilgrimage Symposium at William and Mary College, Nancy Frey, a leading scholar for Pilgrimage Studies, stated that technology takes away from the pure Camino experience. She advocates putting the phone away, taking a break from the emails, and being present in the moment.
Susan: Frey is, of course, correct in her assertion that technology can have a negative effect on a pilgrim’s ability to experience place and community. However, Covid-19 has forced all of us to use technology in new and often uncomfortable ways, and, at times, our new engagement with technology can prove very positive. For example, the recent closure of sacred spaces has revealed the potential for virtual pilgrimage to play an important role in contemporary devotion.
As a specific example, The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham was supposed to celebrate the rededication of England to the Virgin Mary on March 29. According to Msgr. John Armitage, shrine rector at The Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, although the rededication had to be virtual, it was still a huge success. Indeed, in an interview with the National Catholic Register, Armitage reflected on the fact that “We may have had no pilgrims at the shrine, but in its 1,000-year history, the shrine, on March 29, saw the biggest pilgrimage ever — albeit one that took place in people’s homes: a virtual pilgrimage” (2020).
Sharenda: Remarkably, once the Camino de Santiago closed to visitors in March, people began walking virtual pilgrimages around their homes. Susan and I stumbled upon an app called My Mission: Camino de Santiago, which allows pilgrims to walk wherever they are and chart their progress along the French Camino route in Spain. We began our journey on May 31, and we have not missed a day. Slowly an idea began to form, what if we could bring the Camino to our colleagues and they could share their expertise with us? For those of us who have walked the Camino de Santiago, we often find that some of most impactful experiences are the conversations that develop between pilgrims during the journey. As our plan took shape, we put out an invitation to some of our friends and overwhelmingly they wanted to walk with us! We let them know that we would be interviewing them for our blog and more than likely there would be a stop for coffee because we are recreating the Camino.
The following days will include scholars' observations of pilgrimage and journey and how those concepts are reflected in their fields of study. We are eternally grateful for the time that they have given to us and we hope that these interviews and insights into our talks are an encouragement during this season.
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