Educational Media Reviews Online

Croagh Patrick is the first title in a twelve title series that includes major Roman Catholic European pilgrimage sites such as Fatima (Portugal), Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Lourdes (France) and lesser known sites such as Iona (Scotland), Les Saintes Maries De La Mer (France), and Kevelaer (Germany). The recently very popular site of Medjugorje (Bosnia) is also covered. Other sites are: Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (Poland), Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Scherpenheuvel (Belgium), and El Rocio (Spain).

Pilgrimages are common to all religious experiences and cultures. Think of the pilgrimage to Mecca, for Muslims, and the various Asian sites that attract Buddhists and Hindus. In medieval times the most important and popular pilgrimages were to Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela. The Canterbury Tales took place on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral, dedicated to the martyrdom of archbishop Thomas a Becket. (Both Rome and Canterbury would be wonderful additions to Pilgrimages of Europe.) This series is interesting because it combines very well known European pilgrimage sites with much lesser known sites and includes the recently popular Bosnian site that has gotten extensive press because of reports of miracles. Whether to expiate sins, to ask for a boon, or simply as a means of worshipping one’s god(s), pilgrimages are a fascinating subject about which a good deal has been written over the centuries.

Croagh Patrick is a site on top of a mountain in western Ireland connected to the legend of Saint Patrick. It’s long and steep and there is a chapel at the summit where confessions are heard and masses are conducted for the pilgrims. It’s arduous, but pilgrimages were never meant for the faint of heart, and this particular spiritual journey includes the young, the old, the fit, and the not-so-healthy. (It’s honest: a pilgrim who cannot make the last few yards of the climb is shown being evacuated on a stretcher.) Snippets of the Saint Patrick story are told throughout the narrative, which follows step-by-step the pilgrim’s trail. For instance, did you know that Patrick superimposed the Christian cross upon the Druidic sun symbol to make the Celtic Cross and thus attract converts to the new religion? Patrick had to confront – in his gentle way – the remnants of Druidism, the old Celtic religion, in order to supplant it with the word of Jesus Christ.

This is a nice, tidy videotape, and, if the others in the series follow this format and achieve the same quality standard, it would be a wonderful addition to libraries with collections of travel tapes or those interested in religious topics, that is, libraries of seminaries and Catholic colleges and universities. Travel agencies and tourism organizations, as well as collections in individual Catholic churches, might also be interested in acquiring it, as might universities with religious area studies programs.

Going on pilgrimage is a growing area of interest lately in the worldwide travel business. It’s not simply for adherents of a particular religion. True, only Muslims are allowed to go to Mecca, but these European odysseys are not restricted to Roman Catholics alone. They are of interest to, and open to, many others. This tape gives an excellent look at what this particular pilgrimage entails; if the others do as well, this will be a valuable series. The photography is professional and the tape just long enough to introduce the site, whet the appetite (whether for the armchair or the actual traveler), and learn a few key facts.

Recommended.