Pilgrimage offers us the possibility of reconnecting with our own Christian history, our transitory reality in this world. But the characteristic note is the festive and joyful form of these pilgrimages, which must remind us that our pilgrimage towards God must not, and cannot be painful or sad.

Thus, pilgrimages encourage the practice of Christian values, they stimulate an integral worship of God: seeing, hearing, singing, listening, touching, living together, etc. They dispose us to be grateful and above all remind us of our common subsistence and the need for salvation.

For the Catholic Church, in addition to this, pilgrimage fulfills a social meaning: to publicly manifest belonging to the Church and love of God and devotion to the Virgin Mary or the Saints.

But, the Church is not the only one that carries out pilgrimages, this also happens among Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc., and the constant values ​​are: purification, renewal and illumination.

As a form of piety, pilgrimage is for the believer an experience of prayer that evokes the status viatoris, and therefore implies an attitude of penitence, of detachment, of distance from worries or earthly attractions. The pilgrim frequently goes to the sanctuary asking for a particular grace.

In summary: the visitor – believer – accesses the destination motivated by living a spiritual experience of closeness to God that is expressed through:

• The pilgrimage from his or her usual place of residence to the destination as an act of strengthening the Faith.
• The spiritual retreat in the sanctuary erected at the destination.
• Participation in some religious event.