were sent out of their
country on a pious mission which promised forgiveness if it could not
pledge reform. It at least secured a period of quiet to their families
and of security to the neighborhoods from which they came.

The Bollandist manuscripts afford many details of the pilgrim life at
Jerusalem which had, however, to be enjoyed by permission of the
infidel, always a bitter portion in the pilgrim's cup.

[Sidenote: _Round of Pilgrim Duties_]

On arrival they prepared themselves by fasting and prayer. Then, covered
by a mourning robe, they visited the Church of the Sepulcher. The robe
thus attained such sanctity that it was preserved until death and
enshrouded the owner at burial. They then visited, in turn, the sacred
spots in and adjacent to the city. This accomplished, they sought the
holy mountains of the Sermon, the Transfiguration, and Ascension. Then
they washed their sins away in Jordan, and tore off palm-leaves near
Jericho to attest on their homeward journey that the holy pilgrimage was
complete.

The tenth and eleventh centuries thus kept by the thousands of pilgrims
yearly, all Christian Europe became informed of the conditions which
obtained in the land where Christ suffered for the sins of men.

[Sidenote: _Services to Pilgrims_]

Slowly there grew up a devotion which was nearly equal to a secondary
religion. Service rendered to a pilgrim was almost the same as being a
pilgrim. Nor did the pilgrims fail to profit by the reverence they
inspired. Some of them paid their way by their prayers. There is record
of one who paid his fare for a voyage from Alexandria to Palestine with
a copy of the Evangelists.

On the St. Bernard, on Mt. Cenis, on the frontiers of Hungary, in Asia
Minor, as well as in Palestine, hospitals and hostelries were built by
the faithful as works of salvation.

[Sidenote: _Impure Accretions_]

No pious movement has ever long existed without drawing to itself some
of impure and selfish motive. The rich had no surer way of advertising
their generosity than by making the journey and aiding in the comfort
of their poorer brethren. Some made the pilgrimage as many times as
planet pilgrims now visit Europe. Yet to the credit of the pilgrim it
must be said that no act of violence is recorded against any one who
really made the whole journey. It is recorded of a Mussulman governor
that he said of such, "They are not away from home with bad intent, but
to keep their law."

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