St. Hemma Pilgrimage - Introduction

Between 22 and 27 June 2013 I took a pilgrimage to give thanks. Somebody very dear to me had a severe illness that required an operation. That special somebody is a child: if you know me, then you know who I mean; if you don't, you don't. After a long hiatus, I prayed that this child would not need an operation. Two years after I began praying, the illness was still there, but now manageable without surgery. I resolved even before I found out the news that I would take a pilgrimage. I chose St. Hemma (also known as St. Emma) because there is a connection with the child.

I continued to pray that the illness would disappear altogether. A few months ago, I learned that there was no trace of the illness.

Ever since my brother was in the hospital after a serious motorcycle accident, I have believed in the power of prayer. I consider good thoughts, mojo, best wishes, and the like to be kinds of prayers. After praying so much for this someone dear to me, my beliefs were confirmed.

I chose to express my thanks with a pilgrimage. Prayer alone did not seem sufficient to give thanks for such a wondrous gift. I have been on retreats before. I have gone to Church every day for more than 40 days. I wanted to engage my spiritual side through some sort of physical means. Over the past few years, the pilgrimage has become one of my life goals.

Currently I am at a crossroads in my life. I recently became unemployed again. After some 18 years in Europe, I have decided to return to the Los Angeles area where I grew up. I recently received the news that the illness disappeared completely. Now was the right time to fulfill the promise I made and to take the pilgrimage.

After first hearing that surgery was not necessary, I began to research pilgrimages to the cathedral of St. Hemma. There were some rough maps on the internet. There are several different routes. They seemed well-established. I did not know, however, if they were serviced with the same kind of infrastructure as the more famous pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, the road of St. James leading to the "end of the world" in Spain. I made an inquiry to the Cathedral of St. Hemma about infrastructure. I was directed to the Archdiocese in Klagenfurt. There, I found they had two organized pilgrimages to the cathedral. That took a lot of the guesswork out of trying to find places to sleep and eat. Plus, the pilgrimages arrive at the cathedral of St. Hemma on her feast day. That seemed like a great way to celebrate my thanks.

After visiting Santiago de Compostela as a tourist, seeing a few documentaries about the Camino, and learning a little bit of history, I held a certain notion of what a pilgrimage was. I imagined people perhaps not so well off financially. I imagined religious people, of course. I imagined people of all ages and walks of life (pardon the pun). I expected people like myself, going with a religious purpose. While I did not expect people in simple sandals, a drawstring satchel, and a walking staff, I only modernized these in my imagination.