Douglas F. Barros

Sacred Pilgrim, Secular Pilgrim

“This book is a broad meditative exercise on pilgrimage. Colby Dickinson experiences pilgrimages to Rome in different years and gives testimony from perspectives ranging from mystical experiences to critical views of faith intertwined with the interests of commercial tourism. The book consists of accounts of visits to temples and areas of the city, which lead the author to profound questions about religiosity, about the beauty that amazes and overwhelms admirers of the presence of faith in something, in a transcendent God. The author's reflective testimony shows that pilgrimage is not limited to travel or visiting but expresses a way of living in relationship with sacred elements. The pilgrimage is completed by meditating on what lies beyond material experience and discovering the various meanings that this relationship with the sacred brings to the pilgrim's life.”