Chartres Pilgrims: Nourished by Faith, Committed to Tradition

A secular journalist looks at the Chartres Pilgrimage and what motivates people to walk 65 miles (104 km) over a two-day period.

From The European Conservative

By Hélène De Lauzun, PhD

“The largest pilgrimage in the West” has drawn a record number of faithful this year, proving that Christianity is not quite dead.

The 44th edition of the Notre-Dame de Chrétienté Pilgrimage, which takes place every year on the Feast of Pentecost, travelling from Paris to Chartres Cathedral, broke new records this year: more than 20,000 faithful, drawn by the traditional liturgy of the Catholic Church, set out under a blazing sun, earning the admiration of locals and the press alike. By placing the pilgrimage under the banner of mission, the message sent by the organisers is very clear: the future of the Church, in terms of its appeal and conversions, now depends on a commitment to tradition.

Founded in 1983, the Notre-Dame de Chrétienté pilgrimage aims to revive a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages, a route that led pilgrims from Paris to the Marian shrine in Chartres. In the 19th century, the Catholic poet Charles Péguy was one of the ardent promoters of renewed interest in this centuries-old pilgrimage that which had fallen into disuse.

For several years now, the pilgrimage has been growing in popularity, and organisers have been struggling to cope with the influx of participants. This year, many improvements were made to streamline the online registration process. On the day registration opened, several thousand pilgrims signed up within a few hours. Several routes have been opened to spread the flow of walkers across different paths and make the pilgrimage more accessible: the “Route of Jerusalem,” for instance, is a new route designed for families, covering 70 km rather than 100 km. Originally, there was a single opening Mass. Now, several are required, in Paris at the Church of Saint-Sulpice, but also on the outskirts of the capital. The logistics are impressive and the organisers know their stuff to ensure everything runs smoothly. Many former military personnel are working behind the scenes, putting their operational expertise at the service of their faith. With camps as far as the eye can see, medical services, and coordination with the gendarmerie and prefects, it is a veritable army on the move.

The Chartres pilgrimage, which has become, in the words of Boulevard Voltaire, “the largest pilgrimage in the West,” was not the only gathering of the weekend. Another pilgrimage linking Chartres to Paris, bringing together the faithful of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, which is at odds with Rome, saw 7,000 people take to the roads. In Lourdes, the International Military Pilgrimage took place, with 17,000 participants. And then there was the FRAT, a major Catholic gathering of 14,000 secondary school pupils, in a more modern and festive spirit. Catholics are a minority, but a substantial one.

Last year, tension was in the air. There was even talk of banning the celebration of Mass in Chartres Cathedral according to the vetus ordo, or the use of Pope John XXIII’s old missal. This year, the atmosphere was quite different, Pope Leo XIV’s discreet goodwill towards the ‘traditionalists’ having had its effect. As a sign of this easing of tensions, for the first time, the organisers of the Notre-Dame de Chrétienté pilgrimage and the FRAT had agreed to a time of joint prayer, at a distance, during the vigil of adoration on Sunday, May 24th. On one side, Latin, lace and incense; on the other, guitars, spotlights and colourful scarves; yet, there was a unity in prayer made palpable before the Blessed Sacrament.

This year, 34% of pilgrims were attending for the first time, proof of the pilgrimage’s appeal. The number of participants is growing steadily. Among last year’s newcomers, 66% are returning despite the physical strain involved, made even more arduous this year by the sweltering heat: walking across the Chartres plain, submerged in wheat fields, with not a single tree to provide shade, is a real test of endurance.

Amongst the crowd of pilgrims are the regulars, those for whom taking part has, since the very beginning, been almost a family tradition. Parents, brothers, sisters and cousins share tips on how to keep going, the best savoury and sweet snacks, or even foolproof tricks to avoid getting blisters after eight hours of walking. But there are also the newcomers: the pilgrimage draws people in like a magnet and radiates its appeal. This is the testimony offered here by my own daughters, who were in the crowd: their school friends, captivated by that palpable surge of pilgrims flooding the streets of slumbering Paris at dawn, now dream of only one thing—joining the next pilgrimage.. This year, there were 20,000 of them; there will be 22,000 next year.

Beyond the fervent prayer that rises from rosaries and hymns, the Chartres pilgrimage also brings an incredible outpouring of beauty. The sun rising at dawn in the immaculate sky, the banners fluttering in the wind amidst a sea of wheat, the flags from all over Europe honouring Sweden’s gold and azure cross, imperial eagles in the memory of the Holy Roman Empire, and fields of fleurs-de-lis—all this expands the heart and lifts the soul, acting as a powerful antidote to the ugliness of the world.

But this beauty is not merely an aesthetic fantasy, or a poetic meditation on a crumbling world likely to charm reactionary souls disconcerted by the perversity of the modern world. Nourished by faith, beauty here engages in dialogue with charity, in a very embodied way. The pilgrimage is above all a walk, something physically exhausting. With all due respect to certain left-wing commentators, the crowds on the roads to Chartres will never be comparable to the queue for a rap concert. It is by the roadside and as the kilometres pass that one’s fortitude and concern for others are put to the test. Beneath the legendary banners, one may come across wheelchairs, exhausted children in the arms of their elders, and even, at times, strapping lads who collapse and are supported by helping hands.

Every year, the Chartres pilgrimage is but a brief interlude. Yet it is an interlude full of hope, allowing us to believe that Christianity is not quite dead—better still, that it is gaining ground.