Holy Week Urban Pilgrimage

Click here to view the Urban Pilgrimage page and come on the Portland Via Dolorosa with us.

Over this past year, many ordinary places in Portland have taken on transcendent meanings: the Burnside Bridge, for example, will never again be “ordinary” for those who witnessed the Black Lives Matter protests there. The neighborhood around Courthouse Square and Pioneer Square still bears street-art images of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many other victims of police violence: long after those images are gone, how will we remember what happened there?

The ancient practice of pilgrimage helps us remember how God became present in ordinary places. Often, these places have witnessed violence: martyrdoms, battles, executions. Pilgrimage teaches future generations how God’s presence can be revealed through an encounter with God’s absence. And that’s what Holy Week is all about.  

This Holy Week, join us for audio pilgrimage to eight extraordinary places in Portland – sites within walking distance of the Cathedral where God’s presence has been witnessed despite political agitation and violence, pandemic and social isolation, desperate poverty and grief. In the midst of all that trouble, Trinitarians have been finding renewal, inspiration, and healing.

Audio pilgrims will be guided through a prayerful experience with these places of transformation: Pioneer Square, the Federal Building, Burnside Bridge, Transitions Project, Legacy/Good Samaritan Hospital, Trinity Cathedral, William Temple House, and Forest Park. Listening on your smartphone, hear Trinity members reflect on their own profound experiences of awakening, prayer and healing. Grounding meditative music, commissioned from Portland composer Damien Geter, will help you connect more deeply to each place.   

The pilgrimage will go live Wednesday, March 24, and will remain up through Easter Monday, April 5, on the Trinity website. Maps & images will be available as a supplement to the pilgrimage audio. Join us as we grapple with the old and the new, responding to & reflecting on the events of the past year. 

For more information, contact Canon Matthew Lawrence, matthew@trinity-episcopal.org.