Lesson video

Hi everyone, and welcome to today's lesson on Christian practises.

My name is Mrs. Day, and today we are going to look at the topic of pilgrimage.

So, what do you need for this lesson? Please, could you get a pen or a pencil, some paper to write on, and a different coloured pen so you can mark your own work.

If you need to pause the video now, can you please do that and go to get some of this equipment, and you can press resume when you come back.

So, what are we learning in this lesson? So, we will be thinking about firstly, the definition of pilgrimage.

So, what is a pilgrimage? Secondly, different pilgrimage locations.

So, where do people go on pilgrimage? And finally reasons why Christians go on pilgrimage.

So, what makes them want to do that? So, firstly, we are going to start by thinking about this question.

What is a pilgrimage? I wonder if you want to pause the video here and have a few guesses.

Have you heard this word before, or what does it make you think of? What is a pilgrimage? So, this picture might help give you some ideas.

A pilgrimage is something that a pilgrim goes on.

And a pilgrim is someone who might go on long journeys.

So pilgrimage is a long journey, but it is slightly more than that.

A pilgrimage is a journey made to a sacred or Holy place as an act of religious devotion.

Let me say that again.

So, a pilgrimage is a journey made to a sacred or Holy place as an act of religious devotion.

It is a religious journey.

So, a sacred or Holy place, that is somewhere that is regarded as Holy by religious believers.

As an act of religious devotion.

What do I mean by religious devotion? So, if you devote yourself to something or someone, you are completely committed to them as an act of service, an act of love.

So, this is a religious act which is made out of devotion.

So, it's a religious journey.

It is a journey, but it has religious significance.

Important to realise that in Christianity, pilgrimage is not compulsory.

So, some of you might be thinking, "Oh, I've heard of pilgrimage before.

"I've heard about this in Islam where they go on hashed Mecca." You would be right, but one big difference is that in Islam, that is one of the five pillars.

So, all Muslims at one point in their life are supposed to go on that pilgrimage.

In Christianity, you never have to go on pilgrimage.

It's not in the Bible, it's not command, but many Christians still do it due to the benefits that they feel from it.

So really important, It's not compulsory, but lots of Christians still do it.

Now that we have introduced this definition of pilgrimage, I would love you to pause the video here and write down your own definition of pilgrimage based on what you have just learnt.

So, from what we've just discussed, how would you define pilgrimage? And you can press resume once you have finished.

Really well done.

Let's have a look at what you could have wrote down.

So, this is the definition that we looked at.

A pilgrimage is a journey made to a sacred or Holy place as an act of religious devotion.

It is a religious journey.

You don't have to have it word for word, but make sure you have these key ideas.

So, it's a journey to a sacred or Holy place, and it's an act of religious devotion.

So, it shows that religious commitment.

Really well done.

You can pause the video here and write down anything that you didn't get in your different coloured pen.

Now, we are going to consider where Christians go on pilgrimage.

So, we know what pilgrimage is.

It's a journey to a sacred or Holy place as an act of religious devotion, but now we need to think about where Christians go.

So, here's some images that you might recognise, and these images are from Israel.

And two of them you see are definitely Jerusalem.

They're images of Jerusalem today and what it looks like.

Why is Jerusalem so important to Christians? Because that is where Jesus was crucified and resurrected.

The other image on the screen could be anywhere in Israel.

It's a slightly more generic picture, but this is a country that lots of Christians will go to.

They will go to Bethlehem to see Jesus's birthplace, they will go to Jerusalem.

They will go to lots of places that is mentioned in his life, in the Bible.

So, that is definitely an option for where Christians might go to pilgrimage.

But there are also places closer to home here in the UK, where Christians visit on pilgrimage.

And the first one of those is Lourdes, and this is in France.

So, this is a place in the South of France and it is a cave.

And the image you can see there is a saint called Saint Bernadette.

And we will look at why people go there in a moment or two, but what you need to know for now is Lourdes in the South of France, and it is caves where they believe Saint Bernadette was really significant.

The second place that is close to home, that people will go on pilgrimage to is Iona, and this is in Scotland.

And as you can see, the countryside, the landscape is beautiful, it's quite remote, so it's an Island off Scotland, and people would travel there to have these religious experiences or time away from their usual life.

And again, we will look at the significance of this place in a moment or two.

So, remember Lourdes, France, Iona, Scotland.

So, let's do some quick fire questions to see what you remember.

Iona is in France, is this true or false? You can point at the screen or you can write down your answer.

Five, four, three, two, and one.

This is, of course, false.

Well done.

Christians still visit Jerusalem today, is this true or false? Five, four, three, two, and one.

This is true.

Why? Because this is where Jesus was crucified and resurrected.

So, Christians will go to see the locations where they believe that happened.

Lourdes is in France, is this true or false? Five, four, three, two, and one.

This is true.

Well done.

It's a region in the South of France.

So, now let's consider this question.

Why do Christians go on pilgrimage? So, we know the two main places we're going to look at today are Lords and Iona.

Lourdes is in where? France, good, and Iona is where? Scotland, good.

So, those are the two main places we're going to look at, but we need to think about why Christians go on pilgrimage to these places.

What makes them so significant? Why do Christians spend money travelling there? They give up time to go there.

It's quite a big sacrifice and undertaking.

So, what is the reason? Let's start by looking at Iona, sorry, by looking at Lourdes in France.

So, as we said, this is a cave that Christians will go to, and mostly Roman Catholics Christians will go to visit this place where Saint Bernadette was believed to have lived.

Christians believe that Saint Bernadette used to live here and that she had a vision of Mary, the mother of Jesus, at Lourdes.

She believes that she appeared to her in a vision and she spoke to her, and then a pool of Holy water appeared and healings happened after that.

So, they believe that this is a Holy site where healings took place, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, appeared.

This is really important to Roman Catholic.

So, why do Christians go here? To collect Holy water, to pray for healing for themselves or others.

So, remember this place was famous for its healings with Saint Bernadette.

To venerate Mary, which means to highly respect Mary.

So, it was believed that Mary appeared here in a vision to Saint Bernadette.

So, Christians believe that they go here to highly respect her and to feel close to God.

So, they believe that this is somewhere where God has been active or God has performed miracles, so if they go here, they will feel close to God.

What I would like you to do now is to pause the video to complete these questions.

So, your questions are; number one, where is Lourdes? Number two, why do many people believe Lourdes is a Holy place? And you can use the terms in the brackets.

So, Saint Bernadette, Virgin Mary, and Holy water.

Number three, give two reasons why a Christian might travel to Lourdes.

And number four, which denomination of Christians would most often go to Lourdes? So, when you're finished, you can press resume, and we will go through the answers together Really well done.

Let's have a look at some of these answers together.

So, number one, where is Lourdes? So, Lourdes is in France.

Hopefully you all got that.

You can mark it with your other coloured pen.

Second question, slightly harder.

Why do many people believe Lourdes is a Holy place? So, many people consider Lourdes to be a Holy place because they believe that Saint Bernadette, make sure you have her name, had visions of the Virgin Mary there.

They believe that when Bernadette saw Mary, a well of healing of Holy water sprung up.

So, you need this idea of Saint Bernadette having visions of the Virgin Mary, and this healing Holy water.

You can add anything extra here in your other coloured pen.

Thirdly, two reasons why a Christian might travel to Lourdes.

So, one reason why a Christian might travel here is to be healed, or because they want someone else to be healed.

Another reason is to venerate Mary in a place they believe she appeared.

So, remember to venerate means to highly respect.

Again, with your other coloured pen, you can add anything here that you didn't get.

And finally, which denomination of Christians most often go to Lourdes? Roman Catholics most often go to Lourdes.

So, make sure you have that down.

If you want to pause the video here and take down any of those answers, please feel free to do that.

Now, we're going to consider Iona.

So, Iona, as we said is a remote Island off Scotland, and it's really famous because it was a famous monastery back in the seventh century.

There was a monk called Columba who set up this monastery, and it was used to train people in the Bible.

It was used for people to go and get away and spend time with God.

Lots of monks spent lives of service on Iona.

So, it was viewed as this Holy place where people could connect with God.

It was viewed as this place where God was closer to human being, where God was closer to the earth.

So, why do Christians go there today? So, to focus on God, away from distractions of day to day life.

So, that's quite easy to understand.

When people live in the world today, life is really busy.

They have jobs, they have families, they're busy.

So, why do they go there? To get away from that and to focus on God.

Secondly, to feel connected to God through nature.

I'm sure you will agree.

The pictures of Iona look beautiful.

So, a lot of people think they could go and connect to God through nature.

And thirdly, to spend time learning, worshipping , and serving in a community.

So, there's still a Christian community there, and they think that actually, they can go there to learn more about the Bible, to worship God and to serve others.

So, it also strengthens their faith and teaches them more about the Bible.

So, what I would like you to do now is to pause the video, to complete your task.

So, number one, where is Iona? Number two, why do many people believe Lourdes is a Holy place? And number three, give two reasons why a Christian might travel there.

When you're finished, you can press resume, and we will go through the answers together.

Really well done.

Let's have a look at some of these answers.

So, where is Iona? Iona is an Island off the coast of Scotland.

Number two, why do many people believe Iona as a Holy place? So, many people consider Iona to be a Holy place and describe it as a place where the veil between heaven and earth is thin.

So, for some, this means they believe it's a place where you can particularly feel the presence of God in the beauty of nature.

So, what do I mean by a place where the veil between heaven and earth is thin? Literally, it means a place where the separation between heaven and earth is really thin.

They're actually really close together.

So, a lot of people believe they can feel God's presence when they are in Iona.

And finally, two reasons why a Christian might travel to Iona.

So, one reason why a Christian might travel to Iona is to take time to focus on God, away from the distractions of day to day life.

Another reason, is to be part of a community that is worshipping God and serving one another.

So, again, you can pause the video here and take down any of these points in your second coloured pen, to make sure that you have all the key information.

Really well done on that.

Now, we are going to do some quick fire questions to check that you understand where Iona and Lourdes are, and what they're all about, why people go there.

So, number one, this pilgrimage location is famous for healings.

Again, you can point at the screen or write it down.

Five, four, three, two and one.

It is, of course, Lourdes.

Is a famous location for healings.

This pilgrimage location is in Scotland.

Is it Iona or Lourdes? Five, four, three, two and one.

It is, of course, Iona.

Well done, an Island off Scotland.

This pilgrimage location features Saint Bernadette.

So, Saint Bernadette is the famous Saint from this location.

Is it Iona or Lourdes? Five, four, three, two and one.

It is Lourdes, well done.

This pilgrimage location is mostly visited by Roman Catholics.

Iona or Lourdes? Five, four, three, two and one.

It is Lourdes, well done.

Remember we said that it is mostly visited by Roman Catholics.

This pilgrimage location is famous for beautiful nature.

Is it Iona or Lourdes? Five, four, three, two, and one.

It is Iona, well done.

Remember we said it's off the coast of Scotland, it's beautiful scenery, and some people believe they can see the presence of God in that scenery.

So, now, we are onto your final task in today's lesson.

And what I would like you to do is to pause the video here and draw a table on your own notes to show the similarities and the differences between Iona and Lourdes.

So, obviously, they are both pilgrimage locations, but they also have a lot of differences.

So, you can see my examples that I've done for you here.

So, a similar is, people travel to both locations.

Difference is they're in different geographical locations.

We know that.

So, pause the video and see what else you can come up with.

Remember why people go there.

What happened there.

Use some of the ideas that we have already talked about.

So, you can press resume once you're finished, and we will go through the answers together.

Really well done.

Let's go through these answers.

So, what is similar about Iona and Lourdes? So, firstly, people travel to both locations, you know that.

So, get out your different coloured pen, and you can write some of these down.

The presence of God is experienced at both.

So, Christians claim to experience God's presence at both spots, and both are meant to make people feel closer to God.

So, at both locations, people say they feel closer to God.

You might've had some other points as well.

If they're relevant, that is great.

Let's think about the differences.

So, firstly, there are different geographic locations.

Secondly, Lourdes is famous for healings and venerating Mary, which means highly respect in her.

And finally Iona as a place learning, worshipping , and connecting to God.

This means that there might be classes at Iona or activities that Christians can do to learn more about the Bible and God.

Whereas at Lourdes, this doesn't happen as much.

It's more people visiting the site where healings took place, some praying, and taking some Holy water.

So, really well done.

As I said, if you have anything else, you can use that as well.

Thank you so much for being with us today.

If you would like to share any of your work, please do ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @oaknational or hashtag learn with Oak.

Thank you so much for joining in today's lesson.

It's been great to have you with us to learn about pilgrimage.

You're now all Christian pilgrimage experts, well done.

So, to prove how much you have learnt, please do have a go at the summary quiz, and hopefully you'll get five out of five.

I look forward to seeing you all again soon for our next lesson.

Have a lovely day.