I'm back in Ohio, and happy to report that we had safe travels and many happy adventures while in Norway. Our plans were not directly affected by the bombing and shooting in Oslo by a deranged right-wing Norwegian, since we were flying into and staying at Trondheim, a city in the central part of Norway. However, all of Norway was in shock and reeling from the effects of this national tragedy. Trondheim had a vigil in their downtown area, and the news has been focused primarily on this event.
Trondheim, a smallish city by U.S. standards (170,000), is most famous for its St. Olav's festival, an event that happens once a year at the end of July. The week-long festival starts with St. Olav's wake, a service held on the eve of his death-day, July 29. St. Olav, who introduced Christianity to Norway, was martyred (actually, killed in battle - but his death is viewed as martyrdom by religious Norwegians) near Trondheim and is buried at Nidaros cathedral, which is at the center of Trondheim, both geographically and religiously. The festival itself consists of a medieval craft and food fair (think week-long Relief Sale, if you're Mennonite), numerous musical events, and lots of programs for kids, all of which is kicked off by the service of St. Olav's wake held in the massive Nidaros Cathedral.
This service in Nidaros is the climax and final destination of one of the few still-practiced Christian pilgrimages that began in the middle ages. Many pilgrims begin in Oslo and travel hundreds of miles, on foot, to Nidaros. Although I would someday love to complete the entire pilgrimage, a highlight of my trip was participating in two small segments of this great journey: one stretch from Ranheim to Ringve (approx 6 km), and another stretch from Sverresborg to Nidaros Cathedral (about 4.5 km).
The first stretch was a day-hike with two fellow pilgrims: my dear hubbie, Joe (the reluctant pilgrim), and my friend, April (the over-packing pilgrim). We made an interesting trio along this ancient path, which was marked by signs indicating that it was a pilgrim way. We had a book that marked destinations that we should be passing and served as a rough guide, but we primarily had to find our way by looking for these signs that emboldened the way. Part of what I love about the pilgrim way is that it is a great metaphor for life: we have guidebooks, travel companions, and the path in front of us. But on this path we still have to be alert, looking for signs to guide us, not just walking blindly ahead. We took a wrong turn or two, which meant having to trod some extra meters (the reluctant pilgrim being none-too-happy with the over-packing pilgrim on this stretch), but in the end, we reached our destination of Ringve and enjoyed some delicious Norwegian hot-dogs and fresh plums.
The second stretch was a journey from Sverresborg, a folk museum in another borough of Trondheim, to the Nidaros Cathedral in downtown. I began this journey with my friend, her hubbie, and their two children in a double-wide stroller. A bonus about this stretch of the pilgrimage (which the reluctant pilgrim decided to sit out) is that it is ALL downhill on city streets, which makes it much easier physically than the earlier hike.
This journey was a more organized pilgrimage, beginning at the Sverresborg Kirke (church) at 7 pm, and ending at the Nidaros Cathedral around 11 pm. A group of about 50 pilgrims met together at Sverresborg Kirke for a 20 minute service (all in Norwegian), and then we set on our way to the second destination, Hospital Kirke, where we were joined about approximately 50 more pilgrims. We proceeded to Ilen Kirke, then to Var Frue Kirke, then to a healing well outside of Nidaros, then to a statue of St. Olav, and finally we proceeded into the Nidaros Cathedral. By this time our throng numbered in the hundreds, and we were met by hundreds more Norwegians who gathered in the Cathedral for the wake. While we processed into the Cathedral, we were surrounded by torch-bearers shrouded in brown frocks, and the organ was playing a majestic piece of music that echoed through the stone pillars of the cathedral. I don't think I have ever participated in such magnificent pageantry, certainly not for a religious service, and the experience was breathtaking. The Cathedral, which had seemed dark, dank, and cold on Joe and my earlier visit as tourists, came to life in this setting, and I felt the awe that so many earlier Christians must have experienced upon entering it. I felt surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, past and present, and the fact that we spoke different languages, used different currency, and valued different things, made little difference in this shared transcendent experience.
That is what I love about true worship - it can lift you up out of your own dark corner and take you to a completely different place. And, no matter your language, your heritage, your race, or your age, to share in this experience with other humans - it's nothing less than divine.
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