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(TRAVEL.) Hughes, Christopher. Diary of a participant in the first American Catholic pilgrimage to the Holy Land. [68] manuscript pages plus more than 200 mounted clippings, postcards, and photographs. 4to, original limp calf, moderate wear, stamped in gilt "Notes of a Pilgrim, Rev. Christopher Hughes, 1889" with a gilt cross on the front cover; moderate wear and browning to contents. Vp, 21 February to 27 June 1889
The first formal pilgrimage of American Catholics to the Holy Land was in 1889. It was organized by Charles A. Vissani, a Franciscan who held the title of Commissary of the Holy Land for the United States, with the goal of increasing alms for the upkeep of holy sites. The group first visited France, Italy, and Egypt before arriving in Jerusalem on 7 April, returning through Europe to New York at the end of June. Among these first pilgrims was the Rev. Christopher Hughes (1841-1908), who had been pastor of St. Patrick's in Providence, RI from 1869 to 1887, then moved on to St. Mary's in Fall River, MA. In Jerusalem, he wrote: "The American Consul meets us. A great crowd at the Jaffa Gate. . . . The procession is formed & with hymns proceeds to the Holy Sepulchre. All filled with devotion" (7 April). Eight days later, he noted "It is sad to see this place in the hands of infidels and so neglected & dirty. Came home by the Tower of David near which the American flag was floating." On 2 May he met deputy consul Herbert Clark, former member of a utopian community: "Met at hotel Mr. Clark, Cook's agent. Clarke is one of the few Americans now living here who came out some years ago to form a colony between Jaffa & Jerusalem. The colony did not succeed." The pilgrimage group left the Holy Land by boat on 7 May. See Kaell, "Walking Where Jesus Walked: American Christians and Holy Land Pilgrimage," page 7; and Durward's "Sonnets of Holy Land: With an Introduction on the Pilgrimage to Palestine" (which mentions Hughes as a participant on page 10). with--the official promotional flier for the pilgrimage: "First Grand Pilgrimage to the Holy Land from the United States," 8 pages, unopened, brittle with separations at folds. No other copy of this pamphlet is recorded in OCLC.
