My journey from Wilhering to Eidenberg

What I particularly like about the new Wilheringer Weg is the stage from Wilhering onwards. Even at the start of the pilgrimage, standing beneath the wings of the guardian angel, I feel that one of the essential characteristics of pilgrimage is revealed: we are accompanied! In this spirit, I walk to the wire rope bridge, and patience is often required when waiting for the ferry. I am then reminded that pilgrimages also have a lot to do with slowing down and "taking your foot off the gas". After crossing the stream, the footpath awaits me, offering many views of the river, which, with its masses of water, symbolises the elemental force of nature for me. 

When I walk through the floodplain to Puchenau, I remember my first pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, where I picked up a stone from the Danube before setting off and inscribed it, then carried it 600 km to Cruce de Ferro to place it among the thousands of stones left there by other pilgrims before me as a symbol of the completion of my life's reflection. Even today, I still occasionally pick up a stone as a symbol of some dark thoughts and carry it with me. Sometimes I manage to transform these thoughts into confidence and can leave the stone at the top of Koglerauer Spitz.

Now comes the part of the path that leads uphill without interruption. I like this section of the path because it challenges the whole person. When the body is really challenged, a lot happens to the mind as well, and I notice how thoughts come and go, challenges are considered, the past is reflected upon, and images of the future arise. Good, sometimes healing thoughts that often take on a surprising perspective thanks to the impulses along the way.

However, nature and the views along the way are also very important to my overall pilgrimage experience, and there is plenty of both. For me, a pilgrimage route always reflects my life. Fantastic forest paths and dull, strenuous stretches of road are simply part of it, just like our own ups and downs in life, it is unimaginable if our lives were only filled with beautiful or sad things. Accepting this duality in our existence helps me to overcome crises and find inner balance.

The people along the way who greet me, exchange a few words or give me a smile are the highlights of my journey. This inspires me and makes my steps lighter.

With these many impressions, I arrive at my destination for the day, Eidenberg. Here, the impulse in the church is called "matured" and awakens further reflections in me. With every pilgrimage, we mature a little, knowing full well that after every apparent achievement of our goal, a new departure is required.

Wolfgang Haderer