“Come and see”: this passage from John’s Gospel is the motto of a pilgrimage of Catholics from the Czech Republic to Aachen and Kornelimünster (30 May to 4 June) to visit relics said to be those of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist. This is a traditional pilgrimage that has taken place every seven years since 1349, but this is the first time the Czechs will participate in it after an absence of 231 years. “The question whether the relics are genuine or not is irrelevant for pilgrims. They are signs that make reference to Jesus, Mary and the Baptist – say the organizers -. By venerating relics, people want to enter into contact with the God who became flesh and dwelt among us”. The Czech pilgrims will set out on 30 May and after a stop in Cologne will arrive in Aachen on the following day. On Friday 1st June the relics will be taken out of the reliquaries that contain them, and on Saturday 2 June the pilgrims from the Czech Republic who participate in Mass will be able to venerate them. In the afternoon a pilgrimage on foot will be made to Kornelimünster, some 10 km away.
