Every time we present the photos from our new and first-ever Calendar of Liturgical Seasons, someone will invariably say, “How I wish that I could go to Jerusalem also!” Pilgrimage is the deep desire of the human heart; we wish to travel to where Christ lived, died, and resurrected. When we behold beauty and holiness, we naturally want to draw near to it, and if possible to touch it.
Such expressions of longing are actually a form of prayer that God will answer in His own way. In fact, earlier this month one of our Orthodox priests reacted to the calendar in this way, and less than five minutes later one of his own parishioners made a pledge to bring the priest to the Holy Land next year at Lent.
When you support the making of our film, you are helping to spark this oftentimes unacknowledged desire for holiness in the people of today’s world. Even more, you are helping the future viewers of the Patmos Film to experience through video a kind of pilgrimage of their own. They can travel in their minds and in their hearts to the holy island, once a deserted corner of the Roman Empire where the Apostle John was exiled, called Patmos.
But we would like you to consider giving $100 or more to our Kickstarter fund, because then you will also have our reward of the Calendar of Liturgical Seasons. This calendar is like a conventional 12"x12" wall calendar with scenic photos and large spaces to write and plan in.
But it is different in two ways. First, it includes the best photos taken by our film crews in Jerusalem in January and April of this year.
Second, this calendar is arranged around the Pilgrimage in Time that our Mother the Church takes us through each year. All 52 weeks and 365 days are of course included, but instead of separating each month on its own page, we group the weeks and days according to their Liturgical Seasons, the journey in Christ that we take from season to season. This way, you will begin to understand how God has arranged sacred time in His Church for the uplifting and purification of the human heart.
Pilgrimage is a powerful soul need, whether it be that ultimate journey to the life-giving tomb of our Savior, or the journey in time we take each week to the Chalice on Sunday. But this need for pilgrimage is met in God in ways that truly fulfill and transform us. The way of the Cross is also the way of health, peace, life, salvation, and visitation for the servants of God.
Visit our Kickstarter page to learn more.