The God Worshipper Movement and Pilgrimage: Religious Revival in the Past and Present

Abstract

The first part of the paper deals with the social conditions which shaped the emergence, development, and characteristics of the Bogomoljci movement, a Serbian prayer movement whose main objective was the religious and moral revival of the Serbian people. Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović played a central role in obtaining the Church’s acceptance and blessing of the movement. The paper then investigates the link between the prayer movement and pilgrimage. The main activities of the brotherhood included frequent visits to churches and monasteries, where they held assemblies and prayer meetings: their practices included strict observance of fasts, regularly taking communion, a belief in divine miracles, and missionary homilies. They share these practices with contemporary pilgrims and participants in the modern religious renewal in Serbia.