Modern pilgrims are increasingly turning to the waves in search of more creative and contemporary ways to explore their faith and its history.
The Catholic hymn, “Te Deum” – which says, “You, God, we praise” – has been used for centuries in Catholic worship for thanksgiving.
Iconotheca Valvasoriana Author Jean Marot via Wikimedia Commons.
The Pilgrims who started the first Thanksgiving tradition after they landed in Plymouth were following the customs they had grown up with, originating in medieval times.
Turkeys have always been a fixture in the holiday’s marketing.
Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images
Just as Christians in the 1800s were persecuted for embracing foreign teachings, today the regime in power vilifies civil society and opposition political parties as foreign agents.
During pilgrimage walks, people often observe and appreciate simple things more keenly, feel the spiritual connection with their surroundings and gain new, enriching life perspectives.
In the 19th century, there was a campaign to link the Thanksgiving holiday to the Pilgrims.
Bettman/Getty Images
Peter C. Mancall, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The communion between Native Americans and the Pilgrims makes for a compelling narrative. But it masks the suspicions and brewing violence that were far more representative of the era.
The Puritans saw May Day celebrations as a test from God.
Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
For his first presidential Thanksgiving, George Washington aimed to pull his country together in the face of the many internal divisions that could yank it apart.
Maids, who invariably lived with their employers, were especially vulnerable.
Brownie Harris/Corbis via Getty Images
Peter C. Mancall, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Descendants from the Pilgrims were keen to highlight their ancestors’ role in the country’s founding. But their sanitized version of events is only now starting to be told in full.
Umrah pilgrims pray near the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File
Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended pilgrimage to its holy sites. Many Muslims travel to these holy sites round the year for a pilgrimage known as Umrah. Here is what it means to their faith.
‘The Dog’ (1820-1823) by Francisco Goya.
Museo del Prado
Peter C. Mancall, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The Pilgrims repeatedly thanked God for their good fortune. But without two earlier developments, the entire undertaking at New Plymouth would have likely failed.
Waterfowl – not turkey – would have been the main course.
Winslow Homer, 'Right and Left' (1909), National Gallery of Art
Peter C. Mancall, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The Pilgrims were thankful for finally being able to vanquish Thomas Morton and Ferdinando Gorges, who spent years trying to undermine the legal basis for settlements in Massachusetts and beyond.
What is the history of the Thanksgiving dinner?
Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902, Library of Congress
Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, Religion and Civic Culture Center, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences