Spend some time connecting to your inner longing for pilgrimage and journeying to the land of the saint and mystic who calls to your heart. Listen for the prayer arising. If you are feeling called to the pilgrim experience, what is it about that voyage that sparks your imagination? Perhaps you are standing at a crossroads in your life and are discerning a new pathway. Maybe you are experiencing the loss of a loved one, a dream, a job, or an ability and need time to grieve and integrate.
Listen for the words and images that arise in the quiet and make room for them on the page. Don’t worry about making a coherent prayer at first; simply allow whatever is stirring in you to have some space to be received. Once you feel you have gotten in touch with the deep desires of your heart, turn your attention to writing the prayer. Being by calling on the saint you want to encounter, from whom you are seeking support. Follow with your supplication.
Then hold this prayer lightly … and be open to the new possibilities that emerge in this experience.
— Christine Valters Paintner in The Love of Thousands