Walking the Camino de Santiago
Thoughts about the spiritual aspects of the Camino.
The isolation of quarantine has been wearing on me the past few days, particularly since Easter, and particularly when I see photos like this from the Camino. As a result, my posting has been sporadic. How I long to return to Navarra and La Rioja! To walk the long kilometers of the meseta. To bask in the friendship of those […]
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Yesterday I was sick, so here are two photos for today! First breakfast, then to the Cathedral for Mass. The Mass didn’t start until 9:30, so we had a very late start on the day, the day I would categorize in my journal as “the day my pilgrimage actually began”. The cathedral is a wonder. The photo doesn’t begin to […]
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This wooded area of Navarra has signs indicating that in the Middle Ages, it was known as a “witch wood”. To me, though, it seemed some sort of otherworldly faerie forest, perhaps in the western reaches of Middle Earth. Walking here, with its brilliant green mosses and dull brown fallen leaves, you could almost imagine yourself walking in Harlindon in […]
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Solvitur ambulando: It is solved by walking. Saint Augustine Some time back, our Adult Catechesis class covered the Beatitudes. One of the main themes of the Beatitudes is, of course, detachment from worldly things while still living in the world. It struck me that this is exactly the center of what I call “pilgrim spirituality” as well. When you walk […]
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May the second looms large in my life. On this day in 2013, Francine and I walked into Santiago de Compostela for the first time, at the end of our first Camino. At this point, Francine had been walking for almost two weeks, and me for more than a month. I can’t describe the joy of that day. Arrival in […]
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This painting may be found in the little church of San Paio. I suspect that it’s a vision of purgatory, probably with some local persons depicted. The idea of these images is often to provide a stark reminder to pray for our beloved dead. What a far cry this is from modern days, where people are often lauded as saints […]
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This day had been a long day – about 27 kilometers, give or take, from Portomarín to San Xulián – and we were exhausted. Fortunately, the albergue was great, and the company was fantastic. I noted in my journal that it was the best food we’d eaten in Spain. April 29 is the Feast of the Holy Abbots of Cluny, […]
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Ventas de Narón is a tiny village, more of a shady resting spot for pilgrims than anything else. There’s a tiny chapel of Saint Mary Magdalene here, and you are not allowed to take photos inside. So here’s a photo of the sign outside. Inside the church, a blind man stamps your pilgrim passport twice – once for the church […]
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It’s one month since we arrived in Santiago de Compostela as pilgrims for the third time. Every pilgrimage is different. You’re a different person with different concerns and worries and joys each time. And the Lord gives you different graces and consolations each time. It normally takes me a month or longer to process our Caminos. Re-entry is difficult. This […]
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