{"id":110419,"date":"2026-04-05T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=110419"},"modified":"2026-04-05T05:16:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T12:16:57","slug":"pilgrimage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/pilgrimage\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilgrimage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span>his morning, I\u2019m getting on an airplane to fly to Paris. God willing, I begin walking on pilgrimage from V\u00e9zelay, France, on April 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Francine’s dream to walk the Camino from V\u00e9zelay ever since she heard about this route in 2022. We have been actively planning this pilgrimage walk since late 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francine was an enthusiastic pilgrim \u2013 a volunteer for American Pilgrims<\/a>, she was for many years the design genius behind their magazine La Concha<\/em>. She also served as an Hospitalera in Logro\u00f1o and Pamplona in years past. And of course, we walked four Caminos together, as well as one each separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the spring of 2025, my beloved Francine was diagnosed with a rare, incurable, and terminal neurological condition called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease<\/a>. She died on June 21, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francine was the most remarkable, most intelligent, and wisest person I have ever known. In her hospital bed, she made me promise to carry out all of the adventures we had planned to do together. She was absolutely amazing, and my everything. I am undertaking this pilgrimage for her and in her memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the schedule holds (and, spoiler alert, the schedule never<\/em> holds), I will walk into Santiago on the first anniversary of her death on June 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can follow me on my pilgrimage blog at thomryng.com\/camino\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning, I\u2019m getting on an airplane to fly to Paris. God willing, I begin walking on pilgrimage from V\u00e9zelay, France, on April 9. It was Francine’s dream to walk the Camino from V\u00e9zelay ever since she heard about this route in 2022. We have been actively planning this pilgrimage walk since late 2023. Francine was an enthusiastic pilgrim \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40,8,3,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camino","category-francine-my-love","category-moments-in-time","category-vocation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/VL-route-photos-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1622&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-sIX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":109833,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/planning-the-via-lemovicensis-or-well-never-have-paris\/","url_meta":{"origin":110419,"position":0},"title":"Planning the Via Lemovicensis, or, We’ll Never Have Paris","author":"Thom","date":"29 September 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I plan to walk a long Camino for Francine. Some background is probably in order. At the annual Gathering of Pilgrims back in 2022, Francine attended a talk on one of the four main Camino routes in France: the Voie de V\u00e9zelay, also known as the Via Lemovicensis. She was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/vezelay.png?fit=837%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/vezelay.png?fit=837%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/vezelay.png?fit=837%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/vezelay.png?fit=837%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109665,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-feast-of-saint-james-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":110419,"position":1},"title":"The Feast of Saint James","author":"Thom","date":"25 July 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"is the Feast of Saint James the Greater, known throughout the Spanish-speaking world as Santiago and in French as Saint Jacques. He was one of Christ's Twelve Apostles. Saint James is the patron saint of the archdiocese of Seattle. May you have the joy of the feast! James and his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/725james26.jpg?fit=440%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":107801,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/going-on-camino-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":110419,"position":2},"title":"Going on Camino","author":"Thom","date":"14 August 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I leave for France to begin my \"long Camino\". This time, I am walking the route known as the Via Podiensis from Le Puy-en-Velay all the way to Santiago de Compostela, a distance of nearly a thousand miles. In a few weeks, Francine will fly to Spain with our friend\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/shell.png?fit=796%2C796&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/shell.png?fit=796%2C796&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/shell.png?fit=796%2C796&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/shell.png?fit=796%2C796&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107788,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/pilgrimage-to-the-heavenly-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":110419,"position":3},"title":"Pilgrimage to the Heavenly City","author":"Thom","date":"02 May 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3677.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3677.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3677.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3677.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3677.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":87052,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/eleven-and-two\/","url_meta":{"origin":110419,"position":4},"title":"Eleven and Two","author":"Thom","date":"26 March 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Eleven years ago today, on the night of the 26th of March 2005, I was baptized into the Church at the great Vigil of Easter. Last year, I wrote a retrospective on my first decade as a Christian. I don't think I have much to add to that. I remain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Ephemera"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Ephemera","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/blog-ephemera\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Pilgrims Arrive, 02 May, 2013","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Santiago-240x321.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":108510,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/pilgrimage-to-the-heavenly-city-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":110419,"position":5},"title":"Pilgrimage to the Heavenly City","author":"Thom","date":"02 May 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"May the second, looms large in my life. On this day in 2013, my beautiful bride 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3677.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3677.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3677.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3677.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3677.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110419"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110430,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110419\/revisions\/110430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}