Pilgrimage in a Time of Plague

You may have noticed that I’ve not been posting our “Camino Photo of the Day” recently. There’s a story behind that. We’ve been in South Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Oh, not for any vacation – well, not really. We were there to complete our training as hospitaleros. But I’m getting slightly ahead of myself.

Prologue: Virginia City

We arrived at the Reno airport last Tuesday morning. Training wasn’t to begin until that evening, so Francine and I headed out for a day trip to Virginia City.

Virginia City is one of the most famous of the old West boomtowns. It was the epicenter of the Comstock Lode, one of the greatest silver mining operations in human history. Much of the main street of the town remains as it was in the late 1800s, including the wooden sidewalks.

We arrived, walked into the visitors’ office, and threw back a slug of gin. We had lunch in a place called the Red Dog Saloon – but only because the Bucket of Blood Saloon (founded 1876) was closed that day.

And of course, we stopped to visit and pray in the local Catholic church, Saint Mary’s in the Mountains, which was Nevada’s first Catholic church in 1860, though the current structure dates from 1868.

Then on to training!

Hospitalero Training

And what is an hospitalero? These are the folks who staff the albergues along the various Camino routes. They usually work in pairs, except at the largest albergues, and they serve for a fifteen-day stint before being cycled out. The entire idea appeals to our Benedictine tradition of hospitality. Indeed, the earliest albergues were Benedictine monasteries.

There were 16 in our class, and we had two amazing instructors: Daniel De Kay and Martha Crites. From last Tuesday to Thursday they ran us through the paces.

We stayed in a lovely little lodge that very much resembled an albergue, complete with common room, dining, kitchen, and communal bathrooms. The major difference was the bedding situation; rather than all being in a common bunkroom, we were in two-person bedrooms.

The weather was glorious – I have numerous photos of the surface of Lake Tahoe as smooth as glass. But that wouldn’t last.

Following the completion of our training and our graduation on Thursday afternoon, the site played host to the 23rd annual Gathering of Pilgrims. Think of it as “Camino Con”.

Gathering the Pilgrims

American Pilgrims on the Camino hosts an annual Gathering of Pilgrims in a different location each year.

The Gathering is an opportunity to share experiences, to support one another and to learn more about the Camino and the pilgrimage experience.

(Source)

The seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic was only starting to become apparent in the week or so leading up to the Gathering. The American Pilgrims on the Camino offered to refund the registration fees of anyone who was having second thoughts about coming, but the Gathering was still on.

Had it been even one week later, I’m sure the Gathering would have been canceled.

I don’t know how many people originally signed up, but attendance was clearly below what they expected. Nevertheless, it was great fun! We got to meet pilgrims from all over North America, and the conversations over meals took me right back to Spain.

The talks were so interesting! There were talks on everything from the soundscape of the medieval pilgrim to food on the Camino to various routes and other pilgrimages.

The slide below is from Caballero George Greenia‘s talk, “Pilgrim Songs, Silence and Noise on the Way to Santiago”. It seemed particularly appropriate, and Professor Greenia here digressed for a bit on the idea of pilgrimage in a time of plague.

Pilgrimage was, he said, perhaps even more necessary in times of trouble than in times of tranquility. On Saturday evening, we learned that the Spanish government had declared a “state of alarm“.

The albergues were closing. The Camino was being evacuated.

Meanwhile, at the Gathering, the organizers were scrambling. With many of the presenters missing, they struggled mightily to keep things on course. The schedule changed so many times that eventually it was just written on whatever was handy.

They did an amazing job juggling the scheduling and keeping programming happening for the pilgrims.

And then the snow began.

And when I say snow, I mean that the Weather Service was predicting a blizzard with up to two feet of snow. Alarmed by the reports, more and more pilgrims – and presenters – opted to head home early to avoid being snowed in.

The Gathering organizers continued their furious juggling. I honestly don’t know how they kept this thing on track, but they did.

Part of their juggling resulted in not one, but two concerts by Dan Mullins, a pilgrim and troubadour. His Camino song, “Somewhere along the Way” is just fantastic. The first dozen or so times I watched the video, I cried for Spain.

Here I am with Dan!

And then there was the snow. The storm came in successive waves.

At first, it wasn’t too bad – perhaps a couple of inches. But then it began in earnest.

It snowed all through Saturday. It would stop for a few hours, then start up again.

By Sunday, the snow was no longer measured in inches, but in feet. There were few pilgrims remaining now, and all programming for Sunday was canceled.

Francine and I took advantage of a momentary break in the weather to drive off the mountain and into Reno. It was a harrowing experience.

Note that we brushed the snow off the windows before we started on down.

We checked into a casino hotel and visited the nearby Cathedral of Saint Thomas Aquinas. The casino was eerily quiet, with row upon row of unused gambling machines. I shudder to think of what kind of plague vector they might be.

We flew home Monday in masks, and we’re now self-isolating for the safety of our neighbours and friends.

This past week was an unforgettable experience, and I’m so very happy to have gone through it all with my beautiful bride, and I’m so happy to have met so many new friends and companions along the Way.

The “Camino Photo of the Day” will return tomorrow.

Ultreïa!