The Road To Santiago

Last updated on: December 31, 2014 at 11:30 am by voxnovablog

The Road To Santiago 2014-12-31T11:30:45-05:00 voxnovablog

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Vox Nova is pleased to welcome another guest post by Jeannine Pitas.

“What if something goes wrong?”

The words played over in my mind as I boarded the train from Victoria Station to Gatwick Airport. “I can’t believe that’s all your taking,” my friend Rebecca had said earlier that day when I’d handed my small backpack – containing two and a half sets of clothing, one pair of pajamas, a towel, flip-flops, a flashlight, a few toiletries, my journal and a slim guidebook – into the coat check of the British Museum. Falling comfortably within the museum’s seven kilogram limit, the bag was stowed in a cupboard as we set off for a few hours of admiring Aztec sculptures and modern African art. I was happy to spend this time with an old friend in the UK before starting on the main focus of my trip: a four-week pilgrimage across Northern Spain.

Yes. I was about to walk the legendary Camino de Santiago. 690 kilometers of it, from Pamplona to the famous cathedral where the apostle James’ remains are buried. On my own for the first half, accompanied by my best friend for the second. Though I am a fairly seasoned traveller, I could not ignore the fear that had settled at the bottom of my stomach. I’d never travelled with so few possessions; I wasn’t in the right physical shape; I didn’t even have a working cell phone. What would I do if something went wrong?

Little did I know, as I boarded the early morning flight from London to Madrid, that I was less than 48 hours away from an answer to that question. This answer was not apparent as my plane touched down in Madrid, as I collected my hiking poles from the baggage carousel, as I knelt for a few quick prayers in the airport’s chapel. It did not become clear as I navigated the subway system to the Atocha Train Station, as I sped past wide-open swathes of red and brown countryside on the way to Pamplona. The answer was not given as I stepped off the train into a sea of revellers dressed in red and white, excitedly celebrating July 14, the final day of the famous San Fermín bull run, and awkwardly tried to blend in as fireworks exploded over our heads.

Nor did my answer become apparent the following morning, as I shuffled into a shop stocked with backpacking paraphanalia, acquired my credencial – the pilgrims’ passport that travellers to Santiago use to gain entry into the inexpensive hostels that dot the road to Santiago – and made my way out of Pamplona through fields of sunflowers, up a huge mountain called the Alto de Perdón (The Heights of Forgiveness – an apt name, as I definitely felt that I needed to forgive someone after that uphill trek in the noonday heat), then down the mountain to a village called Uterga where, after only three hours of walking, I decided I’d had enough for my first day.

It became clear when I took my contact lenses out of my eyes.

“Oww,” I winced as the lenses slid out followed by a disgusting yellow fluid. I could not see. In fact, I could not even open my eyes. Within minutes, the albergue (hostel) staff were calling an emergency hotline for help, and soon I was in a taxi accompanied by a British pilgrim named Gail – a professional singer turned journalist – on the way to a health clinic, where I was treated and, after three days of rest with a pirate-style patch over my right eye, given permission to restart my journey.

As I passed through those sunflower fields for a second time, I no longer had to worry about what would happen if (or when) things went wrong, as I now knew the answer. “The Camino provides,” fellow pilgrims kept telling me. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could all be this good to one another, all the time?” a Catalan man later mused on the walk out of an incredibly picturesque town called Estella. Closer to the destination, a grafitti message in a tunnel summed it up perfectly: “If all our leaders were made to walk the Camino together, in five weeks we’d have world peace.”

The Camino de Santiago is an experience like no other. Like the Hajj to Mecca and the Christian, Muslim and Jewish pilgrimages to Jerusalem, it is a journey with a long history, and many of contemporary pilgrims do indeed travel with the hopes of receiving a religious blessing. But the Camino is unique in that adherance to a creed is considered unimportant: anyone willing to spend eight hours each day walking with a pack on their back is considered a pilgrim, treated with utmost respect by the locals. And, while my frequent visits to the evening Pilgrims’ Mass and solitary hours hiking through the wild, picturesque meseta between Burgos and León gave me many hours of prayer and reflection, the most memorable moments were those shared with others.

Like many other pilgrims, I decided to walk the Camino in search of spiritual guidance. In the awkward space between defending my doctoral dissertation and earnestly seeking a job, I found that my mind was tired. For that reason, I unfortunately don’t have much to say about the beautiful Romaneque architecture of the church at Frómista or the Templar Castle in Ponferrada. Nearly five months after returning home, my memory instead returns to the people I met as I walked through vineyards and up mountains, as I cooked communal meals, as I bedded down each night in a different albergue – sometimes with sixty beds in one room.

I remember Joe, a former British karate champion from London, now a prison worker, looking for a new direction in his life, and Rosa, a Basque teacher who had walked three hundred kilometers by his side, neither one knowing the other’s language, but still communicating like old friends. I remember Silvia, a passionate engineer-turned-science teacher from close to where I’d begun my journey in Pamplona, coming to terms with her own life transitions. I remember Miguel, one of the many dedicated volunteers who offered two weeks of his summer to manage a pilgrims’ hostel, handing each of us a copy of a prayer he’d written as we said goodbye: “Never look back,” he advised us. And of course, I remember Gail, who, even though her feet were aching with blisters, took the time to accompany me to the health center in my moment of need.

After four weeks of walking through fields and forests, cities and villages, I received my final stamp and Compostela certificate; I knelt before the tomb of St. James and watched the impressive swinging of the buxafumeiro after the 12 p.m. pilgrim’s Mass;

I hoisted my backpack on my shoulders and, with some wistfulness and confusion, boarded the train from Santiago back to Madrid, then the plane from Madrid to London to my hometown of Toronto, back to my old life. But of course, it wasn’t my old life. I don’t think that anyone can walk the Camino de Santiago and expect to remain unchanged. The nature of those changes is not easy to see, and I trust that it will become clearer over time. But, as I bid a fond farewell to this year and eagerly look forward to the coming one, I proceed with the knowledge that we are all pilgrims on an unending journey. It is inevitable that at some point things will go wrong; suffering cannot be avoided. But, if we cast off ou fear and prejudice, we find that we do not have to face these hardships alone. Instead, we are companions on a shared journey, united in our search for healing and wholeness, walking together on the road toward grace.

Guest Post

Camino de Santiago

pilgrimage

Previous Post

December 29, 2014

2014 in review

Next Post

January 2, 2015 A reflection on the wedding garment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2019 A Consistent Ethic of Life Aaron Weldon Abortion absurdity Abuse Scandal Academics Adoption Advent Africa agreement/disagreement with Church teaching Alexander Schmemann Alexham Alterity America Amnesty International Anarchism angels Anglicanism Animals Annual Statistics Anthony Anxietas Apocalyptic Apophatic Appalachia Aquinas Art Atheism Atonement Augustine Authority Baptism Beauty Bible biblical criticism biblical scholarship Bioethics Bishops Black Catholics Black Theology Blackadder Blogs Books Breastfeeding Brett Salkeld Buddhism Bush administration Byzantine Catholic Calvinism Canada Canon Law Capital Punishment Capitalism Caryll Houselander Catholic Blog Awards Catholic Blogging Catholic League Catholic Social Teaching Catholic Worker Movement Catholicity CFL Charity Children Chris West Christ and Culture Christian Democracy Christian Unity Christmas Christology Church Church Doctrine Church History Climate Change Cohabitation Colbert Collegiality Communion Communism Comparative Theology Competition Conferences conscience conscience rights Consequentialism Consistent Life Ethics Consumerism Contraception Contrition Conversion Converts Coptic COVID-19 Creation Critical Thinking Cross Cuba Culture Culture of Death Culture of Life Darfur David Cruz-Uribe David Wheeler-Reed Death Death Penalty Democracy Demons Desert Fathers Devil Dialogue dignity Disability Disarmament discernment Discipleship discrimination Dissent Distributism Division Doctrine Domestic Church Dorothy Day Double Effect Doubt Down syndrome Driving Early Church Easter Eastern Churches Ecclesiology Economics Economy Ecumenism Education El Salvador Election Election 2020 Ellul Embryonic Stem Cell Research Empire Energy Enlighenment Environmentalism Ephraim Radner Episcopal Church epistemology Equality Eschatology Ethics Eucharist Europe Euthanasia Evangelization Evil Evolution Excommunication F.X. Durrwell Facism Facts Fair Trade Faith Family Fashion Feddie Feminism Feminist theology Fertility Fetal Rights Fiction Film Finances First Things flags Folk Religion Food Foreign Affairs Forgiveness Frank Sheed Free Speech Freedom gay & lesbian persons Genocide George W. Bush George Weigel Gerald L. Campbell Girard/Mimetic Theory Global Warming Globalization Gnosticism Good Friday Grace Gratitude Greed Grey Cup 2009 Guadalupe Guest Post Guest Posts Gun Control Gustave Martelet Habitat for Humanity Hans Urs von Balthasar Harry Potter Hate Speech Health Health Care Healthcare Heather King Hebrew Bible Henri de Lubac Henry Karlson Herbert McCabe Heresy HHS Mandate Controversy History Holidays Holiness Holy Spirit Homiletics Homily Homosexuality Hope Hospitality How Far Can We Go? How Far Can We Go? Human Person Human Rights Humanae Vitae Humility Humor Hunger Hunting Identity Idolatry Ignacio Ellacuría Imagination Immigration In Memoriam Income Inequality Inculturation Indigenous People Individualism Inklings Intellect Interdependence Internet Interpretation Interviews Introduction Iraq War Islam Israel Jain James Alison James Martin Jazz Jesus Christ Jews Joe Biden Joe Hargrave Johann Baptist Metz John Allen John Henry Newman John Paul II John the Baptist John XXIII Jonathan Josef Pieper Joseph (the husband of Mary) Joseph Bernardin Joseph Ratzinger Josh Brumfield Journals Joy Judgment Just War Justice Kari Lundgren Karl Rahner Katerina Ivanovna Kenya Keynes Kingdom of God Kyle R. Cupp Labor Language Latin America Law Leanne Ogasawara Legion of Christ Leisure Lent Liberalism Liberation Theology Libertarianism Libya Lies Life life & dignity & responsibility of the human person Literature Little Way Liturgical music Liturgical Year Liturgy Living Simply Living Wage Local Church Lombard Lord of the Rings Louis Dupre Love M.Z. Magic Magisterium Mark DeFrancisis Mark Gordon Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Jr. Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masculinity Matt Talbot Matthew Fish Matthew Levering McCain Media Memorial Day Mennonites Mental Illness mercy Michael Iafrate Middle East militarism Miroslav Volf Mitt Romney Modesty Moral Theology Morality Mormonism Morning's Minion Mother Teresa Music Muslims Natalie Nate Wildermuth Nationalism Native Americans Nature Nazis Neuhaus New Evangelization New York City News NFP nihilism Nonviolence Not Abortion Nova's Ordo Nuclear weapons Nuns Obama Occult Old Age Opus Dei Ordination ordination of women original sin Orthodoxy Oscar Romero Other Voices Pacifism Palestine Palin Papacy Papal Peace Messages Papal Social Encyclicals Particular Affections Partisanship Patriotism Paul Paul Ryan Paul VI Peace Pentimento persecution Personalism Phantastes Philosophy PKD Planned Parenthood Pluralism Poetry Policraticus Politcal Apathy Politics Poll Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope Leo XIV Population Postcolonialsim Poverty Power Prayer Preaching Predictions Predictions for 2012 President Barack Obama priestly formation & discernment Pro-Life Progress Prophetic Witness Proportionalism Public Diplomacy Public Policy Question Quotes Rachel Maddow Racism Radical Catholic Mom Radical Catholicism Raymund Schwager Real Catholic TV Real Presence Reconciliation Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Religion religious freedom Responsibility Ressourcement Resurrection Rick Garnett Ridiculous Crap You Never Thought You'd See Robert Barron Roe v. Wade Roman Curia Rome Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation History Sam Harris Sam Rocha Same-sex Marriage Saskatchewan Roughriders Satire School of the Americas Science Scripture Seamless Garment Second Vatican Council Seeing Sex sexual violence Sexuality Sia Sin social justice Social Security Socialism Society of Jesus Sofia Loves Wisdom Solidarity Sophia soteriology Soutenus Spirituality Sports St. Dismas St. Joseph Stanley Hauerwas Statistics Stimulus Suffering Sunday Reflections Supernatural Supreme Court Symbolism Syria Taxing Technology Terrorism The State The Tea Party The Trump Administration Theological Anthropology Theology Theotokos Thomas Merton Throwaway Culture Tim Muldoon Tim Riley Tim Tebow Time Titian Tolkien Torture Toys Trade Traditionalism Transgender Transportation Transubstantiation Trinity Truth TV U.S. Affairs Uncategorized Unions unity among people who disagree US Catholicism USCCB Usury Utilitarianism Utopia Valentine's Day Vatican Vatican II Veterans Vicarious Suffering Video Violence Virgin Mary Vocations Voluntary Associations Voluntary Poverty Voting Vox Nova vox nova blog war War and Peace War Strategy Wealth Weirdness Welfare state Women Women Priests Work Woundedness Youth

Select a Month June 2026 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 July 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 July 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 November 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian tradition requires confession to a priest for forgiveness of sins?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Quaker Roman Catholic Baptist Methodist