Bill Fergeson: "My Pilgrimage to Santiago"

This July I took part in a pilgrimage to the relics of St. James the Apostle, which are kept in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella in northwest Spain. Since early medieval times, when what is thought to be the bones of St. James were discovered in this location, many Catholics have walked across Spain along a path called "El Camino" in order to make a pilgrimage to this sacred site. The path is still used by many pilgrims today. A few years ago, I found out about a small religious congregation, the Idente Missionaries of Christ Crucified, which has organized a pilgrimage along part of this route for the last several years. I decided to take part this summer. It sounded like it would be interesting to experience being a pilgrim and walk part of this path, meet other pilgrims, learn more about the local culture and Spanish Catholic history, and to see what God might have in store for me spiritually. I didn't begin the pilgrimage with any specific spiritual expectations or requests from God, but, given that this is my final year before my priestly ordination, I was wondering what graces, peace, and consolation this pilgrimage might offer for my vocation.

Before leaving for the pilgrimage, I was beginning to have some doubts about what to expect and how difficult the pilgrimage might be. Even though I have hiked a lot, would I be able to keep up with the daily pace and complete the 150 miles of our pilgrimage? I didn't know any of the other pilgrims before arriving in Madrid, so I didn't have any idea what they would be like. And I didn't know any more than one semester of Spanish! But I've also come to learn over the years that the Devil likes to plant doubts in one's mind when God is trying to get you to do something for your own good.

Well, I arrived in Madrid on July 11 and eventually met most of the other pilgrims that day. We left on a bus the next day to go to a small city called Astorga, where we would pick up the pilgrimage trail and begin our hike to Santiago. In Astorga, we met the rest of our group. We were quite a mix of folks: of the 13 of us altogether, I was the only native-born American, two were Polish-American cousins, four were from Brazil, three from Italy, one from Germany, and two, including our leader, the only priest in the group, were from Spain. Some of them were lay missionaries with the Indentes. Others were college students, and some like me were in their thirties.

We started our pilgrimage from Astorga early in the morning of July 13. We began what would become our routine for the next eleven days: up at 5:00 a.m. for breakfast and packing; on the path by around 6:30; walk on average about 13 miles and arrive at our pre-arranged destination about 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon; have a picnic lunch of sandwiches followed by "siesta"; then around 5:00 we usually had a cultural presentation given by some member of the group about their native country and the El Camino; then we had a Mass of the Pilgrims, usually at the local church in whatever town we were in, around 7:00; then dinner, sometimes at our lodging site or sometimes at a local restaurant around 9:00 (which is actually a typical time for Spanish culture), and then we often had fun time afterwards when we got together and put on funny skit or other displays of talent for each other. Then we went to sleep around 11:30 or so.

So what does one do when one has to walk for six or seven hours each day? Well, we did a number of things; sometimes some of the native Spanish speakers tried to help me to converse in Spanish or to improve my pronunciation, since after my first couple of times reading the Gospel at Mass in Spanish as a deacon, I apparently cracked them up with my "American accent." I would also help them with English words. Some folks sang songs from their native lands, including the Polish guys and even myself with American patriotic songs. Many jokes were shared. And we had many other discussions about such topics as politics and religion. One of the pilgrims, who was a graduate student from Berlin, Germany, was not a Catholic but seemed to be seeking for a deeper relationship with God; he said he liked to pray and meditate often by himself in the cathedral in Berlin, where he eventually met an Idente priest who told him about the pilgrimage. He still had a lot of problems, issues, and questions with the Catholic Church and about Christian faith and prayer, and so it was a good experience to try to share with him some of what being a Catholic Christian is like and why the Church teaches what it does. It was also great to get to know the Polish-American cousins who left Poland as young kids after the fall of the Iron Curtain, moved to New York City with their families, and have remained a close family and very interested in their Polish heritage. It was interesting to hear about the lives of these two guys; one became an Idente missionary and the other one, a college student, more recently came to have a deeper Catholic faith after a period of being spiritually "lost" in high school. Even in their 20's now, it was fun to see them act like little brothers with they way they played pranks on each other. The whole experience of the daily walk reminded me of what it must have been like for the pilgrims in medieval England who walked to the tomb of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury; the stories they shared on the path were actually later written down to become the famous "Canterbury Tales".

I also found it helpful and peaceful to simply walk by myself sometimes and pray, to meditate on the beautiful mountainous scenery passing us by in this northern part of Spain, and to enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside and tiny farm towns with their ancient stone houses, some now in ruins.

Eventually, on the eleventh day, which was our longest hike, of about 24 miles, we arrived at our goal, the city of Santiago and the Cathedral of St. James. We arrived late in the afternoon of July 23, in time for the weekend festivals to mark the Feast Day of St. James, which is July 25. We walked, or at least in my case, hobbled our way up to the Cathedral, had a big cheer on the steps, and then went inside. Amidst the mob of other pilgrims and tourists, we got in line to climb up into the gold-laden sanctuary to reverence the large statue of St. James, and then climb down into the tiny crypt underneath the sanctuary to view the silver reliquary of St. James visible through two metal gates. Afterwards, we went to the pilgrim office nearby to obtain our Latin certificates stating that we had completed the pilgrimage. Those who complete at least 60 miles and have obtained stamps in their pilgrim passports from towns along the way, as we all did, are eligible to get this document with their name, in Latin, written in.

The next day in Santiago, July 24, was the day of the major Mass of the Pilgrims in the Cathedral. We all went, and I was able to serve the Mass, which was packed with pilgrims, the elderly, and tourists, as the deacon with several priest concelebrants. The highlight of the Mass for many is this Cathedral's famous custom, after Communion, of swinging a huge censer from the top of the dome. It swings the entire length of the transcept (the side wings of the Cathedral), just about touching the ceiling on both ends and barely scraping the floor of the sanctuary in the middle. It was quite a sight; I was less than 10 feet away from it as it came swinging by; fortunately, no one got clocked in the head by it! Later in the day, we enjoyed some of the carnival in the city, and also had a small group discussion about what we each experienced on the pilgrimage.

The next day was the Feast of St. James, July 25. The highlight of this day was the privilege our group had of being able to celebrate a private Mass in the actual crypt containing the reliquary of St. James! The 13 of us barely fit into the tiny chapel, and we had Mass on the same small altar upon which sat the large, ornate, silver reliquary holding the bones of an Apostle! It was quite a treat to say the least.

Later that day, we packed up our things one last time and began our journeys home. Most of us took the overnight train back to Madrid, where we sadly parted ways and returned to our native lands.

When I was trying to think about what I spiritually received from the pilgrimage, in order to share with the others in our discussion before we parted ways, it seemed that probably the greatest spiritual benefit I received was a sense of a greater commitment to my vocation. There were, in particular, a couple of occasions along the way when I was hit with an unexpected sense of peace and enthusiasm for my upcoming priesthood, along with an appreciation of its potential for bringing people who are seeking Him, especially the youth, to the Person of Jesus Christ. I'm sure other unseen graces will come to light as I reflect on this great experience over time. My pilgrimage to the tomb of an Apostle was certainly a worthwhile experience and one which has helped me to see more the universal and timeless dimension of the love of God for His Church and for all people.