A PILGRIM WALK IN 2005 - EL CAMINO
For five pilgrims from County Louth, it seemed that the Knights Templar settlement at Templetown in Cooley, and the Holy Well of St. James, near Greenore, were calling them on a distant journey: the ancient pilgrim way of St. James to the Great Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, in Northern Spain.
Ancient tradition, dating from the earliest period of Christianity, recalls the memory of the preaching and burial of the Apostle St. James in the western-most region of Hispania. Santiago, or St. James as he’s known in English, was one of Jesus’ apostles, and after the Crucifixion, he headed to Spain to spread the Gospel. On his return to Jerusalem, he was arrested and martyred by Herod Agrippa in 44AD. St. James was one of the first apostles to be martyred. His disciples recovered his body and brought it by sea to Ira Flavia, in Galicia where they buried it 20kms inland in Compostela. Several centuries later in 813 a Christian hermit discovered the bones at a remote hillside in Galicia. The bones he found at Campus Stellae (Compostela) were quickly identified as those of Santiago, and the bishop of nearby Iria Flavia sanctified the discovery. Within a few years, Alfonso II, King of Asturias, visited the site, built a chapel and declared Santiago the patron saint of Spain.
In 1189 Pope Alexander III declared Santiago de Compostela a Holy City, along with Rome and Jerusalem. Under his edict, pilgrims who arrive during Holy Years (when the Saint’s Feast day falls on a Sunday) can bypass purgatory entirely, while those arriving in other years get half their time off.
Our journey began with the stamping of the Pilgrim Passports at St. James’ Gate, Dublin, the starting point in olden days (and still today) for the Irish pilgrim.
After arriving in Madrid on 25th June 2005, and taking a bus to Ponferrada on Sunday 26th June, our pilgrimage began on Monday 27th June, when we started our walk from Vega del Carce through to the following towns in which we stopped overnight;
O`Cebreiro - Triacastela - Sarria - Portomarin - Palais de Rei - Melide - Arca
We eventually arrived in Santiago on Monday 4th July. A distance of approx. 180kms.
We have walked the road - El Camino – the great ancient pilgrim Way of St. James. We have made it to Santiago. We have experienced times of solitude and fellowship, of sharing and reflection, of helping and being helped on the way. It all enables us to continue on our true pilgrimage – the journey of life.
“Show me your ways Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me”. (Psalm 25)
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