Santigo

Thurs Oct 4
KATHY: Our Camino has been different from what we planned, but we see God providing and leading us on a different pilgrimage.
   After I fell and sprained my ankle God provided a place to stay that was a wonderful gift. We so enjoyed the sisters at the convent, the time to meet the local people, go to Mass every day and relax.
   Then on to Santiago by train where we received many blessings. First of all we stayed at a pension that was old and noisy at night, but close to the Cathedral and inexpensive. There were a lot of steps to climb which was hard for me, but I made it. Then we met Fr. Michael from Australia, one person we had hoped to meet again. We had a warm visit, and he shared intimate insights of his camino with us. I wished I had a pen and paper when he was talking--his thoughts were profound.
    We went to the 12pm pilgrim Mass. It was very crowded. We had visited the church the night before when there weren't many people. Seeing all the pilgrims coming in, greeting each other, there was a lot of joy and excitement. We saw a few of the ones we started with, but not many. Rob and Cindy are due to arrive Wednesday, so we were about a week ahead.
   At Mass they didn't do the incense ceremony, so I asked and found out it was to happen at the 7:30 Mass that evening (and to come 1hr early). We were there early and got seats in the front row by where the ropes are for the botafumeiro (a giant incense burner). They performed the ceremony immediately after the Mass. It takes eight men operating the ropes to swing the burner. It was incredibly moving; I got all choked up while it was happening. What a profound ending of being blessed that way, and how many years it has been happening, and the symbolism behind the ceremony.
  Another special blessing was when we were talking with Fr. Michael. He didn't know whether he'd be concelebrating or not. He did, and sat on our side of the church. We received communion from him. I was so happy for him that he decided to end his pilgrimage on the altar as priest and pilgrim. That was such a blessing for me!
   There was so much joy and celebration in town at the restaurants and bars with pilgrims greeting and celebrating each other.
   My last blessing was in the morning leaving Santiago. We came across a statue of Gandhi. I'd seen a photo of it in the guidebook. I stood in front of the statue, took a photo and said to Tom how lifelike the eyes were--and then the statue smiled at me! I about jumped out of my skin--completely fooled me. He was that good. He gave me a small scroll with a quote from Gandhi that I read a few steps away from the "statue". It said " Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it". I went back and asked him if he spoke English. He did, so I told him I had sprained my ankle and had to quit, what his message meant to me and thanked him. He smiled and nodded.

On to Finesterre.