November 7, 2019

Fr. Tony and Jim (wearing our “team” shirts), at the end of our 800km (500 mile) pilgrimage, tired and wet but happy in Praza do Obradoiro in front of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

11/7/2019, 10:00

We made it!  Yesterday, after another 20km day of rain and wind, we arrived at the goal of our pilgrimage:  The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and the tomb of St. James the Greater.  I am without words at this time, so I will leave you with pictures and words of wisdom that a diminutive nun handed me early in our pilgrimage when I visited Iglesia de San Esteban in Zabaldika.  Together, these words capture what this pilgrimage has meant to me and what I hope to become as a result of my having gone on pilgrimage:

EL CAMINO

The journey makes you a pilgrim.  Because the Way to Santiago is not a trek to be walked in order to get from one place to another, nor is it a test for a reward.  El Camino de Santiago is a parable and a reality at the same time, because it is done both within and outside yourself in the time that it takes to walk each day, and along your entire life, if only you allow the Camino to inhabit you, to transform you and to make you a pilgrim.

The Camino makes you simpler because the lighter the backpack the less strain on your back and the more you will understand how little you need to live.

The Camino makes you brother and sister. Whatever you have, you must be ready to share because even if you started on your own, you will meet fellow pilgrims. The Camino breeds community: Community that greets the other, that takes an interest in how the Way is going for the other, that talks and shares with the other.

The Camino makes demands of you. You must get up even before the sun in spite of your being tired or sore, or having blisters; you must walk in the darkness of night while the dawn is growing, but you must still get the rest you need that will keep you going.

The Camino calls you to contemplate, to be amazed, to welcome, to interiorize, to stop, to be quiet, to listen to, to admire, to bless…nature, our companions on the journey, ourselves, God.

The Beatitudes of the Pilgrim

Blessed are you pilgrim, if you discover that the Camino opens your eyes to what is not seen.

Blessed are you pilgrim, if what concerns you most is not to arrive, but to arrive with others.

Blessed are you pilgrim, when you contemplate the Camino and you discover that it is full of names and dawns.

Blessed are you pilgrim, because you have discovered that your real Camino begins after you have arrived in Santiago.

Blessed are you pilgrim, if your backpack is empty of things and your heart does not know where to store so many feelings and emotions.

Blessed are you pilgrim, if you discover that one step back to help another is more valuable than 100 forward without seeing what is around you.

Blessed are you pilgrim, when you don’t have words to give thanks for everything that surprises you at every twist and turn of the Way.

Blessed are you pilgrim, if you search for the truth and make of the Camino your “life” and of your life a “Way,” in search of the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Blessed are you pilgrim, if on the Way you meet yourself and gift yourself with time, without rushing, so as not to disregard your heart.

Blessed are you pilgrim, if you discover that the Camino holds a lot of silence: The silence of prayer, prayer to the Father who is waiting for you.

Our first view of the spires of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela as we walk through the town 
While the interior of the Cathedral is undergoing major renovations, you can still access the partially disassembled altar piece containing the iconic “huggable” statue of St. James that can be approached from behind.
Renovation work as viewed from the left transept of the Cathedral.
The 9th century chapel which is the oldest part of the Cathedral and where Mass is celebrated during the renovations.
Reliquary containing the remains of St. James the Greater below the main altar in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

Jim Olshefski