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 Saint Clement's 2010 Pilgrimage

Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Medieval PilgrimageNineteen pilgrims will leave Saint Clement's on June 20 to begin their twelve-day pilgrimage to Spain. Their destination will be Santiago de Compostela, a city said to house the remains of Saint James the Great that has served as a major pilgrimage destination for well over a thousand years. Part of the pilgrimage will be to separate the pilgrims from the conundrum of their everyday life as they take both a physical and spiritual journey. However, they will have the occasional opportunity to report on the pilgrimage and share a little of their journey with the rest of the parish, each in their own way. Please be sure to visit this page for new reports from the pilgrims throughout their journey, to share at least a part of the journey with them.

Pilgrims: please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Your words will be posted to this page in short order. 

(Above: John Lydgate and the Canterbury Pilgrims. Siege of Thebes, c. 1516-23. BL MS Royal 18 D II f. 148.) __________________________________________________________________________________

 To see pictures of the pilgrims taken the day they left, go to the 2010 Pilgrims album on the Saint Clement's Facebook page, found here (Facebook membership not required to view). 

June 29; Susan Mallison

The pilgrims have finally reached Santiago de Compostela!

We are getting ready to go to bed tonight in Santiago. Several of the youth are out with Jenna watching the Spain/Portugal soccer game.  We can hear cheering in the background, so assume that Spain just scored a goal.

We are all grateful to be here.  It was a wonderful walk, full of awe and wonder and some difficulties (dehydration, sore knees, ankle rashes, blisters).  This group has been absolutely amazing with their support of each other and their willingness to sit in circle and to talk together.

Sometimes, when I am sitting with them, I need to close my eyes to really focus on what they are so deeply sharing and also to contain myself from crying--I wish that we had a magical way for everyone at St. Clement´s to hear what our youth are saying about their faith, their beliefs, their hopes, their dreams.  All of the chaperones feel so blest to be able to listen and to learn from them.

As I said before we left, each of the pilgrims is here for a purpose--I do believe that they were each called to be here with the group.  And that has certainly proven true.  EAch person has provided such wonderful things to the group.  They are surprising even themselves and are very able to share that awe and surpirse with each other.

Tomorrow we have a big breakfast at this hotel, and then we are going to try to get out to Finis Terre and to sit by the ocean--to finish our wonderful stories, and to begin to talk about "re-entry"--the youth  are already worried about this a little bit--one of the greatest gifts of the pilgrimage has been the uninterupted time of rest.  I can literally see such deep relaxation in each of them and they all seem very refreshed.  Now a long plane ride home may alter some of that, but I do believe that they will be able to remember this deep restfulness and how it brings us closer to our spiritual cores.

This thin place has again brought us all closer to God.and we are all so very grateful to be here, to  be here together, to be supported by St. Clement's.  We have been praying every night for the members of the parish, and "gossiping" a bit to fill in who these people are to the youth that don't know them.   It makes me smile to realize how connected so any of them feel to our special parish.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Friday evening--we will be tired, overwhelmed, and possibly unable to speak about the depth of this experience for quite some time, so I want folks back home to hear tonight "from the frontlines" how important this experience this has been for everyone  of us.

June 26; Susan Mallison

Arzua, Spain
 
Today was our Mary and Joseph day.  After arriving here in Arzua, we walked from refuge to refuge and there was no room for our big group.  We eventually were told that we could stay in the gym at the edge of town. So tonight we will be on the floor and everyone was no longer unhappy to be carrying our mats. When we got to the gym, it was actually a soccer arena--many pilgrims faces lit up and the game was on for a few hours.  Then we gathered for stoytelling and continued our wonderful conversation from last night about the Garden of Eden.  We wondered together about Cain and Abel and Bartimeaus and Jesus.   Then two pilgrims told personal stories and we were surprised that they both ended up being about today´s Bible stories also.  
 
The chaperones are noticing how each of the pilgrims has developed a new appreciation of each of the other pilgrims.  It has been a holy time of sharing both on the trail and while we are "stopped" and just together.  We are including holy silence in our group meetings, which has provided opportunities for very deep listening to each other.  Our joy and respect and conversations are all deepening.   Every day seems very special.
 
But in the specialness of each pilgrimage day, this one, I predict, will stand out for a long time.   This morning on the trail, some of the faster walkers noticed that a calf was beginning to birth in the farm yard they were walking by.  Eventually, most of our group, and other pilgrims as well, stood in excitement, anticipation and awe--we asked vet Liz and vet son Bjorn lots of questions, cheered on the calf, cheered on the mom, and about 40 mintures later, our "holy cow" was born.  When I looked at the faces of the pilgrims, they were glowing....
 
So, actually, today seems like maybe a "reverse Christmas"--seeing the birth and then looking for a place to stay in the stable.  We are so blessed to be here.  
 
We pray for members of the parish every night.  Please keep praying for us.
 

June 25; Susan Mallison

We are doing fine--every day has it´s own adventures and the group is really getting along amazingly well.

Because we are focused on the majic number of ¨how far today?¨ we decided to do a numerical pilgrimage update.
1--pilgrim who has converted to drinking Spanish coffee.
2--Spanish words we all say and hear many times a day: Buen Camino.
3--pilgrims who have ankle rashes.
4--pilgrims who have sore right knees.
5--pilgrims who have been playing cards.
6--days in Spain, so far.
7--pilgrims who are drinking Colacao (hot chocolate) instead of cafe con leche.
8--pilgrims playing Ultimate frisbee.
9--the average number of pieces of bread that each pilgrim eats in one day.
10--pilgrims who have been playing soccer thanks to Sarah´s purchase of a soccer ball.
11-pilgrims seen stretching before they began walking this morning.
12--Bocadillo (sandwiches) that we order to feed 19 people.
13--average number of sello (stamps) on our pilgrim credentials so far.
14--kilometers tomorrow--shortest day so far!
15--average number of cows we see on the camino each day.
16--kilometers that we walked today.
17--of us ready and waiting to go outside the door of the refuge by the ¨be ready¨ time.
18--average number of minutes we need to get the waiter to give us the bill at a restaurant.
19--combined number of blisters that we have as a group.
 
Extra Numbers:
207--cafe con leches drunk by the coffee drinkers so far.
1092--group´s best estimate of how many pictures James has taken so far.


 June 24; Susan Mallison

The pilgrims are done with two days of walking--the two longest days.  We are in Palas de Rei and looking forward to a shorter day tomorrow. No rain so far!! We like the food, we like the trail, we like the people here, we mostly like each other so all is well.

Here is what the pilgrims are appreciating today:

-Drinking water
-Spanish pilgrims are giving us encouragement along the trail
-Clouds so that the sun isn´t so intense
-Sitting down
-Going slow
-Stretching
-Being able to take a shower
-Deorderant!
-Shade
-Having a bed to sleep in for the first two nights on the trail
-Pauses in conversation
-Reaching this destination
-Having finished the longest day--we are on the mountain top now and everything is going to get easier--ha!
-Massage--not getting one but wanting one!
-The people that we are walking on the trail with
-Cafe con leche!! (some are trying for the first time)
-My dad who helped me pack
-Level ground
-Slight declines but no more hills, please!
-The tree of life
-Spanish people using English slang
-People helping and supporting us on the trail
-The person who told me pouring water on my head would cool me off
-Beautiful trees that provide shade

June 22; Susan Mallison

What the pilgrims are thinking about
 
-Taking a nap
-Loving the masterpieces(so many of them!) at the Prado
-Madrid is SUCH a beautiful city
-The dogs are so WELL BEHAVED here
-Personal hygiene matters
-Family and beginning the walk
-Susan wasn't lying about meandering
-Bosch and Breughels were obsessed with mortality--should I be?
-Spain has such cute guys
-The pace of life here is great
-Looking forward to walking and who I am going to meet on the trail
-All paths do not lead back to where the group is waiting for us
-When you are trying to get 19 people into a room and you are first one, don't just stop two steps inside the doorway.
-If we had taken the shorter route, we would have missed seeing these things.
-I love the food here AND the coffee!
-Have the experience first and then take the picture, don't look for the experience through the lens of the camera
-Are we just meandering now, or are we going somewhere?
-I feel SO rested after sitting in the park for two hours
-Take your time, take your time, take your time

Cheers from the Santiago Pilgrims, on our way to the train station to take the night train to Sarria--tomorrow we begin the walk on the Camino!

June 22; Tim Pera

It's 10:00 am. We're breakfasted and ready to accomplish two things before we board the night train to Sarria at 10:00 pm: go to the Prado to view the Garden of Earthly Delights and other treasures; and take a bus to Alcala de Heneres to visit the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quixote. The weather is marvelous, sunny and hot. Eager to begin the formal Camino. Spirits are high. We hope everyone is well.

Santiago Pilgrims


At AirportJune 20

Taken at Minneapolis/St. Paul airport before departing on the plane.

 

 

 
 
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