Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
We are all now finally back from our Camino. Those of you who have been following along over on our Camino blog know that – in addition to the physical and mental challenges – the Camino is a powerful tool for discernment. I’ll get back to what we were discerning later, but I was again reminded that walking the Camino […]
» Read more
For updates, photos, and more information (the good Lord and the wifi willing), check out our Camino blog at: Pilgrims on the Way.
» Read more
The pilgrim’s badge to Santiago de Compostela Tomorrow we leave for Spain. This will be our fourth pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. This time, we’re walking the route known as the Camino Primitivo. We shall return Memorial Day Weekend. The Camino Primitivo is the original Camino route (more or less), and it was established by King Alfonso II of […]
» Read more
This morning, Francine and I received the pilgrims’ blessing from Rev. David Mulholland at Saint Patrick Church, where I was baptized and we were married. It is a beautiful and ancient rite. In its current form it appears the Missal of Vich Cathedral, Barcelona, Spain, dated to AD 1078. In addition to blessing the pilgrims themselves, the packs (“rucksacks”), sticks (“staves”), and […]
» Read more
May the second looms large in my life. On this day in 2013, Francine and I walked into Santiago de Compostela for the first time, at the end of our first Camino. At this point, Francine had been walking for almost two weeks, and me for more than a month. I can’t describe the joy of that day. Arrival in […]
» Read more
Back in December of 2019, I posted some noodlings about the call of the Camino and where we might walk next. While both of the options I discussed there are still very much in our future plans, a more immediate Camino adventure calls: the Camino Primitivo. Francine and I have been talking about this particular Camino for close to a […]
» Read more
On October 12, AD 40, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the Apostle Saint James near the town of Caesaraugusta in the Roman Province of Hispania, in what is now Zaragoza, Spain. He was discouraged. His mission in Hispania was largely a failure, with few converts and only a handful of ordained men to preach the Gospel here, at the […]
» Read more
Santiago Apóstol Today is the Feast of Saint James the Greater, known throughout the Spanish-speaking world as Santiago. He was one of Christ’s Twelve Apostles. Saint James is the patron saint of the archdiocese of Seattle. May you have the joy of the feast! James and his brother John were natives of Galilee, sons of the fisherman Zebedee and his […]
» Read more
These beautiful and haunting vespers are chanted from the version given in the Codex Calixtinus. Neither Ordinary nor Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, but rather from the Mozarabic Rite. Side chapel in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, 2013 Note: an earlier version of this story erroneously stated that a diocesan patronal solemnity trumps a Sunday in Ordinary Time […]
» Read more
I still remember the crowing of the rooster in the cathedral. My introduction to Santo Domingo de la Calzada came on my first Camino. There’s a town early on named for him that contains a cathedral dedicated to him. Today is his feast day, so it might be good to learn something about him – and his chickens. He was […]
» Read more
Near the beginning of our virtual Camino, February 2020 Yesterday my beautiful bride Francine and I finished walking our virtual Camino from Lourdes to Santiago, a distance of roughly 957km. You’ve heard of staycations? This was a staymino. It took us just over a year. At least I got one thing accomplished during lockdown! We mostly walked around our neighbourhood […]
» Read more
As 2020 comes finally to its end, we welcome with hope (and no small amount of trepidation) its sequel, 2021. It’s worth remembering, though, that we are also celebrating some other years as well: holy years. The Year of Saint Joseph Pope Francis has declared a “Year of Saint Joseph” from December 8, 2020 through December 8, 2021. This year […]
» Read more
On October 12, AD 40, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the Apostle Saint James near the town of Caesaraugusta in the Roman Province of Hispania, in what is now Zaragoza, Spain. He was discouraged. His mission in Hispania was largely a failure, with few converts and only a handful of ordained men to preach the Gospel here, at the […]
» Read more
Santiago Apóstol Today is the Feast of Saint James the Greater, known throughout the Spanish-speaking world as Santiago. He was one of Christ’s Twelve Apostles. Saint James is the patron saint of the archdiocese of Seattle, and therefore today is a solemnity within our archdiocese. May you have the joy of the feast! James and his brother John were natives […]
» Read more
When Francine and I finished our second Camino in 2016, I began a project on my Camino blog to post the best of my Camino photos, one day at a time. The “Camino Photo of the Day” project has been running since July 6 of 2016, so today marks its fourth anniversary. It often took several weeks to get through […]
» Read more
Since my conversion, May the second has loomed large in my life. Shortly after my baptism, I became an Oblate of the Order of Saint Benedict. Each year, we read through Saint Benedict’s Rule three times, a chapter or so each day. May 2 is one of the three days of the year where we begin the Rule again. This […]
» Read more
You may have noticed that I’ve not been posting our “Camino Photo of the Day” recently. There’s a story behind that. We’ve been in South Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Oh, not for any vacation – well, not really. We were there to complete our training as hospitaleros. But I’m getting slightly ahead of myself. Prologue: Virginia City We arrived at […]
» Read more