Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Pope Francis celebrated the vigil of the feast of Pentecost at St. Peter’s Square with members of some of the New Movements. Aside from leading a prayer service, the Holy Father also took part in a question and answer session. Below is a report from Vatican Radio. It’s long, but it’s worth reading. At 17:30 the Pope entered the square on his […]
» Read moreOn this day in 1891, the great Pope Leo XIII issued his landmark encyclical Rerum Novarum, on the rights and duties of capital and labour. It is worth reviewing this landmark of modern Catholic social teaching. The following duties… concern rich men and employers: Workers are not to be treated as slaves; justice demands that the dignity of human personality […]
» Read moreToday in 1917, the Blessed Virgin began appearing to three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal. She appeared on the thirteenth day of six consecutive months. In another article, I’ve already talked about the Miracle of the Sun. Regardless of miracles, Catholics are not obliged to believe these “private revelations”. Indeed, the Church is very careful to investigate these sorts of […]
» Read moreViri Galilæi, quid admiramini aspicientes in cælum? (Acts 1:11) One of the more succinct descriptions of this day I’ve found has been copied all over the Internet, to the point where I’m unable to properly source it: The Ascension of Our Lord, which occurred 40 days after Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Easter, is the final act of […]
» Read moreMy post-Camino reintegration proceeds slowly. Today, I got the first seven days of my Camino posted to Flickr and tagged. Day 8 is loaded as well, but I haven’t tagged the photos yet. LINK Enjoy! More to come as I am able.
» Read moreTomorrow is forty days since Easter, the Solemnity of the Ascension, when Christ ascended into heaven in what has to be one of the great comic scenes in the Bible: [A]s they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly […]
» Read moreWell, we’re home at Pistachio House. Many thanks to Mel and J for getting us from the airport. Counting the bus, planes, and layovers, that was 36 hours of travel. I reckon I’ve done a 50-hour day today, so a real update will have to wait. Shower and my own bed. It feels good to be home.
» Read morePraise God, yesterday at about 3pm, we arrived in Santiago de Compostela. On the way into the city, we kept running into people we knew – people who had shared some portion of the walk with us – probably a dozen reunions before we even reached the Cathedral. Entering the plaza in front of the Cathedral was an experience like […]
» Read moreAn easy walking day today of only about 20 km. Once again, Francine has been powerwalking in the mornings and slowing down in the afternoons, which is fine as this is my method as well. I try to plan our lunch stop for about two-thirds or so of the way through the day’s distance. Before leaving Arzúa this morning, we […]
» Read moreThey say you meet the Devil three times on the Camino. While I cannot (yet) attest to the veracity of this tradition, I can verify that his temptations are to be found everywhere. Despite such temptation, yesterday we completed the long, long walk from Palas do Rey to Arzúa, aka “Cheesetown”, a distance of about 30 km in the pouring […]
» Read moreWe’ve made excellent progress the past two days through the undulating farm and forest lands of Galicia. We’ve certainly had our share of weird weather en route, from sudden hailstorms to today’s gale-force winds, but overall it’s been sunny and cool. In my experience so far, there are three basic kinds of people walking the Camino: pilgrims, tourists, and hikers. […]
» Read more27 April A beautiful, mystical walk in the forests of Galicia this morning. Unfortunately, thanks to a drunken Englishman with a penchant for snoring and shouting in his sleep, Francine got very little sleep last night. By the time we got to Sarria, she was done for the day. We had a last lunch with Eamon and bid him adieu […]
» Read more26 April We walked through the Galician mists today, to the magnificent monastery of Samos. While we were enjoying our second breakfast, who should come ’round the corner but my NZ buddy Eamon! Lunched in Triacastela and convinced him to accompany us to Samos. He was not disappointed. Galicia seems like home – almost a faerie-tale country – and the […]
» Read more25 April Today was a day of slow, grinding climbs, as we crossed our final mountain pass of the Camino. The town of O Ceibreiro is more or less at the top, and we arrived at the same time as two busloads of German tourists. The view was amazing. The village was the site of a eucharistic miracle in the […]
» Read more24 April Fun hiking morning with Smith and Terra, Santiago, and Stella and Diego (from Brazil). In Villafranca del Bierzo, we mailed home a box of souvenirs and various unneeded items. Lunch in Pereje with Smith and Terra, Ian from Glasgow (who we met walking into the village), and Anya from Nuremburg. Then, the heat set in. Progress slowed to […]
» Read more23 April On paper, this should have been our easiest day. Unfortunately, a heatwave hit. We arrived in Ponferrada in good shape and good time, but there we found the old Templar castle. We waited until it opened at 11, and we spent over an hour exploring both the castle and its collection of medieval manuscripts. Not to mention the […]
» Read more22 April 2013 One of the great traditions of the modern Camino is to leave a stone at Cruz de Ferro, an iron cross marking (more or less) the highest spot on the Camino route in Spain. This, we did today. In an earlier entry, I talked about my stone, and some of the meanings behind it. I put down […]
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