currently in Cizur menor

I made it over the Pyrennes mountains from St. Jean to Roncevalles and spent the night in a 100 bed albergue, or refuge for pilgrims. The 25 kilometers was a climb of almost 1 mile, or 1.5 kilometers. It gets cold up there! The place I stayed was an old hospital for the 13th century Augustinian canons that live there. The following day I pushed onto Larrasoana for a total of 48 to 50 kilometers of 800 complete. Today I passed through Pamplona, the city where the running of the bulls occurs in June-July, not sure. I stopped in the cathedral to visit the diocesan museum, church, and cloister. The church is a beautiful Romanesque one that is now heavily overladen with Gothic accretions.

The city I am in today is called Cizur Menor, the one just beyond Pamplona. The albergue is a famous one, the Roncal Family one. If I could gain access to a port to upload pictures I´d do so but I am finding most places wont allow it. Along the way Ive met a lot of very nice people and have walked with a few South Korean guys along the way. Tonight we are making spaghetti with meat sauce since this albergue has a kitchen. It´s a lot nicer than most, which is evident by their future wing of a very impressive place already. Not bad for only 8 euros!

Tomorrow I am walking over the Alto de Perdon, where there are some wind powered fans and a cool display of figures making pilgrimage that one can pose with. A little after the hill, the Camino Frances meets up with the one for those who started in Arles or beyond, the Camino Aragonese.

Leaving Lourdes tomorrow for St Jean Pied de Port

I am off to St Jean tomorrow and will begin the Camino Frances on the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist, the 23rd of April. Pray for me as I pray for you.

Blessing at Montserrat, onward to France

Today I needed sleep because of my time-tables being out of whack from travel. I had the opportunity to go to confession today and made it to the vigil mass for Divine Mercy Sunday last night, so I am doing well to heed Our Lord´s command to St. Faustina for receiving the mercy of God. In tangible ways this is happening. First, confession. That´s a great sign of God´s mercy. The penance included a recitation of the Salve Regina, which brought my mind back to the gift from Mary: Jesus ( God the Father´s Mercy). The confessor directed me to the porter and he to a Fr. Josemaria, once a pilgrim. He told me not to worry about getting around in the EU and that the routes into France are quite accessible from Barca. Receiving his prayer of blessing as I head back to Barca to catch a train or bus, I am filled with a great sense of peace that I didn´t have yesterday. This still hasn´t answered how I leave out of Lisbon Portugal with a Spain entry stamp, but I have time to work that one out while walking. Through grace way say As St. Faustina did: Jesus, I trust in you.



An interesting note is that Fr. Josemaria knew of St. Vincent Archabbey. I am sure I butchered Archabbey in Spanish when I asked him for a blessing as I get a few steps closer to beginning the Camino but he quickly said Sant Vincent and smiled.



May God have Mercy on us all!

Sagrada Familia church

This church in Barcelona and under construction for over 100 years, inspired by Gaudi, makes the infamous cathedrals in California look tame. Don´t let the exterior fool you a bit: the interior is just plain rotten. Archbishop Bugnini is dancing in his grave because of churches like this.

Divine Mercy Sunday at Montserrat

I am spending the Vigil and morning of Divine Mercy Sunday at Montserrat. The statue of Our Lady of Montserrat is beautiful and has the right arm of Jesus holding the orb exposed to the public to touch. There are a lot of tourists here and they act like total tourists when you give them nice gift shops, some wacky electric acoustic guitar concert outside the Basilica, and opportunities to chatter like drones. Either way, I have made it a good first stop after Barcelona to pray. My body is still not accustomed to the general time and eating time changes which is why I am up on the lone computer available at 4am.

Once I get access and time to sit at an internet cafe I will post more photos of the pilgrimage.

Las Ramblas in Barcelona

This is another view of the inspiration behind National Harbor´s American Way, Las Ramblas, on a weekday.

Santiago Matamoros

A Great Image of St. James as a Crusader from the Placa de Sant Jaume.

Fly tomorrow to get to Barca

Tomorrow I fly to Barca and will start the Camino Frances about a week to ten days later. Pray for me as I pray for you. Pax Domini Sit Semper Vobiscum!