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!