On the Camino

There is a new cicerone guidebook on the way of Saint Francis in Italy from Florence to Assisi and then on to Rome out on September 15th Image taken from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-St-Francis-Francesco-Florence/dp/1852846267/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437858892&sr=8-1&keywords=Cicerone+assisi

Came across this today if anyone's in Santiago in August or September and fancies a look More information on Pilgrim's House can be found on this post: http://footprintsonthecamino.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/pilgrim-house-in-santiago_13.html?m=1 The artist has a website at: http://caminoestrella.com/

image taken from http://en.ce.cn/World/Europe/200907/25/t20090725_19626260_3.shtml To all Pilgrims past, present and future Happy Saint James' Day!

Thomas Merton was an American monk of Gethsami Kentucky who was ordained to priesthood as Father Lois. He wrote more than 70 books on spirituality,  social justice and a quiet pacifism. My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going .... Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

In Santiago there are several things that you can do at little cost (I know I have entitled this blog 'free things to do in Santiago' but some of these require a donation).

'I am learning to trust the Journey even when I don't understand it'  Mila Bron

Here's an idea for a card for Saint James' Day on the 25th of July - I sent it to my family last year and it even includes a present for their Camino backpacks!

 'N o road to freedom . F reedom is the way' Ghadhi  

This is a question that I have sometimes wondered about: on the surface it seems like a very simple question but truthfully it is not simple. Pilgrimage as a word comes from the Latin word peregrinus which means ‘one who is in spiritual exile’ that is looking for a spiritual homeland (and definitions of pilgrimage are a journey to a sacred place or shrine) but since mediaeval times the pilgrimage to Santiago has been more than this – the journey to Santiago was undertaken to visit the shrine of Saint James but also for other reasons:

'With beauty before me, may I walk With beauty behind me, may I walk With beauty above me, may I walk With beauty below me, may I walk With beauty all around me, may I walk Wandering on the trail of beauty, may I walk' - Navajo: Walking Meditation