Skip to main content

A "Compostella" only available in 2014

Every 100 years the Francistern order produces their own 'Compostela' to celebrate the Pilgrimage of Saint Francis of Assisi to Santiago which happened in 1214 - 800 years ago and so this certificate is available this year (and then there won't be another until 2114).My certificate is below:






This says:
Pax et BonumSancti FrancisciConventus ComposelaePeregrinus Sancti Jacobi Composservi Dei, Francisci Assisi protectione, aedes, quas dominus Cotolaya fundavit, ad praesentiam et permansionem Fratrum Minorum in hac urbe Metropolitana, visitDe mandato fraternitatis suae RevmaeFr. Francisco Javier Castro MiramontesGuardianus et humilis in Domino Servus

This translates (imperfectly) as:
Peace and Good San Francisco Congress Composelae Crusaders of the Holy One of JacobComposservi of God, the protection of Francis of Assisi, house, and the protection of other buildings, which the Lord hath founded the Cotolaya, in this city at the presence of the Friars Minor and the tenure of Metropolitan and inspected the The mandate of the brotherhood of charge Fr. Francisco Javier Castro Miramontes And humble servant of the Lord Warden

To get this certificate you need to take your credential to the Francistern Church 10-11 in the morning or 5-7 in the afternoon (the Church's position is on the map below). Once inside go down the left hand side of the Church to the big wooden doors where there is a monk at a desk who will check your credential, stamp it and get you to fill in a simple form with your name, age and a few other details before he fills in your certificate and gives it to you (they do ask for a small donation).



The Church itself is, I was told, one of the oldest if not the oldest, in Santiago and is worth seeing of itself - very beautiful and simple compared to the Cathedral.


And this is the stamp for my 'Compostela' on my credential: If you have any questions about how to get this certificate or anything then comment and I'll do my best to answer.



If you want to read more about St Francis' pilgrimage look at this post: http://footprintsonthecamino.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/saint-francis-of-assisi-and-camino.html?m=1

This post has some info on the nautical pilgrimage happening later this year for the 800th anniversary of St Francis' pilgrimage to Santiago: http://footprintsonthecamino.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/a-nautical-pilgrimmage-for-saint.html?m=1Rachael Walker at 09:16Share


Please note that this certificate was only given out in 2014. I visited the Church in April 2015 and the notices about the certificate had been removed and there was no-one giving them out.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Camino Primitivo

The Camino Primitivo (or the Original Way) is reportedly the very first Camino Way to Santiago in the 9 th century when most of Spain was under the control of the Moors and it runs from near the city of Ovideo in Asturias as it starts in Villavicosa (which also lies on the Camino Norte so many people follow this Way from   Basque city of San Sebastian (Donosti in Basque) or in from the French border at Irun ( this route then hugs the Bay of Biscay passing through Guernica, Bilbao, Santander, Llanes before going under the Picos de Europa and then heads along the coast to Ovideo) before branching off onto the Primitivo which goes across the mountains and through the city of Lugo before joining the Frances at Melide. The route is 320km long. Image taken from https://viaalpina2013.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/camino-del-norte-camino-primitivo/

Symbols of the three main Christian Pilgrimages

The symbol of the Pilgrim to Santiago is the Scallop shell  of which many can be found on the coast of Galicia and it is actually a symbol of the Pilgrimage (and has become a symbol of other Christian Pilgrimages too) partly because you could find the shell easily there and so could go back home and show it off as proof that you had done the Pilgrimage. It has also been included in carvings in some Churches.

Pilgrims' Trail to Saint Michels Mont, France

I have only walked two of the Camino routes (the Frances and Portuguese) and still want to try many of the others and yet I am also finding other Pilgrimage routes that I want to walk - I did the Pilgrims' Way in the summer which starts from Winchester which is also the starting point for the Pilgrims' Trail a 155 mile route that finishes at Mont St Michel in Normandy, France. The cult of saint Michel was popular in Britain from the 9th century and the Pilgrims walking this way were called Miquelots and many Pilgrims on their way to Santiago. The route is marked by green way markers in Hampshire taking walkers from Winchester to Bishop's Waltham to Southwick and then to Portsmouth where ferries are caught to France and Way markers become blue. Tradition says that, in 709 Saint Michael the Archangel appeared to the bishop of Avranches, Saint Aubert, and told him to build a chapel in his honour on the island. The bishop obeyed and soon sent a group of monks over...