The Pilgrim: The Purse, The Staff & The Shell

"A purse is a narrow little bag, made from the hide of a dead animal, with its mouth always open and not bound with ties. That the purse is a narrow sack signifies that the pilgrim, trusting in the Lord, must carry along with him a small and moderate provision. That it is made from the skin of a dead animal signifies that the pilgrim himself must mortify his flesh with its vice and concupiscence, through hunger and thirst, through many fasts, through cold and nakedness, and through many insults and hardships. That it is not bound with ties but that the mouth is always open signifies that one must expend one's own things on the needy, and consequently one must be prepared for receiving and prepared for giving."

"The staff, which the pilgrim prayerfully accepts almost as a third foot for his support, implies faith in the Holy Trinity in which one must persevere. The staff is the defense for man against wolf and dog. The habit of the dog is to bark against man, and the wolf to devour sheep. The dog and wolf signify the waylayer of the human race, the devil. The demon barks against man when he incites men's minds toward sinning by the bark of his suggestions. He bites like the wolf when he drags men's limbs toward sinning and through the habit of guilt swallows the soul in his greedy jaws. For that reason we must admonish the pilgrim when we give him the staff that he remove his guilt through confession and frequently protect his breast and limbs with the banner of the Holy Trinity against diabolical illusions and apparitions."

"There are some fish in the sea of Blessed James, which the people call veras, having two shields, one on either side, between which the fist is covered as if between two shells in the likeness of an oyster. These shells...are shaped like the fingers of a hand...and the pilgrims returning from the threshold of Blessed James sew them on their capes, and they wear them back to their own country with great exultation in honor of the apostle and in his memory and as a sign of such a great journey. Therefore, the two shields with which the fish is protected, one on either side, represent the two laws of charity with which the bearer must truly protect his life: that is, to love God above all things and to love one's neighbor as oneself. A person who loves God is one who keeps His commandments. A person who loves one's neighbor as one loves oneself is one who does not do to anyone else what he does not want done to himself and who does to others what he would justly want done for himself. The shields, however, which are modified in the shape of fingers, signify good works in which the bearer of this sign must persevere; and good works are beautifully signified by fingers, since we work through them when we do something" ("The 'Veneranda dies' Sermon,"  The Miracles of St. James. Translations from the Liber Sancti Jacobi, edited and translated by Thomas F. Coffey, Linda Kay Davidson & Maryjane Dunn).

The Pilgrim Trail

THE PILGRIM TRAIL

"The pilgrim route is the best way, but the most narrow. The road is, in fact, narrow that leads man to life, and the road is wide and spacious that leads to death. The pilgrim route is for the righteous: lack of vices, mortification of the body, restitution of virtues, remission of sins, penitence of the penitent, journey of the just, love of the saints, faith in the resurrection and remuneration of the blessed, distancing of the infernal, propitiation of the heavens. It reduces fat foods, it checks gluttony of the stomach, it tames lust, it suppresses carnal desires, which militate against the soul. It purifies the spirit, it motivates man toward contemplation, it humbles the lofty, it beatifies the humble. It loves poverty; it hates the inventory that avarice keeps but that generosity loves when one dispenses it to the needy. It rewards those abstaining and working well, it does not free those sinning and avaricious on it [the road]." ("The 'Veneranda dies' Sermon,"  The Miracles of St. James. Translations from the Liber Sancti Jacobi, edited and translated by Thomas F. Coffey, Linda Kay Davidson & Maryjane Dunn).

Looking Ahead

Our program will follow what is known as the "Camino francés" that begins in Roncevalles, Spain. On average we will be walking 15 miles per day and end having covered the 500 miles of the trail. Below is a brief history of the trail.

The route known as the Camino de Santiago is neither a road nor a highway. It’s a walkway trod by travelers of all kinds for more than 2,000 years. Christians have traveled it for nearly 1,300 years.

Much of the route described in a 900-year old guidebook is still in use today. Some of it wends its way over the remains of pavement laid down by the Romans two millennia ago. It’s a route that writer James Michener—no stranger to world travel—calls “the finest journey in Spain, and one of two or three in the world.” He did it three times and mentions passing “through landscapes of exquisite beauty.” The European Union has designated it a European Heritage Route.

Christians are attracted to this remote corner of Europe because of a legend that Santiago de Compostela is the burial place of the apostle James the Greater. As such, it ranks along with Rome and Jerusalem as one of Christendom’s great pilgrim destinations.

The Camino de Santiago has its origins in pre-Christian times when people of the Celtic/Iberian tribes made their way from the interior to land’s end on the Atlantic coast of Galicia. For them, watching the sun set over the endless waters was a spiritual experience. As part of their conquest of Europe, the Romans occupied Iberia by 200 B.C. They built infrastructure, including a road from Bordeaux in modern France to Astorga in northwest Spain, to mine the area’s gold and silver. Some of the original road remains on today’s Camino.

When the apostles spread out across the known world to preach the Christian gospel, tradition has it that James the Greater came to Galicia. On returning to Palestine he was beheaded by Herod, becoming the first apostolic martyr. A legend that has persisted for 2,000 years claims that his followers took his body back to Galicia, where it was buried inland.

By the 12th and 13th centuries, half a million pilgrims made their way to and across northern Spain and back each year. Local kings and clergy built hospitals, hostels, roads and bridges to accommodate them. The Knights Templar patrolled the Camino, providing protection, places of hospitality, healing and worship, as well as a banking system that became one source of their fabled wealth.

Among the historical figures who made the pilgrimage to Santiago are Charlemagne, Roldan, Francis of Assisi, Dante Alighieri and Rodrigo Diaz (El Cid, Spain’s great epic hero). In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer tells us that the Wife of Bath had been to Santiago. Not all were enamored of it, however. In the 1500s, Sir Francis Drake, who did more than his share of harassing the imperial Spanish, referred to Santiago as “that center of pernicious superstition.”

A combination of the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment and European wars gradually suppressed the Camino. In the 17th century Louis XIV of France forbade his subjects from going to Santiago in order to stop trade with Spain. The Camino fell into disfavor but was never abandoned.

Now, after centuries of slumber, the Camino is alive with upward of 100,000 pilgrims—and growing—yearly. (https://magazine.nd.edu/stories/history-of-the-camino-de-santiago/)