After 16k of walking we walked into the square in Santiago just after 10am on June 19th. It was an incredible feeling to arrive at the Cathedral. There were hundreds of people already lined up for the 12noon pilgrims mass as well as hundreds lined up to view the tomb of the Apostle.
According to Shiloh, the journey is not complete until the paper work is done. So, we headed towards the pilgrim's office to hand in our credentials and have them validated. On our way we stumbled upon a nice hotel right across the street from the pilgrims office. We decided to try our luck and we were able to get a room with a covered balcony, complete with a sitting area. While we waited for our room to be ready we left our packs and stood in line at the pilgrims office. As the morning went on, the line up got longer and longer; it is hard to comprehend the number of pilgrims that arrive daily until you see the line-ups at the pilgrims office. One of the questions they asked Shiloh was how much of the journey he had walked....and it was a great feeling to respond all 325km from Leon to Santiago.
We both received our Compostellas, they are in Latin. I managed to find an English Translation on-line: This Chapter of this Holy Apostolic Metropolitan Cathedral of St James, custodian of the seal of St. James' Altar, to all faithful and pilgrims who come from everywhere over the world as an act of devotion, under vow or promise to the Apostle's Tomb, our patron and protector of Spain, witness in the sight of all who read this document, that Mr__________ has visited devoutly this Sacred Church. Witness whereof I hand this document over to them, authenticated by the seal of this Sacred Church. Given in St. James de Composetela on the dd-mmm-yyyy A.D.
We attended the 7pm mass and the inside of the Cathedral is just as magnificent as the outside. The mass ended with the swinging of the Botofumerio, a 50kg silver plated censer. It is swung from a 35meter rope accoss the transept of the Cathedral. Shiloh was sitting in the aisle seat right next to the path of the giant censer. Rumor has it that the Botofumerio has twice overshot and ended up outside the Cathedral. I don't know if that tid bit of trivia made Shiloh feel nervous sitting that close.
We overnighted in Santiago, and then flew out to Madrid for two nights.
Christiana and Shiloh
According to Shiloh, the journey is not complete until the paper work is done. So, we headed towards the pilgrim's office to hand in our credentials and have them validated. On our way we stumbled upon a nice hotel right across the street from the pilgrims office. We decided to try our luck and we were able to get a room with a covered balcony, complete with a sitting area. While we waited for our room to be ready we left our packs and stood in line at the pilgrims office. As the morning went on, the line up got longer and longer; it is hard to comprehend the number of pilgrims that arrive daily until you see the line-ups at the pilgrims office. One of the questions they asked Shiloh was how much of the journey he had walked....and it was a great feeling to respond all 325km from Leon to Santiago.
We both received our Compostellas, they are in Latin. I managed to find an English Translation on-line: This Chapter of this Holy Apostolic Metropolitan Cathedral of St James, custodian of the seal of St. James' Altar, to all faithful and pilgrims who come from everywhere over the world as an act of devotion, under vow or promise to the Apostle's Tomb, our patron and protector of Spain, witness in the sight of all who read this document, that Mr__________ has visited devoutly this Sacred Church. Witness whereof I hand this document over to them, authenticated by the seal of this Sacred Church. Given in St. James de Composetela on the dd-mmm-yyyy A.D.
We attended the 7pm mass and the inside of the Cathedral is just as magnificent as the outside. The mass ended with the swinging of the Botofumerio, a 50kg silver plated censer. It is swung from a 35meter rope accoss the transept of the Cathedral. Shiloh was sitting in the aisle seat right next to the path of the giant censer. Rumor has it that the Botofumerio has twice overshot and ended up outside the Cathedral. I don't know if that tid bit of trivia made Shiloh feel nervous sitting that close.
We overnighted in Santiago, and then flew out to Madrid for two nights.
Christiana and Shiloh
You sure are having quite an amazing trip and getting lots of exercise. Thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteTrudy
www.sewingwithtrudy.blogspot.com