Camino de Santiago

Sunday 4th June 2023

Only walking around the city

Santiago de Compostela

I had finished my walking but the pilgrimage wasn’t over yet. There were two big things to do today meet Frank (the lad I’d given my stone to), for breakfast and go the the Eucharist at the Anglican church. It was good not to have to pack up this morning as I was here for another night. I said Morning Prayer in my room and set off to meet Frank.

The City was very quiet on an early Sunday morning and as I passed through the main square I thought I needed a selfie – looking happy or what?

I met Frank and we caught up with what had happened over the last few days. He shared some of the photos he had taken as he had journeyed on through Santiago to the coast. I was so thankful to share precious moments with Frank and be a part of his spiritual journey too.

We said our final farewells and I had time to meander around the city taking in the sights and sounds as it got busier. I did think about visiting the Cathedral but the crowds and the queues were so long I reckoned it would be better to wait for a quieter time. I headed to the park where the church was and had time to sit on a bench and think while watching the world go by.

I had an idea of what next for me by now. It was very much about starting from where I had left off before this Camino. There wasn’t a sense of some radical new direction but more a continuation of the general direction of my life. I had received an understanding of the phrase ‘Keep us, O Lord, …… in an affectionate walking with you’. I had found inspiration in the writings of Franciscans and the rule of those in their Third Order. There was plenty to consider in the days and weeks ahead.

It was time for the Eucharist and whilst there were just a handful of us, rather than the hundreds who would be at the Pilgrim’s Mass at the Cathedral this felt like real ending of my Pilgrimage. This was what I had walked 800 kilometres and over 500 miles for. This was such a sublime and precious time – in the peace of this place I felt such a sense of joy, this was the culmination of my journey.

The Post Communion Prayer summed it up.

Generous and faithful God, you have fed us at your table. May the nourishment we have received enable us to enrich the lives of others wherever we may go from here. Whether the future be dark or bright, the road be smooth or rough, whether our cares be light or heavy, our song be strong or weak, keep our hearts warm and our hands open, our lives embracing and ever embraced by your love. Amen.

St Susana’s Anglican Church. Santiago de Compostela