#$certificatetombofstjames

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Historic El Camino de Santiago - Hike with Heart

Historic El Camino de Santiago, The Way of St James Last year, my cousin decided to follow a hiking pilgrimage. Her trek was the first time I learned of the El Camino de Santiago.   Historically, it is a pilgrimage that normally takes a couple hundred days to complete, depending on which of the multiple paths you take and how fast you walk.  The paths wind through multiple countries and all end at the shrine of the Apostle Saint James the Greater in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia of northwestern Spain.  The popularity of the Camino exploded in recent years, with 277,913 certificates of completion in 2016 alone.  This is up from a mere hundred or two 35 years ago. Although the El Camino is a solemn activity, one of the cute things about it is that once you reach the Cathederal, in addition to the certificate, you can get a free bowl of soup from any local restaurant.  All it takes is walking 500 miles and 7+ weeks of your time. The reason this hit me as a meaningful blog post is because my cousin just completed the trek for the second time.  Her blog of the 12 week journey; she shared with a handful of friends and relatives. On her last post, she wrote these two sentences … everyday of the hike, I dedicated to one of you.  I thought of you the whole day and sent wishes for your happiness. This floored me.  What grace and kindness. This cousin has a heart of gold.  She doesn't follow a traditional religion.  She follows her heart. When I asked her last year why embark on this journey, she said to get the cobwebs out of my head.  The second time is because the cobwebs are out and she didn't want to give them a path back in.  How can you not love that? As you read, you'll see I really got into this.  It is fascinating to me.  When religious themes can be confirmed by relics, it turns faith to facts. Who is St James of El Camino The Bible only makes one reference to James and his brother John as the Sons of Thunder. However, no reason is given. Upon reading other passages of the New Testament, it appears the brothers are passionate and willing to fight for the group when fairness is challenged. This is the best guess of how the names are derived.  Santiago, Spanish for Saint James, also known as James the Greater, is one of Jesus’ first Apostles.  Jesus nickname for him is the Son of Thunder.  He became a martyr upon his death from beheading by King Herod Agrippa I in the year 44AD. St James the Greater representation in Christian Art is in the garb of a pilgrim, with staff, gourd, and scallop shell. St James is often also depicted riding a white horse into battle.  The quick reason he is so revered is because he traveled far and wide into Spain and fought in wars to proclaim the teachings of Christ as well as to protect believers and people of Spain. The Long Version James was the son of Zebedee and was known as the ‘Greater’ as he was taller than the other apostle named James. James the Greater is thought to be a cousin of Jesus, by the sister of the Virgin Mary, and the brother of St Jude Thaddeus. He worked as a fisherman with his brother John, his father Zebedee and his partner Simon. John and James were followers of John the Baptist and then Jesus. James, along with his brother John, left his life as a fisherman when Jesus called him to be a fisher of men. Jesus chose James the Greater to be one of the 12 apostles and was given the mission to spread the gospel.

St James is also the great military patron of Spain.  His mission to defend the Christian Church against invaders was however reserved until after his death. During the celebrated battle of Clavijo, he suddenly appeared on a milk-white charger, waving aloft a white standard, and leading the Christians to victory. This manifestation was in response to the soldiers' invocation of his name, "Sant lago!" as the battle-cry of that day. Hence, the name of the ancient city (Santiago) which contains the cathedral founded in his honour. St James is also believed to have helped the Christians defeat the Moors in Spain – yet another reason he’s their patron saint. After his pilgrimage to the Iberian Peninsula to spread the word of Jesus, he returned to Judea, he was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa I in the year 44AD. This is detailed in the Bible in Acts 12 of the New Testament. "King Herod extended his hands to harm certain ones from the church.  He killed James the brother of John with the sword. Seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to arrest Peter also".  How St. James Relics Made it to Northern Spain Although there is some dispute, there is one popular version of his devotions. Successfully winning over a handful of disciples in Spain. According to the legend, two of these converts accompanied him on his return to Jerusalem in 44 AD. Upon his return to Palestine and beheading by King Herod Agrippa, Herod would not allow James’ body to be buried so his disciples stole the corpse and escaped in a boat. Having no rudder, they were at the mercy of the ocean. The tiny boat and its occupants made it safely to Galicia. They came ashore in a place now called Padrón, named after the rock that supposedly enclosed the remains of the Apostle James. The Celtic Queen Lupia ruled the lands, and when asked by James' followers if they could bury his body she refused and sent troops after them. While chasing the followers of James, with his body, across a bridge it collapsed, killing her troops. This devastating event inspired Queen Lupia to convert to Christianity as she saw it as God's way of disapproving her actions.   training course before serving. As one of its services in support of the Camino, American Pilgrims offers these  several times a year, one in conjunction with its Annual Gathering of Pilgrims.  My Cousin's Volunteer Experience Upon completing the Camino, my cousin went through the prescribed training and was then given several choices of how to serve.  The choices were helping maintain pilgrims hospitality needs, educating pilgrims, maintaining the Cathedral or working in the office to maintain records and hand out certificates.  Working in the legal world for years, she chose and was accepted to do office work. Oh, also, volunteers are given an apartment for the 2 weeks they work.  Hers she shared with one other person. Ad mentioned above, she found the volunteering more rewarding than the walk itself. One of the things she loved about her trek was all the people she met from around the world.  Together they shared life stories, equipment provided knowing they would never recover it and a comradery that can only be accomplished from sharing such a unique experience. Her blog on this topic was her longest and most vivid.  Instead of describing the terrain, weather and her observations, she described the human experience. The volunteers were asked to work 8 hours a day.  She and 2 or 3 of her fellow volunteers worked 16 to 18 hour days.  Whether working 8 hour days or 15, they all spoke different languages and with their common goal of giving back found ways to communicate and serve. Summing it All Up Finding new experiences that express your interests and heart are among the most rewarding. Personally, this is something I will aspire to do. Be passionate.  Feed your soul.  Learn from others.  Be open to all opportunities.  And, no matter what happens in life, have faith that there is a way forward. So with cobwebs remaining successfully out, my cousin returns home to the sounds of the big city, the office she has learned to fill and a desire to keep in her heart those she met and those she loves. If you have had an adventure that has changed your life, write and let us know.  I'd love to write an article about it.   Read the full article