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Well in an odd and Camino like way perhaps those friends did you a favour? Pausing to reflect and consider what your/our motivations and values are is a blessing and a gift. And just look what a treasure trove of shared thoughts, poetry and reflections your question unlocked!
Having done it...
I had/have a whole lot of conscious and subconscious assumptions about 'who is or who isn't a pilgrim' However I find the more and longer I walk the more of those assumptions I have to swallow.
Now of course I'm not too happy or satisfied about a beat box belting out on the path ahead and...
On the CF I didn't have any problems on Sundays and during the week, being the spiritual equivalent of an omnivore, I took (and continue to take wherever I'm walking) whatever is going. So that means I've crashed (discretely and at the back if needs be) any and all masses/services-from...
Hi Katharina,
I loved walking through Franconia and often stopped (very happily) to pray at the wayside shrines. I wondered then if they hadn't replaced some older markers or shrines. Thank you for sharing the photographs they're a lot sharper than mine and definitely look better without a...
No is the simple answer! I think I'd seen photo's of the Cruz de Ferro and read about it in John Brierley's guide book when I first walked in 2009. The practice-old or new- didn't seem at all strange or odd to me, but then leaving stones on structures, gravestones, Saints 'beds' (or Leacht in...
Yesterday on May's eve and today on May day ( the feast of Bealtaine) at an ancient holy site and place of pilgrimage called The City in Shrone Co Kerry a steady stream of locals (many of my relatives among them) will 'make the rounds' or 'pay the pattern' as did our parents and our parents...
As an Irish catholic I have an additional inbuilt reflex reaction-the genuflection. Though this serves me very well on pilgrimage it has occasionally had other less positive consequences. As kids and teenagers we were so hardwired to genuflect towards the altar on entering and leaving our church...
There have been pretty exhaustive threads on this topic before-perhaps doing a little research might clarify things for the original poster? We should be aware, especially in areas that are sensitive if not to us then to others, of the difference between seeking 'confirmation data', getting...
Of course I 'meant' to do some serious training but working life got in the way. Having 5 weeks off meant a lot of work related prep and clearance and more than a few all nighters were pulled with the result that at the start I couldn't go fast to save my life. The consequence was that I walked...
...of the hunt!
The good news is that later that day the RN was passable again so, as a previous poster said, if crossing by the RN is your 'thing'* you can just sit it out. (*I had thought crossing by the RN was mine but discovered that actually sitting drinking a hot port wearing dry clothes...
….well if unattached and lucky one could always find a suitable human snuggle partner. Or alternatively do as I've done (in extremis when 'enjoying' barn type accommodation) and lure one of the house/yard dogs to sleep beside your sleeping bag-even the least friendly/ barking/shy dog can...
I walked the CF in 2009 with a lifelong best friend. We had a wonderful and memorable journey that was for Frances a joyous 'once in a lifetime' event but I knew within two or three weeks of starting that I'd need to be 'doing this again! That pilgrimage became a starting point for a much longer...
There's a blue (well it was blue when I was there) security tape at the top of the nave cordoning off first top couple of rows for pilgrims. Bring your Compostela with you in case you asked for validation-I wasn't but then again I looked pretty knackered!- and just lift up the tape and sit down...
Though I admit to getting a bit freaked out by the increase of pilgrim numbers from Sarria onwards in 2009 nowadays I kinda like 'them'-all of those bouncy newbies with brand new gear, full of excitement and expectations and smelling clean and fresh. I guess it's because they remind me of...
Bobcat you'll have the craic believe me and as you're and Irish and of a certain vintage (a very fine one to be sure) then no doubt you're already 'hardwired' for pilgrimage anyway and were dragged along to Knock, Lough Derg or Our Ladys Island et al…. or if you were very posh Lourdes or...
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