The sign of the scallop shell is everywhere
We are now in Spain and have been for several days. As we get closer to Santiago images of the scallop shell, symbol of “the Camino,” are more and more prominent. As are “pilgrims” who are recognized by their hiking gear and the scallop shells hanging off their backpacks.
A view from atop the Pyrenees
After arriving here, we went to the “super market,” to buy some necessities. As we approached the pay station, I noticed a selection of wines. I said, thinking I was speaking to Sherry, “Help me out here. I’d like a nice dry white wine for our room.” The woman in front of me turned and said, pointing to one of the bottles on the shelf, “I think you’d like this one.” I was startled by her perfect English and said, “Where are you from?” She said, “Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,” “Why are you here?” “We are walking the Camino.” “How long do you think it will take you?” (We are over 600 kilometers from Santiago.) She replied, “We hope to make it by the end of August or the first of September.
I can’t imagine what it must be like for people who are walking from any part of France to Santiago, Spain. We were able to take a tunnel through the mountains that cut hours off of our drive time. Now, as well as in earlier times, there were no tunnels and no cars. People hiked, and hike, over the Pyrenees to reach their destination. Before leaving France Peter Sills had arranged for us to take a cable car ride to the top of the mountain range. It is one of the longest such rides in the world. The view, as you can tell was spectacular.
Several years ago before doing our first journey on part of the Camino, from Mont-Saint-Michel to Bordeaux. Peter Sills suggested we read a book, “On Being a Pilgrim.” It is a coffee-table size book with wonderful photos and stories of the Pilgrimage. It contained a legend about a German Pilgrim who was walking to Santiago with his parents. They decided to stop and rest at Santo Domingo de la Calzada. The daughter of the man who owned the inn fell immediately in love with the young man. He did not return her feelings. Angered, she hid a silver goblet in his belongings and then accused him of being a thief. The penalty was death by hanging so the young man was hung. His parents were grief stricken but decided to complete the Pilgrimage to Santiago anyway. On their return to Germany they stopped at the place where their son was executed. They found him to be alive. They went to the bishop to report this miracle. The bishop was busy eating his dinner of roasted chicken. He heard them out while he was eating and responded by saying, “I don’t believe this to be true. That boy is as alive as this chicken I am about to eat.” With that the chicken came to life, sprouted feathers and beak and began to crow and jumped off of the table. Ever since then a gothic henhouse with an alive rooster and a hen has been part of the cathedral building. It is just inside and over one of the main doors leading into the cathedral nave.
A rooster in the henhouse above the cathedral door
On this trip we stopped at this cathedral for evening prayer and I was able to see for myself the henhouse that has been part of this cathedral for centuries.
Again, I can’t imagine what it was like to make this Pilgrimage when it first began in the 9th century. This particular church, now a cathedral of massive proportions, was built by a hermit monk in order to provide rest and refreshment for those making the Pilgrimage. Pilgrims also aided each other in a multitude of ways along the journey - all the way from making helpful suggestions about wine to telling parable about the new life that was possible for those who made this journey in faith.