We arrived in Santiago in the late afternoon on the 23rd. A fair number of our group actually walked the last five or so miles - I was not among that number. As we got closer and closer to Santiago, the number of actual Pilgrims we saw walking kept increasing. I am impressed by someone undertaking this journey at any time but especially in this unseasonably hot weather.

We arrived at our hotel in the old town part of Santiago and were relieved to find that our room has working air conditioning. The first order of the day was a good long hot shower. We had dinner at 8, a smidgen earlier than the Spanish like to eat, Compline after that and then to bed.

After breakfast on Wednesday morning we walked to a nearby church where Peter had arranged for us to have a Eucharist service. Many of our own group participated in this service. Afterwards, we were led on a tour of the church by the young Jesuit priest who serves here. He was just ordained six weeks ago and this is his first church. He was absolutely delightful and so enthusiastic about his new vocation.

After this tour of the church, again a building that dates from the 15th century, Peter had arranged for a local guide to give us a tour of “old town” Santiago. The first thing we saw was the local market - three long buildings built shortly after the church and built to resemble this church. The guide described the buildings themselves as “naves” and the stalls for the vendors that ran along both side of them as “chapels.” The fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, spices, baked good, etc. were much larger than Central Market in Houston. An ancient tradition in an ancient city.

Today marks the beginning of the Festival of St. James and our Pilgrimage has been timed so that we would end up here on this day. There are thousands of Pilgrims here. Most of them are young people - in their late teens, twenties and thirties. They are exhausted and many were stretched out in the sun on the plaza in front of the Cathedral. Later in the day I ran into a group of four young men staying at the same hotel we are. They have walked from the coast of Northern Spain to here - a long distance. They were speaking English so I got to talk to them about their motivations for doing this. None of what they said had to do with a “spiritual” aspiration. They are fulfilling an academic requirement or simply doing it because of the physical challenge. One was from Texas and another, ironically, had connections with my home town in Tennessee.

The Pilgrim Passport of a young man from Italy who walked here from Italy

When modern day Pilgrims set out for Santiago, there are places where they can have a Pilgrim “passport” stamped. This authenticates that they have actually made the Pilgrimage. In order to receive an official certificate as a Pilgrim one has to have walked at least the last 100 kilometers of the Pilgrim route you have chosen.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who have undertaken this Pilgrimage and this has been true since the early Middle Ages. There are thousands of Pilgrims here now as today is the beginning of the Festival of St. James - not only the reason people undertake the Pilgrimage but also the patron saint of Spain. There will be a huge fireworks display and festivities tonight and masses and celebrations all day tomorrow.

I would love to have the opportunity to interview even more people than those young men who have actually walked enough to get a Pilgrim Certificate. I would love to know their motivation. This is not a modest undertaking in any sense of the word. What are they seeking or hoping for? Last year well over 300,000 people received Pilgrim Certificates. If you want a more dramatic presentation of the Pilgrimage, rent the movie “The Way” (2010). In it Martin Sheen learns that his son has died early along the route and takes up the Pilgrimage in order to complete it on his son’s behalf. Our guide said today that walking the most popular route, the one in France from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago takes about 35 or 40 days walking around 12 to 14 miles a day. Again, that’s quite a commitment. The family from Italy walked further than that and after hearing about their journey I could tell that this accomplishment truly meant something to them.

There is a Pilgrim Mass celebrated twice a day. Priests speak a word of welcome in the language of every country that is represented by those who have received Pilgrim Certificates. When we were here before, we attended one of these masses. This is where the huge censor is swung the entire length of the cathedral. Unfortunately, the cathedral is closed this year for renovations. Masses for the Festival of St. James will be celebrated hourly are various churches throughout not only Santiago but also all of Spain tomorrow.

This building is clearly impressive. Even under the process of being “renewed,” we were able to go into it and experience is massiveness. Tonight the festivities will go on through the early morning hours - the fireworks display, the main one as they have been going off all day, will begin at midnight.

I did not grow up in a religious tradition that honored “saints.” Clearly, people here do. This is my third “St. James” Pilgrimage. Another one I made, some of you may remember, was the St. Nicholas’s Pilgrimage in Italy. James, like Nicholas, was a real person who was a major player in the beginning of the Jesus’ movement. His significance in the early church was major as well as in the developing Jesus narratives. I’ll say more about him in the next blog. Suffice it for now to say that St. James is huge in the Spanish Church and in the Spanish culture. This festival that begins today and extends through tomorrow is bigger than our Fourth of July and Christmas combined. I doubt people here could tell you in any depth what the meaning of this event is any more than most Americans can explain those two holidays we celebrate. But, like us, they do celebrate this Saint’s day and with a passion.