PYRANEES PHOTOS

Some photos of the days on the Pyranees. Green fields with livestock right the way to the top. The animals must be moved in the winter below the snow line.

I have tried to add more photos but the blogger is very slow and excruciatingly frustrating.

Walking over the Pyranees has been the most memorable part of the trip so far.

THOUGHT STREAMS ABOUT CAMINO LIFE

An 800km walkinging pilgrimage simplifies daily living.

It simply comes down to a few simple statements and questions on daily survival.

*** "All that I have is packed in my back. How do I make it b........LIGHTER??????"

*** "Today I've been walking for 6 hours( estoy consado). Where's the next refugio and will there be a bed and shower vacant?"

*** " I haven't had breakfast or lunch. Where's the next cafe?"

That does sound a bit of a human body needs... I know the spirit will be fed by the journey( mm that's sound a bit like a platitude ,sorry )

Anyway,these are some of the questions we have been asking ourselves about the camino for quite a few months.

Oh yes!!! We have got our packs down to 7kg ( Betty) and 10kg ( Jim) after a lot of effort and I hope we can resist putting in extras this week end. OK, so I did add a dime novel to read but I did cut my toothbrush in half!!!!! (LOL). Yes indeed you can see by this talk ,what you can be reduced to saying and doing.

However, if we knew all the answers it wouldn't really be an adventure because that is at the element of moving out of a comfort zone. I guess because it's a holiday ,I don't really want to move too far out ...actually.

Anyway I'm writing this in school time when everyone else is busy marking so I am going to do some school finalising.

One thing that will be a bit special for me today is touching the crest on the St James gates before I leave school . I don't have a lot of devotional practices but call it, whatever it is ,the touching of the St James Crest does have a special meaning for me and I feel it carries the heart and people of this community. ...Works for me

Excuse the muted excitement and random thoughts of this blog. Hopefully will have something a bit more interesting along the road

THE PILGRIM TRAVELLER

For the Traveller
Every time you leave home,
Another road takes you
Into a world you were never in.
New strangers on other paths await.
New places that have never seen you
Will startle a little at your entry.
Old places that know you well
Will pretend nothing
Changed since your last visit.
**********
When you travel, you find yourself
Alone in a different way,
More attentive now
To the self you bring along,
Your more subtle eye watching
You abroad and how what meets you
Touches that part of the heart
That lies low at home:
********
How you unexpectedly attune
To the timbre in some voice,
Opening in conversation
You want to take in
To where your longing
Has pressed hard enough
Inward, on some unsaid dark,
To create a crystal of insight
You could not have knownYou needed
To illuminate
Your way.
*************
When you travel,
A new silence Goes with you,
And if you listen,
You will hear
What your heart would
Love to say.
*********************
A journey can become a sacred thing:
Make sure, before you go,
To take the time
To bless your going forth,
To free your heart of ballast
So that the compass of your soul
Might direct you toward
The territories of spirit
Where you will discover
More of your hidden life,
And the urgencies
That deserve to claim you.
**********
May you travel in an awakened way,
Gathered wisely into your inner ground;
That you may not waste the invitations
Which wait along the way to transform you.
May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,
And live your time away to its fullest;
Return home more enriched, and free
To balance the gift of days which call you. ~
John O'Donohue ~

ST JAMES GATE

Traditionally, European cities had a gate through which pilgrims set out for Santiago de compostela. The gate was called ST JAMES GATE.
Notre Dame cathedral has a western door called La Porte st Jacques which leads to the la grande rue saint jacques.

AND IN DUBLIN St. James’ Gate in Dublin was traditionally a main starting point for Irish pilgrims to begin their journey on the Camino de Santiago. Their pilgrims’ passport were stamped here before setting sail, usually for La Coruna, north of Santiago. It is still possible for Irish pilgrims to get their passports stamped here, and many do, while on their way to Santiade Compostella. It is the birthplace of the famous brewery Guinness which seems an appropriate place to begin a journey

St James College has a long tradition for those entering and leaving the campus to touch the bronze crest on the entrance gate.

For the new arrival it is a blessing and a welcome to the safety and protection of the St James community.

For the departing it is a blessing for the journey ahead.

It has all the elements of the pilgrim heart of St James

RONCEVALLES and HISTORY

Roncesvalles and the Legend of Roland
The earliest existing French epic, dated about 1100, is the famous 'Song of Roland'. Basque mountaineers say that on stormy nights in the Pyrenees the ghostly echoes of a horn can be heard. The horn wasblown many centuries ago by the Frankish hero Roland as he lay dying at Roncesvalles(Roncevaux, in French) in Spain.

Roland was a favorite French hero of the Middle Ages. The many stories told about him were gradually woven together into a great epic poem, 'Song of Roland'. The poem relates that the Frankish king Charlemagne was fighting the Saracens in Spain when trouble at home compelled him toreturn. He left Roland and a small band to guard the rear of his army by holding the pass at Roncesvalles.

Soon an army of 400,000 Saracens attacked the heroic band. Roland fought in the front of the battle with his sword, Durandal. Even the utmost heroism, however,could not defeat the enemy hordes. Finally Roland was urged by his comrade Oliver to summon aid from Charlemagne by sounding hishorn. The horn had been given to Roland by Charlemagne. Of all the knights, only Roland could sound it. On hearing it, birdsfell from the trees, the ground shook, chimneys fell from houses, and people criedout from the pain in their ears. Only when in deadliest peril would Roland sound it, and he refused to do so now. One by one the Frankish knights fell. Only when in deadliest peril would Roland sound it, and he refused to do so now.

One by one the Frankish knights fell. Soon only a few remained alive. Then Rolandraised his horn. Charlemagne turned back, but it was too late. The little band had been slain, and Roland lay dying. Today it is known that the story has some basis in fact. In 778 Charlemagne was fighting the Saracens in Spain when a disturbance on the Rhine forced him to return home. He left a rear guard at Roncesvalles, and the force was destroyed by the fierce Basques of the region.

BEGINNINGS

To celebrate the 140th of ST JAMES COLLEGE the Assistant Principal Mission. Mr Stephen Byrne, planned a study tour to Northern Spain and the tomb of the patron saint and namesake of the college, JAMES THE APOSTLE.
Unfortunately, this pilgrimage was not able to proceed .
This 2009 pilgrimage walks this historical path ( Camino) carrying thanksgiving and blessing for the whole one hundred and forty one years journeying community of St James College.