Well, if you, as a friend of this blog, prayed that we would find Mass today, please tell me by Facebook message, email or in person. I want to personally thank you. We have felt your prayers, your prayers were answered.
We left San Nicolas at 600 AM and walked for 2 hours to the nearest town where, we felt quite sure, there were 4-5 churches. We hoped beyond hope that we could find a 10 o’clock Mass. While in Spain, the earliest Mass that we have seen has been 10:00 (Goal of the day was to beat the heat)
We found some churches but no clear indicator of Mass schedule. I saw an open door to…what was it really? A monastery, a church? It didn’t really look like a church.
But just imagine my heart when I saw Sisters (Benedictines, we think) in a glorious chapel setting up for morning prayers. A lovely Sister zipped over to us, and not only gave us a “pilgrim prayer of blessing” but invited us to join them for their 900 Mass!
Not only was it, as we say in the Gott house, an “encounter with the Creator of the universe,” but a lovely older gentleman insisted on lifting and helping us put on our heavy backpacks after Mass. Like I have said before, we feel tenderly cared for on this trip. We are so thankful. We got an hour ahead of the heat – we feel like we’re racing the sun!
We covered 13.3 miles in total. We came into this pueblo around 3:00, very weary and toasty. We stopped at the first bar for a cold drink, and sure enough, the owner sat down with us, made a phone call, and we find ourselves in absolutely ideal accommodations, once again. All showered, laundry underway.
I need to explain our daily breakfast – Tortilla Espanola. Remove any idea of flour or corn tortillas.
This is a fried potato omelet made with onion, garlic and egg. It’s a Spanish staple. Sometimes we find them with ham and cheese as well!
A few other highlights of the day:
Our walk was partially shaded nearly the entire day. God bless the souls who planted these sycamore trees.
We were overcome by a flock of sheep.
We encountered the geographic center of the Camino. It is so exciting to think, now, that there is more Camino behind us than ahead of us!