12.5 miles. Today didn’t seem like it was going to be a difficult stage…about 3 hours into the city of Leon, and then a rather short walk after the city to our village Hostel. But guess what! Leon is a very, very large, sprawling city!
In total it took us about 3.5 hours to make it out! Said Mary at one point: “At least it’s not Ninevah!” We made a few crucial stops – our usual: fruit market, pharmacy, ATM. But we also, very thankfully, stopped and visited the Cathdral of Leon. It was worth every Euro.
Of course, it’s very hard to capture this Gothic Cathedral in photographs.
The stained glass was phenomenal.
I’m going to try to describe something impossible to describe, because it is from heaven. In these villages and towns along the way, at the daily Masses, they have a special “Pilgrim Mass.” There, any pilgrims present are invited to come forward for a blessing. It is usually given in several languages, and many times we are the only Americans!
At a small, simple, rustic stone chapel outside a tiny village, we went to a weekday evening Mass. When we walked in, it was already full (maybe 30 people) so we had to sit in the front. As we took our seats, I heard in a loud whisper, “Mira! Peregrinas!” Look! Pilgrims! How could they miss us, with our sunburned noses, white feet and “pilgrim shuffle?”
After Mass I wanted to talk to the priest about a statue they had there. He was so interested in our story. I didn’t ask – he said he wanted to bless us. He put his hands on my head and began to pray, but he lingered there…really lingered. I truly felt his prayers for me. For me! I know that I will never forget him.
Now with all these beautiful blessings, does that mean we’re “cruising through cotton candy land” without a problem in the world? Not hardly! We make mistakes. We still have our difficulties. I’ll speak for myself – I know that have unfairly misjudged people. I was cranky with a server yesterday. I walked with a sick stomach and a sore back. Marsha and Mary have walked with painful knees. We won’t discuss feet. But we persevere.
Its funny – we will conquer some amazingly difficult stage, and find some familiar pilgrim and want to say, “Hey Chris! You’ll never believe what we just did!” But…of course…he had to accomplish the same feat himself! We are all doing this mightily amazing thing.
Then there is the forest. I will now admit our first big oversight. On day one, in some of the literature we had been given, we were warned to “avoid the forest” and take a detour. We missed it. We found ourselves in that thunder and lightening storm, with the hail, on very treacherous, rocky footing in a very serious forest. We, later on, met one other pilgrim who, like us, missed the detour. It was refreshing to finally find someone who could truly understand what we went through at the end of that first day. Isn’t that what it’s like to find a truly compassionate friend who shares in our struggles and our pains?
I was so hoping that we would find this very famous statue, and today, without even looking for it, we just happened upon it.
I love the serenity and comfort of this pilgrim as he takes a rest.
We will take our rest tonight in a perfectly lovely Hostel, feeling quite pampered with a large terrace for our laundry…and air conditioning! Thank you, St. Joseph, whose prayers I count on every day to help us find a place of safe lodging. Preferably with WiFi. But I shouldn’t be so picky!