Beatitudes of the Pilgrim

Will we experience these sights? Perhaps, and if not these exact ones, similar ones to them. I have recently come to know a fellow Camino pilgrim, through our common connection with the Oblate formation group of The House of Bread Monastery in Nanaimo. Anne, has given to Martin and I a handcrafted booklet of pilgrim poetry and writings, a copy of the Pilgrim's Beatitudes is part of this collection.

Beatitudes of the Pilgrim

1. Blessed are you, pilgrim, if you find that the Camino opens your eyes to the unseen
2. Blessed are you, pilgrim, if what concerns you most is not arriving, but arriving with others.
3. Blessed are you, pilgrim, when you contemplate the sights of the Camino and find them full of names and of new dawns
4. Blessed are you, pilgrim, because you have discovered that the true Camino begins at its end
5. Blessed are you, pilgrim, if your backpack empties of things as your heart doesn’t know how to fit so many emotions
6. Blessed are you, pilgrim, if you discover that a step backwards to help another is more valuable that a hundred forward without awareness of those at your side
7. Blessed are you, pilgrim, when you have no words to give thanks for all the wonders in every nook of the Camino
8. Blessed are you, pilgrim, if you search for the truth and make of your Camino a life, and of your life a Camino, after Him who is the Way, the Truth and the life
9. Blessed are you, pilgrim, if on the Camino you meet yourself and make yourself a gift of time without hurry, so that you may not neglect the image of your heart
10. Blessed are you, pilgrim, if you find that the Camino is rich with silence and the silence is rich with prayer and the prayers are encounters with the Father that awaits you.

(Hospitalera of the refuge of pilgrims “los Padres Reparadores” from Puente Reina)

As stated by another pilgrim:

"There was sun, wind, snow, sleet, hail and rain, not necessarily in that order, and sometimes keeping positive was difficult and prayer became very basic, ‘Bed please God’, ‘Please get me to the top of this hill’! But walking towards the goal of Santiago, following yellow arrows, remembering that for centuries others have walked on these paths, was a tremendous experience, allowing the physical experience to become the prayer – the weight of the rucksack, the aches and pains, the warmth of the sun, the beautiful and bountiful wild flowers, birds, choruses of frogs, amazing storks, sharing a meal, sharing a burden, realizing that the 50+ nationalities all have one thing in common - we were all pilgrims ..."

Thank you to Anne and others who have created the pathway we will walk. As for now we continue to train here at home. This morning we completed 2.5 hours and will go out for several more hours this evening or early tomorrow morning. The following day (the 22nd) we will walk to uptown Qualicum, have lunch with some friends, and walk home again. That will be our longest training walk to date ... perhaps 7 hours. As a runner, I have yet to become accustomed to this slower mode of travel - I am still learning to walk in a relaxed manner, but, I suspect it will come and then the challenge will be to run once again, when I return home from Europe!