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Saturday, August 24, is the Feast day for St.  Bartholomew, also called Bartholomew the Apostle. I’ll write more about him in a bit, but first I’d like to talk about my upcoming pilgrimage, in a return to Spain. In Transfiguration – 2024 I talked about some of my past journeys, leading “to a personal transformation,” but here I’ll talk about the one coming up in September.

The Camino de Santiago … is a network of pilgrims’ ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried.

But this year, instead hiking to Santiago my hiking companions and I will hike from there. Out on the Camino Finisterre to “the end of the known world.” That is, we’ll be hiking to Cape Fisterra, a route “unique because it is the only trail starting in Santiago de Compostela and takes pilgrims west to the stunning Atlantic coast of Galicia.”

We’ll meet up in Madrid, then take a train for two nights in Santiago. Needless to say, over the course of the month we’ll stay in many different places, but here I’ll focus on where we stay two nights – and where I’ve never been. First, two nights in Fisterra (“world’s end”), after hiking five days. Then two more days hiking to Muxía, where we spend two nights. From there we take a bus to A Coruña, and stay there two days, followed by another bus ride to Ferrol, for another two days off. Then we “start hiking again,” for another eight days, heading back to Santiago. All of which means we’ll enjoy way more “two nighters” than usual on past Camino hikes. (Which I define as at the end of each day you look forward to a warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer.) And more bus rides for that matter, but we’ll end up hiking close to the usual 150 miles.

Now, about those two-nighters. I’ve been to Finisterre; we drove there by rental car after an earlier hike to Santiago. (See a photo of that rocky “end of the world” outcrop in the post, James, “the Pilgrim’s Saint” – 2024.) The first “never been there” two-nighter is in Muxía, known for its beaches and its active fishing industry. “Muxía is part of the ‘Costa da Morte‘ or ‘Costa de la Muerte’ (i.e., the ‘Coast of Death’) … because of the large number of shipwrecks along its rocky shore.” (Wikipedia.) Also, local legend says that St. James the Greater tried to “Christianize” local inhabitants but without any luck. Then the Virgin Mary appeared to St. James “to comfort him. The Celtic stones near the church are now said to be remains of the Virgin Mary’s stone boat.” (Seen above left, the “Pedra d’Abalar (rocker stone) in front of Nosa Señora da Barca church in Muxía.”)

So much for Muxía. The next qualifying two-nighter is A Coruña, the provincial capital of the province of A Coruña. As for things to see, “In addition to the Tower of Hercules, one of the symbols of the city, the peninsula on which the Old Town sits is home to a fascinating Romanesque ensemble of medieval streets, squares and churches.” There’s also a museum of fine arts, an archaeology and history museum, and yet another “Church of Santiago (A Coruña).”

Next up, after another long bus ride, comes Ferrol. It features a harbor which, “for depth, capacity and safety, has few equals in Europe. The entrance is very narrow, commanded by forts, and may even be shut by a boom.” It’s close to the Cape Prior Lighthouse:

The [modern] lighthouse has been constructed on a high coastal clifftop, some 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) northwest of Ferrol [but]  the geographers of antiquity took notice of the granite protuberance off the northwesternmost point of Iberia which, as described by Strabo and other classical geographers, was used even then as a reference point for the end of the Iberian peninsula… A set of steps descends from the lighthouse down the steep cliff to a viewpoint overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

(Wikipedia.) All of which will be a part of our upcoming 2024 pilgrimage to Spain, where – hopefully – at the end of each day I can look forward to that warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer. (As it says in Psalm 84:4, “Happy are those … whose hearts are set on the pilgrim’s way.”)

But I did say I’d talk some about St. Bartholomew the Apostle, so here goes. There’s lots of gory detail in the links below, but mostly he’s famous for being flayed alive, and the massacre that happened on his feast day in 1572, during the French Wars of Religion:

The St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre … in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots… Though by no means unique, it “was the worst of the century’s religious massacres.” Throughout Europe, it “printed on Protestant minds the indelible conviction that Catholicism was a bloody and treacherous religion.”

And a personal note: My French ancestors – Huguenots, or Calvinist Protestants – came to America to get the hell away from such ongoing battles of religion and “who’s going to hell.” Yet irony of ironies, this year I’m going back “whence my ancestors came,” for much the same reason they came here. For a bit of spiritual peace and quiet – at least for the month I’m in Spain.

To wrap thing up we’ll end our 2024 hiking pilgrimage with yet another two-nighter, this time at the Monastery of San Martiño Pinario back in Santiago. As noted, “There we will do penance for whatever sins may remain, in that our rooms will be stark. ‘Old monks cells – a bed, desk and tiny bathroom.'” Where no doubt I will get good and “Jesus-upped,” ready to face whatever strife may come in the upcoming October and November, after I get back home…

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The upper image is courtesy of Fisterra, Muxía, and a Sunset at the End of the World, in a blog by Trevor Huxham. It has lots of useful information on this particular hike, including that by tradition, on reaching Fisterra, “pilgrims would burn their stinky clothes and bathe in the ocean.” (Which we probably won’t do.) Also that “you can often find some sun-bleached t-shirts tied to crosses or tattered hiking boots with sentimental quotes plastered nearby.”

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

“Feast days” are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

Re: “Hiking close to the usual 150 miles.” My rough calculations show a total of around 140 miles, with pack. (Not counting “saunters” around stopover towns without a pack.)

For more on our proposed route, see e.g. Camino Finisterre from Santiago to Muxia:

This stunning region of Galicia is known as the ‘Costa da Morte’ famous for its wild beauty, seafood, and interesting legends… From Santiago to Cee, the Camino is inland, but from Cee to Finisterre (Fisterra) and to Muxia, it follows the coast. Quiet villages and hamlets, remote farmland, and unspoiled countryside await on this Camino route to the sea cliffs of the westernmost point in Spain… After Fisterra (Finisterre), we recommend you continue your journey along the craggy coastline of Atlantic Galicia to the fishing village of Muxía, famed for its sanctuary by the ocean and ‘magic’ stones.

See also Fisterra, Muxía, and a Sunset at the End of the World, and Tourism in A Coruna. What to see. Tourist information | spain. And for the “more spiritual” part of this post I borrowed from or referred to On St. Bartholomew – and “his” Massacre (2017), and St. Bart 2023 – and more mass-shooting massacre, and links therein.

Re: “There we will do penance,” etc. Borrowed from On James, “the Pilgrim’s Saint” – 2024.

The lower image is from Wikipedia on Monastery of San Martiño Pinario, “photo by Diego Delso.”

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For this post I went back eight years to The Transfiguration of Jesus – 2016. (Posted July 29.) It had a note that the term transfiguration “stands as an allegory of the transformative nature” of the Bible Faith. (A marked change, “usually for the better.”) And another note, that Thomas Aquinas considered it “the greatest miracle in the world.” One reason: In all the other miracles Jesus did things for other people, while the Transfiguration happened to Him.

But back to that 2016 post. Then I wrote that it “may be the last post I’ll publish for awhile… I’ll be heading north to Skagway, Alaska. From there I’ll spend four days hiking the Chilkoot Trail. (The ‘meanest 33 miles in history.’) Once that’s done, my brother and I will spend 16 days canoeing down the Yukon River, from Whitehorse to Dawson City.” Then, assuming I survived all that, “I should be back in business some time after August 29.”

I next posted on August 28, 2016, “Back in the saddle again,” again.

So what does this have to do with the Transfiguration? Just that in a similar way I too have been transformed, hopefully for the better, through various pilgrimages. Like hiking the Chilkoot Trail, canoeing 440 miles on the Yukon River, and doing various Caminos de Santiago, including the one coming up in a few weeks. (This year the Camino Finisterre.) I’ll have more on such “journeys of personal discovery” in a bit, but first here’s more about the Transfiguration of Jesus. That feast day comes each year on August 6, and the story is told in Luke 9:28-36:

About eight days after Jesus had foretold his death and resurrection, Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.  And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem…

On that note the site Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord (now defunct) presented a Greek Orthodox analysis. It said that in the story Moses and Elijah “represent the Law and the Prophets.” (“Moses received the Law from God, and Elijah was a great prophet.”) But Jesus represents something new under the Sun. His Transfiguration was a pivotal moment in time:

[T]he setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.

But the miracle didn’t just happen to Jesus. Seeing the Transfiguration “transformed” the three disciples who saw it, Peter, James and John. They never forgot what happened that day (which was probably what Jesus intended). John wrote in his gospel, “We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only.” (John 1:14)  And as Peter also wrote of the event, “We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.” They went from being cowards – cowering in an upper room after Jesus “died” – into men who transformed the World. They transformed personally, then went on to Change the World. 

In other words, before they could change the world, Peter and the other Disciples had to change from within. Or as one site said, God “brings change from the inside. God works inside out while so many others work outside in.” Which brings up the subject of “pilgrims:”

A pilgrim … is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system. In the spiritual literature of Christianity, the concept of pilgrim and pilgrimage may refer to the experience of life in the world (…as a period of exile) or to the inner path of the spiritual aspirant from a state of wretchedness to a state of beatitude.

You might even say that Peter, James and John were on such a pilgrimage when they hiked up to the top of that mountain – to that “mountaintop experience” – where they saw Jesus being transformed. But they were also transfigured in the process. As a result of that process they went “from a state of wretchedness to a state of beatitude.” And changed the world.

Of course we today can’t personally see Jesus being transfigured on a mountaintop. “That’s ancient history.” But we can – from time to time – get away from the hubbub of everyday life and take time to “pilgrim” – as a verb. To make it easier for God to bring change from the inside.

Put another way, a pilgrim is someone questing to “find himself.” (See also Self-discovery – Wikipedia.) And one way of finding yourself is through a healthy sense of ritual, as noted in the book Passages of the Soul: Ritual Today. It noted that a healthy sense of ritual “should pervade a healthy society, and that a big problem now is that we’ve abandoned many rituals that used to help us deal with big change and major trauma.”

The book added that all true ritual “calls for discipline, patience, perseverance, leading to the discovery of the self within.” More to the point, the book said a pilgrimage – like hiking the Camino Finisterre this year – “may be described as a ritual on the move.” Further, the book said that through “the raw experience of hunger, cold, lack of sleep,” we can quite often find a sense of our fragility as “mere human beings.” And by realizing that fragility we can come closer to that “sense of absolute dependence on God” that is the essence of the Christian faith.

Finally, the book said that such a pilgrimage can be  “one of the most chastening, but also one of the most liberating” of personal experiences. Personally I’m hoping to be more liberated than chastened, but since this is my sixth Camino hike coming up, I have a pretty good idea what to expect. But that’s the thing about a pilgrim hike as moving meditation. “There’s always the unexpected, isn’t there?” Or as John Steinbeck said, “You don’t take a trip, a trip takes you.”

Or finally, as it says in Psalm 84:4, “Happy are the people … whose hearts are set on the pilgrim’s way.” So here’s to happy pilgriming in the weeks to come. Stay tuned!

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The upper image is courtesy of Chilkoot Trail – Image Results. I originally included a photo I took – one of a series of photos I took on the Chilkoot Trail (and the Yukon River) – as seen (hopefully) in “Back in the saddle again,” again.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

“Feast days” are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from 2015’s Transfiguration – The Greatest Miracle in the World On Saint James the Pilgrim – and “Transfiguration 2021”, and 2023’s “Love one another” – get Transfigured (too). And for more on the benefits of such “transformative” pilgrim-journeys see I’m back from my Rideau pilgrimage, from September 12, 2018.

Re: 16 days on the Yukon. It only took 12 days, not including a day off in Carmacks, Yukon Territory. The current was so strong we covered 440 miles in those 12 paddling days, or over 36 miles a day.

Re: “Something new under the sun.” A twist on Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Re: “Change from within.” See God Works Change Inside Out – The Gospel Coalition.

The book “Passages of the Soul” was written by James Roose-Evans.

Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) defined religion – especially Christianity – as a feeling of “absolute dependence on God.”

Re: “My sixth Camino hike.” I define a Camino hike as one where at the end of each day you look forward to a warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer. Thus those six included hikes on the GR 70 last year (the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail) and the Way of St. Francis in 2022. (See Some highlights – Way of St. Francis 2022.) There was no cold beer at the end of the day on the Chilkoot.

Re: “Always the unexpected.” See The Bridge on the River Kwai quotes … Movie Quotes Database.

Re: Steinbeck. The actual quote, “We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.” John Steinbeck – Travel Quote of the Week – Authentic Traveling.

The Psalm 84:4 translation is from the Book of Common Prayer.

The lower image is courtesy of Happy Hiking Image – Image Results.

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Over a week ago Thursday – last July 25 – was the Feast Day for James, son of Zebedee, one of the 12 Apostles. Son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of John the Apostle, he is also called James the Greater or James the Great to distinguish him from James, son of Alphaeus.

He was one of the first disciples to join Jesus (Matthew 4:21-22 and Mark 1:19-20), and one of only three apostles Jesus chose to witness His Transfiguration. Tradition says this James traveled to Spain to spread the Gospel there. (He’s the patron saint of Spain and Portugal.) Tradition also says he was the first apostle to be martyred, when he returned to Judea, beheaded in 44 A.D. by King Herod Agrippa I. That’s where the Camino de Santiago comes in.

And more tradition: “Legend holds that St James‘s remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain, where he was buried in what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela,” under the cathedral named for him. And over the years Santiago has been the goal for multitudes of pilgrims – hiking, biking or on horseback – who “follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth.” Which is why – this time each year – I refer to St. James as the Patron Saint of Pilgrims. And which requires some explanation.

For five of the past seven years I’ve done just such a pilgrimage each September, which needs more explaining. For one thing, I define “Camino hike” as where at the end of each day you look ahead to a warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer. (Different from a hike on – say the Appalachian Trail – where you pack a tent, sleeping bag, utensils and all food “for the duration.”) That’s why I count last year’s hike on the GR 70 in France – aka Robert Louis Stevenson Trail – as a Camino hike. Also 2022’s hike on the Way of St. Francis in Italy, from Assisi down to Rome. At the end of each day I could look forward a warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer.

As for “real Camino hikes,” in 2017 my brother Tom and I hiked (and biked) the 450 miles from Pamplona to Santiago. In 2019 Tom, his wife and I hiked the Portuguese Camino, from Porto back to Santiago. In 2021 we three plus Tom’s brother-in-law hiked over the Pyrenees, the part I missed in 2017. (And felt guilty about.*) They went all the way on to Santiago, but since I’d reached Santiago twice already I stopped in Burgos, took a bus down to Madrid and flew home from there. But this year will be different. This year we’ll be hiking the Camino Finisterre.

That is, most Camino hikers head to Santiago. (Where legend says the Saint’s bones are buried.) But this year we’ll hike the 48 miles from Santiago out to Cape Finisterre, once thought “to be an end of the known world.” From there my companions and I will hike another 45 miles northwest to Muxía, “known for its beaches,” then on to A Coruña. (Another 55 miles.) Finally, a hike of some 38 miles will take us back to Santiago and the Monastery of San Martiño Pinario. There we will do penance for whatever sins may remain, in that our rooms will be stark. “Old monks cells – a bed, desk and tiny bathroom,” with no TV, “iffy” internet – and presumably no beer.

That’s the Alpha and Omega of my 2024 pilgrimage – beginning and ending – but in the next few weeks I hope to add more detail on the in-between. (Like how to find beer?) Stay tuned…

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The upper image is courtesy of Camino Finisterre – Image Results. See also The Camino Finisterre – Pilgrimage to the End of the World: “Because Finisterre was considered to be the end of the known world in the Middle Ages, it held special spiritual and physical significance. And this significance seems to survive to this day.”

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

“Feast days” are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from 2014’s On “St. James the Greater” and last year’s On St. James (2023), Pilgrimage, and “Maudlin’s Journey” – both of which have more detail on the saint – along with James, son of Zebedee – Wikipedia. See also Saint James, Patron of Pilgrims – Catholic Education Resource, or – for more on other Camino hikes – see for example Just got back – Portuguese Camino (2019), I just got back from “Camino 2021,” and 2017’s “Hola! Buen Camino!”

Re: “The part I missed in 2017.” The year before, 2016, I’d gotten my fill of mountains after a four-day hike over the Chilkoot Trail, “meanest 33 miles in history.” But that feel-guilty unfinished business ended in 2021, for me a hike from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, over the Pyrenees and on to Burgos.

Re: “Beginning and ending.” See Alpha and omega Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster, and also Alpha and Omega – Wikipedia.

The lower image is courtesy of the Wikipedia article on Monastery of San Martiño Pinario, photo by Diego Delso, captioned, “Main entrance to the church.” In the email my brother sent, saying we’d stay there two nights after finishing the hike, he added that the third and fourth floors – “turned into housing” – were “reserved for peregrinos only.” And that the rooms are stark, “old monks cells – a bed, desk and tiny bathroom,” with no TV on presumably not internet. But the rooms were cheap and “a really good breakfast is included.” Aside from that we would have separate rooms, and – I see from a “Maps” search – there’s a McDonald’s fairly close. (A mile up Rua de San Caetano, with free Wi-Fi and they probably sell beer too. See “They sell beer at the McDonald’s in Portugal,” from my companion blog, posted in October 2020.) And a side note: While “peregrino” is generally translated “pilgrim,” it can also mean wandering, migratory, exotic, strange, odd or “extraordinary.” And the term “ideas peregrinas” translates to “harebrained ideas.” (None of which I knew before posting this. See Translate “PEREGRINO” from Spanish into English | Collins.)

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