" I knew that pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Rome and Canterbury had long been a part of our Christian tradition. And I knew that visiting holy sites by airplane, train and bus were still a popular tourist activity. But walking 500 miles?
I had no idea until I read Arthur Boers that millions of men and women all over the world are still doing it, deliberately paying attention to what takes place in and around them as they walk to their chosen destinations.
~ Eugene Peterson
"In a postmodern world in which time and space seem compressed and lives of leisure are driven by frenetic consumption, we should not be surprised that many have turned to the medieval practice of pilgrimage as a vital spiritual antidote."
Richard Gaillardetz
" We never have the Holy Spirit in our pockets, completely domesticated and supporting everything we are doing. Any such sanctifying of present imperfections is an obstacle to further growth. Instead of clutching fiercely to my foibles and fallacies, I had better cultivate the ability to change my mind........
~ Lois Seifert. Libération of Life
"They discover that it's difficult, they hey don't know how to relate. They don't know how to listen. They know how to tell people what to do. They are trained in "telling" people. But they've not got the idea of listening, and bringing people to birth." Jean Vanier
"In the days of the Celts, Druids came all the way from Ireland and Charlemagne’s court in Aachen to be baptized at sunset at Finisterre. There they died with the sun, like Jesus, sinking into the waters of death, only to be born again when they emerged. They took on new robes, new names. That is why pilgrims burn their clothes at Finisterre. Their old self must die before the new can rise from the ashes . . .”
(Robert Ward. All The Good Pilgrims)
"When, through my tears, I began to tell him something of the years during which I betrayed him, he lovingly placed his hand over my mouth in order to silence me. His one concern was that I should muster courage enough to pick myself up again...."
Carlo Careetto
"There are many statues of pilgrims along the Camino, realistic and abstract, humorous and heroic, moving and maudlin. A few depict pilgrims of today, with nylon packs and running shoes, but most are like this one, a figure of long ago decked out in the classic pilgrim ensemble. León’s pilgrim is a weary figure. He has taken off his sandals and leans back against the cross as if to sleep. Before him is the Parador of San Marcos, a luxury hotel where he could never dream of staying. I sit down to keep him company for a while. It’s funny that in the old days, when pilgrims actually looked like this, there weren’t any statues of pilgrims. The statues then were of Jesus Christ, Mary, James and the other saints. They were the heroes of the Camino. But the old heroes have retreated to the churches and the heavens. The hero of the Camino today—or so these statues suggest—is the pilgrim himself, the pilgrim of old, pictured always as humble, stoic, pure of heart, trusting, possessed of an unclouded faith that today’s pilgrim can never hope to equal."
( Robert Ward. All The Good Pilgrims)
"She spoke at a Little Pilgrims meeting one Saturday about a discovery she had made on the Camino. Each day, as a kind of walking prayer, she would pick up a stone and fill it with her sorrow. At the end of the day, she would leave the stone by the wayside and walk away a little lighter."
(Robert Ward. All The Good Pilgrims)
Serve the Lord ...... Kiss his son, or he will be angry......
“That Jesus had voluntarily lost himself in an obscure Middle Eastern village; annihilated himself in the daily monotony of thirty years’ rough, miserable work; separated himself form society that :counts”; and died in total anonymity.” Carlo Carretto
"Why do I keep relaying to you as one of my many relationships, instead of my only relationship, in which all other ones are grounded? Why do I keep looking for popularity, respect from others, success, acclaim, and sensual pleasure?Why, Lord, is it so hard for me to make you the only one?"
