12 walking days, mixed with prayer and meditation. This will be an amazing pilgrimage.
St. Ignatius himself walked this pilgrimage for his inner journey.
“The pilgrim Ignatius of Loyola started at a critical time in his life where he had to make a decision. The pilgrimage changed his life and his subsequent projects helped change the world.” ~Josep Lluís Iriberri, SJ,
We will gather as a group to enjoy spiritual exercises and prayer.
This will be both an outer journey as well as an inner journey. We will walk for 16 days.
The outer journey will be well marked and well-led but the inner journey will be less marked. Like all pilgrimages, the inner journey is the most important.
For some it will be about forgiveness or reconciliation, for others a new direction or course in life, a confirmation of a major life choice, or a renewed or rediscovered sense of personal identity.
We will meet in Bilbao on June 9th. Please arrange flights from the USA to leave on June 8th and arrive on June 9th. We can help you arrange the best flights and times to arrive.
Once we gather, we will transfer to Loyola
Night: Loyola
Discovering Loyola – We will start our pilgrimage exploring Loyola.
We will visit the Shrine, Ignatius family home, Parish, Hospital Saint Magdalena.
Night: Loyola
Rioja is a fertile region of farms and vineyards. Many ancient civilizations lived in this region, including ancient Celtic peoples, the Roman, Visigoth, and Muslim civilizations. We will be walking along the Camino de Santiago, but in the opposite direction. We might hear, “buen camino” or “hey you are going the wrong way”
Zaragoza, a 2000-year-old city (from 13BC) is a large city and we will not have time to see everything. A must-visit is to the Virgin, which commemorates St. James’s legendary passage through Spanish lands. The basilica is the first center of Marian devotion in Christendom. Bearing witness to the St. James tradition are the many hospitals, which served pilgrims walking on the Camino Real.
Today will be our last day of transfers, the rest of the pilgrimage will be walking into Manresa.
We will also now be in Catalonia for the remainder of our pilgrimage.
Lleida is a big and beautiful Catalonian city, with unique buildings and museums. With so much to explore, we will arrive before lunch. This will allow us to explore and enjoy this city. One interesting place to visit is in the chapel on Main Street which recalls a legend about the Apostle James: while preaching the gospel on his journey through Spain, James got a thorn in his foot, and walking became impossible. He was unable to see where the thorn was because it was very dark. Sensing his desperation, some angels came from heaven with their lanterns lit, to help him out of his difficulty. Every 24th July, Lleida children process through the streets of Old Town with lanterns lit in honor of James the apostle.
Today is a long day, we will walk and transfer part of the day to our destination in Igualada.
Igualada is a major city in the area, in which it is believed that Ignacio bought the “sturdy cloth robes” that he intended to wear. Here Ignacio had already decided on the prayer vigil that he would make in Montserrat. The church of Santa Maria dates from XI century but it was last renovated in XVII century.
Recent Comments