Ever since I saw the movie “The Way” in 2013 I felt God’s urging for me to embrace the challenge of the Camino de Santiago and walk the Camino Frances. An ancient pilgrim path across the north of the Iberian Peninsula, the full Camino Frances begins near the beautiful medieval town of St. Jean Pied de Port at the base of the Pyrenees on the French side, and finishes in the holy city of Santiago de Compostela in Northwest Spain. In total, it is just shy of five hundred miles and takes well over thirty days to walk. The Cathedral of Santiago is believed to be the final resting place of St. James the Greater and has been a place of great spiritual significance for over one thousand years. The Roman Catholic Church has identified the Camino de Santiago as one of its three great pilgrimage routes along with Rome and Jerusalem, and its popularity has only increased in the past three decades as over a quarter million pilgrims successfully complete the Camino each year.
I was finally able to realize my dream to walk the Camino Frances this past summer. It was, beyond any doubt, the most spiritually significant experience of my life. Words cannot express the joy felt in the opportunity to leave your daily life behind and go on a journey where you are placed alone with only your God and conscience. Each day you endure the challenge of walking anywhere from nine to twenty-six miles which, over time, methodically causes you to shift your focus from the external to the internal. The physical burden ultimately serves as a catalyst for spiritual introspection as you are challenged to look inward and see what God might have you change in order to better serve His purpose for your life.
The Camino de Santiago has many different routes that range in distance and difficulty. It is truly something that can be achieved by all. The San Antonio Missions have also become a part of the Camino experience as pilgrims can now receive their pilgrim’s passport and receive official credit for completing a portion of the Camino de Santiago. For more information, please visit this website https://caminosanantonio.org/. Maybe your Camino experience in San Antonio will inspire you to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain like I did. It can certainly be life changing