Saturday, October 29th

Today’s pictures can be viewed here. Today’s prayer intentions: Deacon Luis and Deacon Rafael and their wives for healing and God’s grace during trials.

WOW! What a day this was!! One of the hardest so far on this Camino, but also one of the most fruitful spiritually!!

The day started out wonderfully as we had breakfast at our hostel with the hostess / owner. Her typical breakfast she offers is multigrain bread, really rich dark coffee for Cafe Con leche, and peanut butter and maple syrup for the toasted bread. We realize we haven’t had peanut butter on the entire camino! We felt very nourished as we began the day. And boy did we need it!

As we passed the first couple of towns we said goodbye to the cows along the road and began the steep ascent to O Cebrerio. The first ascent climbs 525 ft in just a little over a half a mile of distance. And we did this with pouring rain and high winds. Plus having left the asphalt road we now were climbing a steep path laden with fallen leaves and sheer rocks.

Thankfully towns are scattered just a few miles apart. But by now we were so wet and cold that it just made more sense to press on and keep going. Our next ascent was a little less harsh, 426 ft of elevation over a 1.2 mile distance.

As tough as this day was, it was also incredibly fruitful spiritually. The rain and cold pushed us on to keep walking all the while we found our strength by turning to interior prayer. For myself I prayed all four mysteries of the Rosary throughout the day. As I was praying the sorrowful mysteries, where Jesus carries His cross, I contemplated – why did Jesus carry the cross? For love. Why are we walking this camino? For love. To pray for others and make this pilgrimage out of love and gratitude for God having blessed me with the gift of the sacrament of holy orders.

The really wonderful moment was when I was finishing the glorious mysteries… we entered O Cebrerio. Wet, cold, and tired….but also a sense of victory for having climbed 3200 feet of elevation this day, and especially for the interior strength of the Holy Spirit! What joy as we checked into the hostel and found warm blankets and a hot shower!

We will spend Sunday here to attend mass at the local church run by a Franciscan priest. We will share some more pictures from our Sunday day of rest before beginning towards our final 10 days of the Camino. It’s hard to believe we are in the final stretch towards Santiago. The excitement is building as well as we are thinking of returning home to whatever adventure God has before us.

Buen Camino ❤️🙏

Today’s pictures can be viewed here. Today’s prayer intentions: Deacon Luis and Deacon Rafael and their wives for healing and God’s grace during trials.