Waiting

I have sent out an email to the MCPL retired librarian's listserv to see if there is anyone that might be interested in walking the Camino with me.  One librarian wrote back saying that she and her husband were considering doing part of the pilgrim route, but not this year.  I've also emailed a few of the alberques [hostels] where I plan to stay, to make sure they accept reservations, and to ask if they have individual rooms available, in addition to their dormitories.  I am planning on staying in private alberques, which, unlike the public ones, might permit prior booking.

This afternoon I had lunch with another friend, back from a week in France, who brought me back a book on the origins of the pilgrim route.  Entitled Origines et histoires des chemins de Compostelle, the author, Jacques Chocheyras, professor emeritus of the Stendhal University of Grenoble, is a specialist in popular hagiographic literature, that is to say, the history of the lives of the saints.  According to him, the bones in Santiago de Compostela are likely those of Priscillian, bishop of Avila, an early ascetic Christian mystic and contemporary of Augustine, executed as a heretic in 385 A.D. in Trier. His remains, along with those of two companions, were apparently brought back to Galicia where he was considered a martyr.  

Chocheyras maintains that the confusion of the life of Priscillian and those of 4 Jacques [James in English]:  the two apostles called James, James the the brother of Jesus, and even a Syrian, Jacobus Baradaeus, a 6th century Bishop of Edessa, resulted in the 9th century legend concerning the remains of Saint James, and the subsequent pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.  It is the Apostle James "the greater", the brother of John, and son of Zebedee, that is supposed to be buried there. This James has frequently been confused with the other Apostle James [the son of Alphaeus], known as James "the lesser" and, likewise, with James [the brother of Jesus], also known as James "the Just."  Jacobus Baradaeus was considered a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and his burial site was also confused with that of that of James, son of Alphaeus. Jacobus, also buried with two companions, ended up cited in a Byzantine catalogue of pilgrimages, which later found its way to Galicia. Another tradition has the remains of St. James the Apostle at the Basilica of St. Sernin which also happens to be on the pilgrimage route! Go figure...

As for the legend of the "stone boat" transporting the body of Saint James, Chocheyras concludes that the heavy sarcophage of Priscillian and his companions so weighed down the boat that it seemed to float as it traveled down the Sar River in Galicia towards its final resting place in Santiago, thus contributing to the popular oral tradition.

Today I was also pleased to receive a pair of lightweight merino wool socks I had ordered in the mail a week ago, to take with me on the Camino.  Several sources have recommended wool as the best sock fabric to wear, cotton being the worst, so I am taking their advice.  I've now washed them and added them to the day pack of clothes I intend to take with me!

 And minutes ago I received an email from a prospective renter of my Paris apartment saying that the Camino de Santiago is one of her dream walks.  It is amazing how many Americans have heard of it--maybe it is a result of the film... Like I commented earlier, though, in the previous entry, it is amazing how many organizations exist, certainly in cyberspace, related to what is known in English as the St. James Way.