Feast of Saint James

Santiago de Compostela hit the headlines July 24 when a train derailed there killing some 79 people.  Although most of the victims were from Spain, one was a local Arlington woman, who along with her husband and daughter, was on her way to visit her son there. He had recently completed the pilgrimage. It was the day before the Feast of Saint James, the traditional feast day of July 25 on the liturgical calendar, celebrated by Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans.  It is a major religious festival and public holiday in Galicia and the neighboring Basque country, and the accident came as a huge shock for those preparing for the biggest day of their calendar year, being the worst train disaster in Spain in 40 years.  It is all very sad, especially when it appears that the train driver was speeding at almost twice the normal limit, and on his telephone at the same time.  I, on the other hand, am planning on flying Vueling Airlines, heading directly into Santiago de Compostela from Paris, taking a bus to Sarria from there.

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jul/25/santiago-de-compostela-train-crash-cctv-video

I have been continuing on in William Melczer's book where he states that the three items that the 12th century pilgrim habitually carried were a staff, useful for uneven terrain and to ward off wild animals and thieves, a large soft leather pouch, usually open and practically empty, representing the pilgrim's life, and the scallop shell, the traditional emblem associated with Saint James, frequently worn on their hat or person.  The pouch, or scrip, might be used to store the pilgrim's few belongings: food, money and documents.  In addition, there might be a gourd for drinking, which frequently hung from the staff.

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As a 21st century traveler, I think I am traveling light by carrying a mere 15 lbs. to last me 10 days.  These 12th century pilgrims would be making the pilgrimage in 4 to 6 months, perhaps a year round-trip if they made it back. . .

I just received an email from a friend saying that a French friend of hers started the pilgrimage route in France this year and will be doing the Spanish portion next year.  She got in shape by spending 3 weeks in a spa before starting out from Le Puy en Velay!  How times have changed!  As it's still hot and muggy I will be waiting until September before I start my tentative walking forays in earnest.

Since during the late Middle Ages, the French were some of the main proponents of the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela, below is a map of what is known as the French Way.  As you can see, the four key French starting points are the pilgrim cities of  Paris, Vezelay, Le Puy and Arles.  The powerful Benedictine order at Cluny, France, encouraged the worship of religious relics by publishing much on lives of the saints, along with collections of purported miracles, consequently, relevant churches of their veneration frequently occurred along these pilgrim routes.

Many current day pilgrims start at St. Jean Pied-de-Port (see the red arrow) where three of these routes come together.  As you can see, Sarria, where I will be starting, is practically at the end of the route.

Today, however, I understand that most of the pilgrims are from Spain.  The map below shows the Spanish network of pilgrim routes.

For those that like statistics, according to the Pilgrims's Welcome Office in Santiago de Compostela, some 145,877 people completed the pilgrimage in 2011. Of that number, 83% arrived on foot, 17% by bicycle, and handful rode horseback. Most pilgrims came from Spain (54%), followed by Germany (10%), then Italy (7%). Five percent were from France, three percent from Portugal, 1.7% from the US, 1.5% from Canada, 1.2% from the UK, and the remainder from a hundred other countries.  I just checked the current figures on their website, and noticed that there were increasing numbers coming from other English-speaking countries such as Australia, Ireland, and South Africa. 

 A little over 9% were under 18 years old, 35% were between the ages of 19 and 35, about 50% were between 36 and 65, and just over 5% were older than that.  Statistics can be deceiving, though. A friend of mine, recently returned from her trip there, said her impression was that the bulk were either just out of college or those nearing retirement.  This yawn between, say 25 - 49 years, makes perfect sense since this would cover their prime working years.  Only those without jobs, or those with considerable leisure time on their hands would be likely to walk the Camino, even in stages, as some do.