The Rise, the fall and the Revival of the pilgrimage to Saint James …… and the Rise of 'The Camino'

Pilgrimages to the different Christian shrines in Europe today are perceived differently - although I'm sure this was not the case originally.  In the early middle-ages the three most important pilgrimage destinations were Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela. Only the latter has had any great success at reviving it as a 'walking/riding' pilgrimage trail although work is being done to find the old paths along the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage route to Jerusalem. (See web links at the end of this post). 

This comment on a Camino Forum set me thinking. 

"The tradition of the Santiago pilgrimage is of walking there along a Camino - or, rather, travelling there along a Camino. The traditions of other shrines is to go there, or to be there."

What he saying is that the tradition is to walk to Santiago but not to the other shrines.  Of course, there was no difference in the middle ages - pilgrims had no option but to walk to all the shrines of Europe (unless they could afford a horse).  Until about 40 years ago, 99% of pilgrims to Rome, Jerusalem and Santiago travelled there by boat, bus, train or car. There was no difference in the means of travel and very few pilgrims walked to any of them. 

'Walking' to Santiago is a fairly recent 'tradition' in the modern era (as recent as the 1980s) and the perception that there is a centuries old tradition of pilgrims walking to the tomb of Saint James in Spain in a continuous stream for a thousand years is inaccurate, historically. The pilgrimage to Santiago saw about 300 years of glorious hey-days from the 10th century (reaching a peak in the 12th and 13th centuries) until its sharp decline from the 14th century.  It went through about 400 years of extremly lean days and virtual extinction!

When the relics of the saint were ‘lost’ in 1589 the pilgrims stopped coming in any number and stayed away for almost 400 years. (I doubt pilgrims have ever stopped journeying to Rome or Jerusalem.)
By the Holy Year of 1867 St james' shrine was all but forgotten and only 44 pilgrims attended mass on his feast day. (Cordla Rabe)

Only after the remains were relocated and authenticated in 1884 did the masses start returning to Compostela – this time by boat, bus, train and car. (It would take another hundred years for pilgrims to start walking to the shrine).

The old paths were long abandoned and forgotten and it wasn't until the late 1970’s and into the 1980’s that the pilgrimage trail itself was restored and revitalized. For the first time in history, the pilgrims were split into those who walk or ride to Santiago and those who arrive by other conveyances.
A new pecking order has developed amongst those who walk, an implied hierarchy that depends on how far one walks, for how long, how heavy the pack, how meager the accommodation, how frugal the meals. Taking a bus or car to Compostela to visit the Saint is considered passé - almost unworthy. Walking the Camino has become its own status symbol.

The Rise and Fall of the Pilgrimage ... and the Rise of the Camino de Santiago.

814 - The beginning: The story of the discovery of the burial site of Saint James the Greater around 814 is well known. From the time the remains were authenticated by the church, an ever growing stream of pilgrims started trekking to his tomb. In those early days, before the introduction of indulgences for the remission of sins (circa 1095), people travelled by sea and land to visit the tombs and shrines of the saints out of curiosity, respect, and to be in the presence of something holy.  No real thought of rewards.

The Rise and Fall - 12th to 14th centuries: Once earning an indulgence for the remission of sins and time spent in purgatory was thrown into the mix, pilgrimage became all the rage which soon led to corruption and fraud with shrines competing to attract pilgrims with false relics and outrageous indulgences of thousands of years. The heydays of the Santiago pilgrimage reached their peak in the 12th and 13th centuries but by the 14th century pilgrimage began to decline all over Europe due to wars, a growing split in the church and the Black Death.

1517: By the beginning of the Reformation, and the spread of Protestantism, pilgrimage and the veneration of relics became unpopular and were banned in many countries. Many churches and cathedrals were destroyed or abandoned.

1589: The relics of Saint James were moved and hidden to prevent a possible attack by Frances Drake – and were forgotten for almost 300 years! It’s not surprising that the number of pilgrims to Santiago dried up almost completely. With no body to venerate it would be almost 400 years before they started to return in any numbers.

In 1590 the Castilian parliament proposed that St Teresa of Avila become co-patron saint of Spain with Santiago. It seemed St James’ star was on the wane and pilgrimage to his tomb slowed to a trickle.

1759: “The mid-18th century again saw a marked decline in the number of pilgrims [to Santiago]. The scientific and industrial revolution in the 19th century also rendered the pilgrimage obsolete in the rest of Europe.” Antti Lahelma

1820: “The Spanish Civil war of 1820 – 1823 further prevented pilgrims from visiting Santiago and, in whole of the 19th century less than 20 000 pilgrims visited Santiago - most from the areas around Santiago, and the majority of those arrived in the Holy Years.” Don Jose Ignacio Diaz Perez

1867: “In the Holy Year of 1867 just 40 pilgrims turned up for the celebrated mass on 25th July.” (Cordla Rabe)

1879: Something had to be done. A search for the relics was launched in 1879 and they were eventually found between the walls of the apse.

1884: A papal bull from Pope Leo XIII declared them to be genuine (which silenced the sceptics) and there was a growing revival in the number of visitors.

1886: P. Fidel Fita rediscovered the Codex Calixtinus (a copy of the so-called Pilgrims’ Guide that never was) after it had been lost for centuries. This was fortuitous timing as it spurred historic research into the pilgrimage routes to Santiago just when interest in the shrine was being revived.

The revival of the St James Pilgrimage - 1900: After the re-discovery and authentication of the saint’s relics, pilgrim visitors started flocking to Santiago once again and there was a steady rise in the numbers especially in the Holy Years. But, the old trail routes remained overgrown and forgotten and the number of people walking to Santiago was so insignificant that no records were kept of their arrival. (The following numbers of visitors to Santiago in Holy Years is from de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiliges_Compostelanisches_Jahr)
1909 - 140 000
1915 - 103 000
1920 - 112 000
1926 - 90 000
1937 - 134 000
1938 – 8 000
1943 - 200 000

1948 - 500 000

1954 - 700 000

1965 - 2.5 million

1971 - 4 million (491 Compostelas)

1976 - 4 million (243 Compostelas)

Recording the numbers of pilgrims who arrived on foot, horseback or bicycle was resumed in Santiago de Compostela from 1953 but the records from before 1970 have been lost. The late Don Jaime of Santiago’s cathedral found an old record book kept by his predecessor which showed that in 1967 there were 37 pilgrims and in 1971, which was a Holy Year, 491 pilgrims.

An article in the New York Times (dated August 16, 1965) about the 1965 Holy Year describes the atmosphere in the cathedral as thousands of pilgrims, who arrived from all over Europe in buses and cars, lined up to kiss the stone sculptured head of the apostle at whose tomb they had come to pray. The 50 miles of road between La Coruna and Santiago was crowded with huge tourist buses and cars.

(No mention of people having walked there.)
There were always a hardy few, nostalgic Catholics, medievalists and other academics, who tried to find the old pilgrimage trails to Santiago and reach it by means other than by car or bus.

In 1917 Georgiana Goddard King completed ‘The Way of St. James’ a three-volume work tracing the pilgrimage trails to the shrine of St. James, based on her journeys on foot, donkey cart, mule and other transportation

Dr Walter Starkie made the pilgrimage through France and Spain on foot, by car and bus four times from 1924 to 1952. In his classic book ‘The Road to Santiago’ he makes many references to the work of G.G. King.

Nancy Frey – Pilgrim Stories wrote: “Beginning in the 1950s and the 1960s the pilgrimage developed as a touristic and cultural way called the Camino de Santiago based on political reconstruction and a budding nostalgia for preserving medieval European patrimony. During the portion of its current revitalisation performance of the journey was not paramount.”
This observation is supported by the pilgrim figures which show that in the 1965 Holy Year the number of ‘visitor pilgrims’ more than doubled (2.5 million) compared with 700 000 in the 1954 Holy Year, but walking to Santiago was still not an important criterion (the journey was not important) but the destination was. This still holds true for the other great Christian shrines like Jerusalem or Rome and the more modern Marian shrines of Lourdes, Fatima and Guadalupe (the most visited shrine after Rome).

The Rise of el Camino – late 1970s: The resurrection and promotion of the old trails to Santiago can be attributed mainly to Don Elias Valina Sampedro of O Cebreiro parish - a dedicated priest and scholar who devoted over 30 years of his life to the restoration of the Camino as a pilgrimage trail. In 1967 he wrote his doctoral thesis on - The Road of St James: A Historical and Legal Study.

Linda Davidson and David Gitlitz walked to Santiago 5 times between 1974 and 1996 accompanying groups of college student-pilgrims on academic medieval study programs. On their first trek in 1974 they did not meet even one other pilgrim. In 1979 the only other pilgrim they encountered was an elderly Frenchman who was fulfilling a vow made in the Second World War. They wrote in their book The PIlgrimage Road to Santiago "To most people in the 1970s the pilrimage road was hardly more than a vague memory of a historical relic - "You know, in the medieval times...."



1982: Don Elias published his guide for walking the Camino trails to Santiago. 1,868 pilgrims received the Compostela, but this was mainly due to the visit of Pope John Paul II.

1985: This was a pivotal year for ‘The Camino’ pilgrimage trail. At a gathering in Santiago in 1985 Don Elias was entrusted with the co-ordination of all the resources for the Camino. “Refugios” were established and he was the first to mark the way with yellow arrows, begging for yellow paint from the departments of roads. Also in 1985 UNESCO declared the city of Santiago de Compostela a World Heritage site

1987: El Camino de Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage trail is named the first European Cultural Itinerary.

1989: Pope John Paul II visited Santiago again (and sadly, Don Elias passed away) 5,760 Compostelas were issued.

Exponential growth: From then on there was an exponential growth in the number of pilgrims walking and riding to Santiago, and those earning the Compostela certificate - a junp from 5,760 in the 1989 Holy Year to 88,436 in the 1993 Holy Year.  (The pilgrim office estimates that only 1 in 5 pilgrims walking the Camino actually walk to Santiago and request the Compostela).
1986 – 2,491
1989 – 5,760
1993 – 88,436
1999 - 154,613
2004 – 179,944
2010 –272,000

Saint James pilgrims and Camino pilgrims
Reconstruction of 'The Camino' as we know it today only began in the late 1970s. It took a dedicated priest, a group of hard working volunteers with a few tins of yellow paint, and the formation of Camino interest groups in the 1980s - coinciding with the advent of Internet and the World Wide Web in the 1990s - to see it explode with exponential growth into the 21st century.
Millions of Saint James pilgrims still journey to Santiago de Compostela every year - an estimated 12 million in the 2010 Holy Year.  The focus and goal of these pilgrims has never changed, to venerate the saint and obtain a plenary indulgence.
Unlike their medieval counterparts, today's walking or cycling pilgrims rarely say 'I am makng a pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint James of Compostela'. 
Most say, "I am doing the Camino".  Furthermore, they say, "Its not the destination that counts, it the journey."
Doing the "Camino" has become the destination!

Watch a video of the 1915 Holy Year here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsnB1mLZwlQ

For information on the Via Francigena - the pilgrimageg trail to Rome: http://www.pilgrimstorome.org.uk/

For information on the pilgrimage to Jerusalem visit: http://sites.google.com/site/pilgrimstojerusalem/Home

WHAT’S ON THIS HOLY YEAR?

The commemoration of the Año Xacobeo will be celebrated with the organisation of numerous activities and cultural events such as exhibitions, musical concerts, publications…etc, along all the routes of the Camino de Santiago), including those directly connected with other European countries: France, United Kingdom and Portugal.
A significant part of the events have been organised by the Ministry of Culture though the SECC, Spain's state company for cultural commemoration and in collaboration with the autonomous regions of the Jacobeo Council.
During this year there will also be a special ceremonial opening of the "Camino's" principal monuments, thanks to the agreements signed between the Jacobeo Council and the Church, which owns the majority of the monuments on the Way of St James. To date, the initiative has been joined by the autonomous regions of Asturias, Catalonia, Castilla y León, Aragon, Galicia, La Rioja, Navarre , Cantabria and the Basque Country.

There are also a few 'unusual' events this year! 

In the albergues in La Rioja, free monodois grape cream for walkers will be delivered. This Holy Year, the Government of La Rioja has thought to alleviate some of the most common problems for walkers: tiredness and sore feet.
The cream was prepared in a cosmetic laboratory in Rioja and has passed all health checks. It is a decongestant and moisturizer for the feet, relaxing because it contains essential oils of lavender, rosemary and mint, and also grape extract.
This laboratory has a long experience in making wine therapy creams. The cream for the pilgrims' feet is based on the virtues of the grape seeds, whose properties help cell regeneration, detoxify the skin and helping to improve blood circulation.  The Government of La Rioja has 100,000 samples to be delivered free to the pilgrims who carry credentials from February in community shelters.

Not to be outdone, in Navarre you can get a 'Ruta del Vino' credencial to have stamped at wineries and accommodation on the 'Wine Route' between Pamplona and Logrono.  You'll earn rewards for the number of stamps you get in your credencial - discounts on wines, meals and even a room for two at a top hotel.
Read more here:

“2010 se hace el camino” Exhibition ("2010 makes the Way")

This exhibition includes a selection of works based on the journeys of national and international contemporary artists. The exhibition is scheduled to take place from June to October 2010 and will be divided into five or six centres, based on the autonomous regions involved:

• Aragon: San Juan de la Peña Monastery, Huesca.

• Asturias: Banco Herrero exhibition hall, Oviedo.

• Galicia: Museo do Mar (Sea Museum), Vigo

• Navarre: Navarre Museum

• Basque Country: Santa María de Vitoria-Gasteiz Cathedral.

“Stories along the Way”

A project dedicated to the revival and study of folklore literature and the popular stories about The Way of St James. The initiative will be spread by national and international storytellers who will give performances in hostels and town squares along the Way. The project includes the production and issue of a CD of a selection of stories that will be distributed by the hostels.

• Aragon: Hostels: Jaca, Santa Cilia, Arrés, Artieda and Undués de Lerda / Public Squares: Canfranc, Villanúa, Berdún, Martes and Maianos.

• Asturias: Hostels: Gijón, Tineo, Avilés, Rivadesella and Navia.

• Galicia: Hostels: Triacastela, Portomarín, Palas de Rei, Ribadiso, o Pino (Arca), Monte de Gozo (Santiago de Compostela), Ribadeo, Mondoñedo, Bahamonde, Sobrado Dos Monxes, Neda, Bruma, Tui, Redondela, Padrón, A Gudiña, Xunquiera de Ámbía, A Laxe (Lalín), Camping Medelo (Silleda), Oliveiroa, Fisterra, Padrón (A Consagrada) and Lugo.

• Basque Country: Irún, Pasai Donibane, Donostia, Orio, Zarautz, Deba, Beasaín, Salvatierra, Alegría, Pórtico de la Catedral de Vitoria.

Souvenir Publication “The Way of St James”

Published by the SECC, this anthology brings together a selection of pictures by the photographer Xurxo Lobato, that show the architecture, landscape, countryside, habitat and human factors that represent the Way of St James. The publication includes texts from every era chosen by Miguel Murado, which provide a chronological tour of the Jacobean culture and history of the Way.

Las huellas de la Barraca (Footprints of La Barraca)

The 2010 edition of “Las huellas de la Barraca” (Footprints of La Barraca) will be dedicated to the Año Santo Xacobeo. The SECC organised a competition among the Spanish and Latin American theatre schools and schools of dramatic arts, from which several different groups will be selected to perform in different villages along the Way during July and August. All the groups worked on subjects relating to the Año Santo Xacobeo.

Series of Classical Music Concerts.

In July a series of concerts will be performed to showcase spiritual and sacred music from across Europe and throughout the ages of the Way of St James based on a selection of groups and musical pieces by Pablo Álvarez de Eulate. The programme by autonomous region is as follows:

• Aragon
- Echoes of a Battle. Roncesvalles, Orreaga, Roncevaux. Performed by:Ensemble Durendal. Venue: Jaca Cathedral. Date: July 2010
- Medieval dances and poems. Performed by: Ars Combinatoria. Dir. Canco López. Venue: Church of Canfranc. Date: July 2010.
- Dowland, Sermisy, Attaignant, Pisador, D. Ortiz, Monteverdi, Johan Sebastián Bach . Performed by: Jose Miguel Moreno (vihuela) and Raquel Andueza (soprano). Venue: San Juan de la Peña Monastery. Date: From 2 to 19 July 2010.

• Asturias
- Music from the Way of St James. Performed by: Elena Gragera (Mezzosoprano) and Antón Cardó (Piano). Venue: Basílica de Santa María (Llanes). Date: July 2010.
- Medieval Dances and Poems. Performed by: Ars Combinatoria. Dir. Canco López. Venue: Basílica de Santa María (Llanes). Date: July 2010 .
- Homo Viator. Performed by: Psalterium. Venue: Basílica de Santa María (Llanes). Date: Saturdays during first half of July.

• Catalonia
- Music from the Way of St James. Performed by: Odhecaton. Venue: Montserrat Monastery. Date: July 2010.
- Medieval Dances and Poems. Performed by: Ars Combinatoria. Venue: San Pere de Rodas. Date: July 2010.
- Medieval Dances and Poems. Performed by: Ars Combinatoria. Venue: Claustro Monestir Santa Maria de L´Estany. Date: July 2010.

• Galicia
- Festival Via Stellae. A variety of shows in different Galician locations. Performed by: Jose Miguel Moreno (vihuela) and Raquel Andueza (soprano); Speculum; Odhecaton Dir. Paolo da Col. Date: July 2010.

• Basque Country
- Misa Sancti Iacobi de Dufay. Performed by: Odhecaton Dir. Paolo da Col. Venue: Santa Maria Katedrala – Vitoria/Gasteiz . Date: 17 July 2010.
- Misa Peregrina, La puerta del Paraíso (Pilgrim's Mass, The door to Paradise). Performed by: Speculum. Venue: Santa Maria Katedrala – Vitoria/Gasteiz. Date: 3 or 10 July 2010 (awaiting confirmation).
- Medieval Dances and Poems. Performed by: Ars Combinatoria. Dir. Canco López. Venue: Santa Maria Katedrala – Vitoria/Gasteiz. Date: 24 or 31 July 2010.(awaiting confirmation)

Info from: http://www.eu2010.es

XACOBEO.ES

1. Contemporary Way

The exhibition projects of a more contemporary way

2. Path of spirituality

To celebrate the spiritual experience of the Way

3. Camino de la cuisine

Promotion of Galician cuisine in the world

4. Path of spirituality

To celebrate the spiritual experience of the Way

5. Musical path

Major festivals, Galician music, emerging projects, ...

6. Road reflection

Conferences and debates reflection generators

7. Way of the performing arts

Dance, theater, magic shows, acrobatics, ...

8. Audiovisual Road

Film projects, animation and visual image

Calendar 2010 what's coming

9. Road sports

Activities and sports projects

10. Child Road

Projects related to children

11. Xacobeo Raíces (Music • Folk music)

03/06/2010 - 05/08/2010

12. Concert: Luz Casal Music • Pop-rock)

05/28/2010 - 05/29/2010

13. Xacobeo Filme (Series and Festivals)

01/07/2010 - 12/21/2010

14. Compostela and Europe

(Exhibitions • Contemporary arts)

15. icia Ao Vivo (Music)

16. The worlds of Gonzalo Torrente Ballester

(Exhibitions • Contemporary arts)

03/24/2010 - 04/25/2010

Fundación Caixa Galicia, Ferrol

17. El médico a palos, Pinchacarneiro Company

(Theatre) 04/08/2010 - 06/11/2010

Auditorio Gustavo Freire, Lugo

18. Festival Sónar Galicia (Series and Festivals)

06/17/2010 - 06/19/2010 EXPOCoruña

19. Alondra Bentley (Music • Indie music)

04/17/2010 - 21:00

Fundación Caixa Galicia, Pontevedra

20. Saturday Night Fever (Music)

04/15/2010 - 04/18/2010

Centro Social Caixanova, Pontevedra

21. "Momentum" by Mayumana (Shows)

22. Ciclo Xacobeo Importa (Series and Festivals)

23.  Xacobeo Classics

(Music • Classical music)
  1/07/2010 - 12/23/2010

Possibly the most ambitious music programme in the domain of classical music that has ever taken place in Galicia, both for its willingness to reach all audiences in all four Galician provinces and for the quantity and quality of the options presented. From January to December 2010 more than forty shows will take place, covering the main seven Galician cities as well as other 10 towns. In that sense, the programme aims at the decentralization of the Xacobeo activities, turning the whole Galicia into a unique, diverse and plural space.

The programme will bring Galicia back into the circuit of the great international music events, bringing for the very first time renowned stars such as Cecilia Bartoli, Anne Sophie-Mutter, Lang Lang or Dolora Zajick. It has also been conceived to reinforce the pre-existing programmes, consolidating them by making some of these concerts take place in collaboration with festivals, series and programmes that already existed, thus adding an extra appeal to them, without forgetting Galician creators.

Throughout the year several specific projects, conceived to revalue the maturity obtained by Galician orchestras during this last decade, will take place with events like Verdi's "Réquiem" that will be performed by the OSG along with one of the best choruses in Europe, the Orfeón Donostiarra, and four unbeatable soloists; or like Bruckner's "Mass in F minor " to be performed by the Royal Philharmonic as the finale to the 2010 activities.

Especial attention has been paid in the programme to Galician music, both in its historical side (through the recovery of the opera "O Mariscal" from the composer Eduardo Rodríguez-Losada and the great poet Ramón Cabanillas) and in its current one (with a tribute-series to the dean of Galician creators, Rogelio Groba, on the occasion of his 80th anniversary; the recovery of the chamber series of the Asociación Galega de Compositores, and the premiere of one of the best current composers: a violin concerto by Octavio Vázquez).
Tickets for Xacobeo Classics will be available at Servinova (Caixanova):
https://taquilla.servinova.com/entradas/main.php

Or at Caixa Galicia:
http://www.caixagalicia.es/wvio004_contenido/esp/pags/wvio004t_portada_taquilla.asp

OTHER:

Mark Knopfler in Concert in Spain

July 23 to 30 2010 The Dire Straights front man Mark Knopfler in a series of concerts in Spain

July 23 Fri

Pavelló Olimpic de BadalonaBadalona, Barcelona,

July 25 Sun

Plaza de Toros de CórdobaCordoba, Cordoba,

July 28 Wed

Multiusos Fontes do SarSantiago de Compostela, A Coruña,

July 29 Thu

Plaza de Toros de las VentasMadrid, Madrid,

July 30 Fri

Plaza de Toros de BilbaoBilbao, Vizcaya,

Sonar 2010, Catalonia and Galicia


283 artists will be performing including Chemical Brothers LCD Soundsystem at Air.
This year, for the first time in seventeen years, the famous festival will also play out in Galicia.
And Sonar has been chosen as a representative among the cultural activities taking place to celebrate the event.

Santiago

"Santiago, a meeting point. Masterpieces from the Cathedral and Caixa Galicia in Santiago de Compostela"
Exhibition halls - Sede Fundación Caixa Galicia Santiago - SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA. April 29, 2010 to November 7, 2010
Exposure Santiago, a meeting point. Masterpieces from the Cathedral and Caixa Galicia brings together a total of 58 artworks in various formats, from funds of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and Caixa Galicia Collection. The works away by centuries of history, are spread through ten showrooms facing them, for the first time in open, offering a showcase of exceptional parallels. The See Fundación Caixa Galicia in Santiago de Compostela, which houses the exhibition, he became one of the leaders of the old town of Compostela in this Xacobeo 2010 with this neat exhibition, curated by Juan Monterroso, Enrique Fernandez and Ramon Castiñeiras Yzquierdo. Until November 7 enjoy works never before displayed outside the Cathedral of anonymous medieval or Maestro Mateo, and more recent gems, signing artists like Dali, Picasso, "Santiago, a meeting point."

Every day, from 12:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 21:00 h.
Guided tours for the general public Tuesdays and Saturdays at 19:30 Sundays, 12:30 pm
http://www.fundacioncaixagalicia.org/portal/site/WINS001/menuitem.c880ceb66ab3416b791a53a451d001ca/?vgnextoid=74884d211db18210VgnVCM100000140d10acRCRD

1.25 million pilgrims walking the Camino in the Holy Year?

2010 is the 84th Compostela Holy Year
(or the 118th depending on who you prefer to believe! See: http://amawalker.blogspot.com/2008/06/holy-years-in-santiago-de-compostela.php )

If you are one of the hundreds of thousands of people who are planning to walk a camino route next year you might be a little concerned about over-crowding and about the possibility of not finding accommodation.  The heaviest traffic will be in Spain and although there is bound to be an increase in the number of pilgrims on the French routes as well, this post is aimed mainly at those planning to walk the camino routes in Spain.

How many pilgrims will there be?
It has been estimated that 250 000 pilgrims will earn the Compostela next year.  This does not take into account the many, many thousands of pilgrims who will walk parts of the caminos with no intention of reaching Santiago. 
The Sociology department of the Cathedral estimates the number of pilgrims on the Camino at any one time by using the registration in albergues, the data given when the credential is obtained, and other sources, such as the tourist information offices throughout the Camino.  They estimate that only 1-out- of-5 pilgrims actually receives the Compostela.  Theoretically, this means that there could be 1.25 million pilgrims walking a camino next year!!  The biggest headache for the authorities is where to accommodate all the Holy Year pilgrims.

Where will they all sleep?

Most Regions have been busy making plans since the last Holy Year in 2004.  Sports halls will be utilised and tent towns will be erected in busy areas.  The army is being enlisted to help.  Hundreds of thousands of euros are being spent on rehabilitation of paths and on way markers and other signage.  The busiest region will be Galicia where, historically, the largest numbers of pilgrims will start walking in order to earn a Compostela.  Xacobeo has a new Blog which is keeping people informed about preparations in Galicia. http://blog.xacobeo.es/

Although most of us prefer to sling our backpack on our backs and start walking, stopping when we are tired, happy to queue up outside an albergue for a bed, this might not work next year. 

2004 Holy Year:

I walked the camino in May/June of the 2004 Holy Year and it was more like celebration than meditation!  The paths were busy, the albergues all had long queues of backpacks lined up outside before mid-day.  The cafe-bars and restaurants were crowded.  There was a vibrant, excited, expectant buzz amongst pilgrims - it was Año Santo, Holy Year, and you could (if you were Catholic) have all your sins forgiven! 

I think the 2010 Holy Year is going to be the closest thing to a medieval pilgrimage Spain has seen since the Reformation.  There are numerous historical accounts of huge numbers of pilgrims on the roads and crowded churches on the way to Spain and in the Cathedral at Santiago.  Pilgrims standing cheek by jowl, jostling for space, fights breaking out and people sleeping in the cathedral. 

Avoid the rush for beds:
One way to avoid the masses and the rush for beds is to pre-book as many rooms as you can ahead of time.  You cannot book beds in the pilgrim shelters run by the church, municipalities or some confraternities, but many private albergues allow pre-booking and there are many fondas (inns) hostales, pensions, casa rurals and hotels along the way.  If you want to do it on your own, you can search the many websites for accommoation, or look up hotels/hostals etc in the guide books.

In 2004 Turespaña published a booklet called 'Guia oficial de Hoteles y Campings del Camino de Santiago."  It is available in French, German, Spanish and English and lists all accommodation authorized by the appropriate municipal and national tourism authorities.  You can obtain the booklet free of charge in any tourist office or from TOURSPAIN, or by E-mail: manuel.jurado@tourspain.es.

If you think you'll need help:
The Camino Travel Centre in Santiago  www.caminotravelcenter.com/ will help you book rooms along your camino route and can help with reserving bus, train or flight tickets. They also store extra baggage for up to 60 days.  For hotels in larger cities they book through their booking service and are paid a commission by the hotels but for small pensions and casa ruralsa (not available through the booking services) they charge you a small booking fee.  You can contact Frank or Ivar at: frank@caminotravelcenter.com  or ivar.rekve@gmail.com

Booking ahead might be the answer to avoiding the Holy Year crowds.  Not only will you have peace of mind - knowing that you have a bed waiting for you at the end of the day - you won't have to join the rush for beds in the morning, you can start walking after a leisurely breakfast, sightsee on the way and take your time getting to the next stop.  And, you can bet that there will be hundreds of pilgrims doing the same thing so you won't be alone in the hotels at the end of the day.

Camino Frances:

This will be the busiest route.  If you are planning to start at St Jean Pied de Port - but don't want to book all your rooms in advance - it might be wise to at least book a bed in St Jean Pied de Port - Esprit du Chemin is a lovely albergue www.espritduchemin.org/  
For B&B's, Chambres and Gites go to: http://www.chemindecompostelle.com/Selection/CartePuy25.html
The first few days of this route will be extremely busy and even in May 2002 I had to sleep on the floor in Larasoana because all the beds were taken by early afternoon.
You can book a bed at Orisson, about 10km from St Jean Pied de Port  refuge.orisson@wanadoo.fr
Many pilgrims start in Roncesvalles so chances are it will be choc-a-block by the time you get there. You could book a bed at the 'Posada de Roncesvalles'.  We sent them a fax and our beds were confirmed by return fax. http://www.laposadaderoncesvalles.com/posada.htm

In Larasoana you could stay at the Pension del Peregrino - escaray@terra.es  There are dozens of small pensions and hotels in Pamplona. 

Private albergues

Red Albergues is a "network of private hostels on the Camino de Santiago": a non-profit organization founded December 8, 2001. Its aims as follows:

• Developing proposals to the various administrations to create a uniform legal framework for the Pilgrims' Hostel of the Ways of Santiago.
• Defend the rights of Pilgrim Hostels, especially the private hostels.
• Advice for people who want to create a private Pilgrims' Hostel.
• Hospitaleros training and preparation of volunteers.
• Formulation of proposals on the location of new shelters and their characteristics.
• Promotion of cultural activities related to the Camino de Santiago.
• Collaboration with guilds, associations and public or private entities of similar purpose.

You can download a list of private albergues for the Camino Frances on the Red Albergues website here : http://www.redalberguessantiago.com/documents/ALB_20091.PDF  and here:  http://www.redalberguessantiago.com/documents/211.html  
The brochure includes some email and web addresses as well as names of transport companies that will transport your baggage for you between albergues. You will need a 'credencial' (pilgrims' passport) to stay in any of the albergues - be they church, municipal or private.  Many of the private albergues can be pre-booked and you can have luggage transported to them by taxi or transport company.
Booking into private albergues might be the best thing for cycling pilgrims who traditionally have to wait until quite late to get a spot in an albergue. 

Another organisation that will cart your backpacks, post stuff ahead, provide support to cyclist etc is Jacotrans:  http://asantiagosinmochila.blogspot.com/ 

Credencial

A credencial is a passport to staying in the pilgrim shelters, whether they are church, municipal or private.  You can get a credential at the place where you start - often at the church or the pilgrim albergue - or from your Confraternity before you leave home.

COMPOSTELA

To earn the Compostela - certificate of completion - you have to walk the LAST 100km of any route to Santiago and profess to having walked the camino for a religious/spiritual reason.

You do not have to only stay in the pilgrim albergues but you must have the credencial stamped at each place you stay or pass through, at churches, cathedrals, tourist offices, cafe bars, libraries (free Internet) or hotels, police stations etc.

If you are not religious, you will be given a different certificate.

25th July:

If you want to time your arrival into Santiago for the feast day festivities, you should try to get there before the 25th July.  Fesitivities begin the week before and continue for a few days after the Feast Day.  Hundreds of church groups, youth groups, choirs, tours are being planned to be in Santiago on 25th July so do book a bed ahead.  Check the Xacobeo website for 2010 activities.  http://blog.xacobeo.es/

The Puerta Santa
The Holy Door, which gives access to the Cathedral from the Plaza de la Quintana, is opened on 31st December on the eve of each Holy Year, and walled up again a year later.

HOLY YEARS IN SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

I have updated the post on Santiago Holy Years - you can read it here:

http://amawalker.blogspot.com/2008/06/holy-years-in-santiago-de-compostela.php

Did you know that Holy Years only started in the 15th C (according to recent historical research)?

That in the 16th C "The head of the glorious Apostle is carried around the cathedral on all feast-days in solemn procession."


That in the Holy Year of 1867 only 40 pilgrims attended the 25th July Mass in the cathedral?

In the early Middle Ages the 30 December was St James’ Feast day, based on the old Hispanic (Mozarabic) rite.


In the 11th century King Alfonso VI abolished the Hispanic rite in favour of the Roman rite and 25 July became the principal feast day to commemorate the martyrdom of St. James.

December 30 was incorporated into the present liturgical calendar as the Feast of the Translation of his relics.

Although we celebrate his Feast Day on 25th July using the Roman Rite calendar, it was formerly on the 5th August on the Tridentine Rite calendar.

"REAL" PILGRIMS

—  Canterbury Tales  —

First questions first.  What is a pilgrim?

Dante said in the 13th c that '..in a limited sense pilgrim means only one who travels to or returns from the house of St James.."

He suggested that the long distance travelled, and being a foreigner in Galicia, made one a pilgrim. He did not say that pilgrim means one who 'walks' to the house of St James, only 'one who travels'.  Until the invention of the bicycle - and trains, planes and automobiles - the only mode of travel was by boat,  riding a donkey or horse, or foot slogging. Pilgrims used whichever mode of transport was available to them that they could afford. Poor pilgrims walked; middle-class pilgrims might hire a donkey, wealthy pilgrims could hire horses and travel with servants.

Besides Dante, what do the experts say?

A:  Wordnet (i) someone who journeys in foreign lands (ii) someone who journeys to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion.

B:  Wiki Answers (i) someone who goes on a pilgrimage, a visit to a place that is religious

C: Wikipedia:  a pilgrim (lat. peregrinus) is one who undertakes a pilgrimage far afield, traditionally to some place that has religious or historic significance.

D:  Oxford:  a person who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons. The word pilgrim comes (in Middle English) from Provençal pelegrin, from Latin peregrinus, 'foreign'.

E: Websters: (i) a person who wanders about  (ii) a person who travels to a shrine or holy place usually a long distance away.

No mention of walking, only 'travels'. 
According to James Harpur the first pilgrims were the Three Wise Men  who, according to the gospel of Mathew, journeyed from the East to Bethlehem guided by a star to pay homage 'to the one who has been born of the jews." 
Did they walk?  We don't know but it is unlikely.  Most pictures show them riding camels. 

What is a real pilgrim? 
This is the million dollar question that comes up with mind numbing regularity on all the 'camino pilgrim' forums.

Sometimes the answers are so dogmatic and illogical that one can be forgiven for thinking that there are people out there who have a genetic memory of being penitential pilgrims, tramping the pilgrimage trails of Europe in hair-shirts like Godric of Finchale, self-flagellating from one shrine to the next in order to earn indulgences for remission of their sins and time spent in purgatory before they are despatched to heaven or hell.  These are the 'Pilgrim Fundamentalists" who vehemently reject everyone else's claims to the title of 'pilgrim' as profane unless they conform to their naive version of what constitutes a 'real' pilgrim.

So how do they see a real pilgrim?
Firstly, it seems to me that the Pilgrim Fundamentalists' view of a Real Pilgrim is applied exclusively to people making a pilgrimage to Santiago. 

If you are one of the 200 million pilgrims who have visited Lourdes since 1869, chances are that you did not walk there.
Over 4 million pilgrims visit Fatima and each year.
10 Million make the pilgrimage to Guadalupe each year and just as many to Rome, and Jerusalem.
It seems that you can be a pilgrim to these shrines even if you take a luxury bus, go with a church tour or get the TGV.
But, according to the Pilgrim Fundamentalists, you can't call yourself a pilgrim to St James unless you walk to his tomb.  Furthermore, the sanctimonious idea is that you can only be a 'real' pilgrim if you walk every inch of the way on a long distance route because, irrespective of what the Santiago Archdiocese claims, 100km or 200km just won't cut it!  And, God help you if you cheat!  Taking a bus into Burgos, getting a taxi to the next albergue, skipping a few kilometers by taking a train or sending your backpack up a hill by motor vehicle will send you straight to purgatory!
Some Pilgrim Fundamentalist go as far as to insist that in order to qualify as a Real Pilgrim, one should carry a backpack (the heavier the better), stay only in basic pilgrim shelters (not the newer, up-market, private hostels that have sprung up in recent years) and definitely not in a hotel: eat frugal pilgrim meals (no fine-dining in restaurants or bistros) and, one can earn 'real pilgrim' Brownie points if you walk in winter, suffer blisters, tendonitis, shin splints, stress fractures and lose all your toe nails. To qualify as a Real Pilgrim, no pain really means no gain. 

Pilgrim Fundamentalist often refer to 'real pilgrims' as those who attempt to emulate 'tradtional medieval' pilgrims, a completely impossible task considering that mind-set, intention, landscapes, eras have all changed.  Their rather self-righteous criteria only seems to extend to walking, sleeping and eating - they do not apply their rules to the type of clothing a pilgrim should wear or equipment they can carry and paradoxically, even though the modern peregrino is expected to walk to Santiago, he or she is allowed to carry a credit card, travelers cheques, cash passport, iPod, digital camera, use the Internet, or send messages home via their Blackberry.  They can wear gortex boots, sweat-wicking shirts, polypropylene sock, carry telescopic Nordic walking poles and, buy a return ticket home.  The Real Pilgrim is a one way phenomenom.  The rules only apply to the journey there.  Once they arrive they can morph back into their 21st Century skins and fly home.  

So who were the real pilgrim role models?
There exists a confused notion among Pilgrim Fundamentalists that only the mendicant foot-slogging Medieval pilgrim can claim to a be a Real Pilgrim.  Bugger all the other millions who travelled long, dangerous distances in ships and/or on horseback.

Who was the traditional, medieval pilgrim?

Taking into account that the Middle Ages spanned a period of over 1000 years of turbulent change, from the 5th c to the 16thc, trying to conjure up a picture of a representative, traditional medieval pilgrim is more than a little problematic.  There was a melting-pot of rich and poor, pious and impious, penitential and pleasure seeking pilgrims just as there are today. By the 16th century the majority were homeless vagabonds, despised and reviled and treated with great suspicion. 
At a Council of Europe Congress held in 1988 - just after the birth of the modern pilgrimage to Santiago - a speaker elaborated on the decadence of the pilgrimage.

"The oft quoted decline and decadence of the pilgrimage to Compostela started here [16th c], although not in quantitative terms. It was the extreme forms of far-reaching qualitative changes which perverted ideas and practice. It is undeniable that the peregrination religiosa lost ground and that a tendency to depersonalise and externalise pilgrim practices emerged. The circumstances of the age also contributed to this: too few jobs for a rising population, unemployment, robber bands preying on the French routes, criminal acts by pilgrims and, from the 15th century onwards increasing criticism of the peregrination itself." 

And, there must have been a few fashion changes from the 5th C to the 16th Century.  Even though a few Popes decreed a particular dress for pilgrims, why are they always depicted in the same long robes?  We never see pilgrims in tights even though there is a 15th C song about Robin Hood to that effect!  Statues, sculptures and paintings give us an idea of what pilgrims from the different centurieslooked like, what they wore and how they travelled. 

There are just as many pictures of pilgrims on horseback as there are of walking pilgrims.  Some famous pilgrims who went on horseback - and left us their written accounts - include the Poitou priest Aimery Picaud (12th C - Liber Sancti Jacobi), the German Knight Arnold von Harff (15th C - Pilgrimage of the Horseman) and the Italian priest Domenico Laffi (17th C - A Journey Westward to Santiago in Galicia and Finisterre).  Are we, 21st Century pretenders, to strip them of their titles of 'Real Pilgrims" because they did not walk to Santiago?

On the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/ you will find a list of Jubilee Pilgrimages of the Holy Father (John Paul II) from 1979 to 2004.  These include pilgrimages to many countries and shrines including two pilgrimages to Santiago.  Did the Holy Father walk there?  No, of course not.  So, are the Pilgrim Fundamentalists qualified to strip him of his pilgrim title too?

The root of the misconception:
In 1953 the Archdiocese in Santiago decided to award a special certificate to pilgrims who walked at least 100km to the tomb of the saint for religious reasons. (All records of these early certificates prior to 1970 have been lost).  Although the Compostela is based on a 14th C document, it is now considered a souvenir and is no longer used as proof to earn an indulgence.  I reckon this was a mistake.  All prilgrims should be given a document for visiting the tomb of St James - no matter how they arrive there.  It has made the journey more important than the destination.  Some walk all the different routes, planning their holidays around a walk on the camino.  Getting to Santiago is often secondary or not important.

A bit of 'Malice in Wander-land?"
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" said Alice.   "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.  "I don't much care where ...," said Alice.  "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.  (Lewis Carrol)

One often hears pilgrims say - "it is the journey, not the destination that is important".  That is a very un-"traditional pilgrim" thing to say.  The destination held the promise of  redemption (not the journey, even though longer journeys offered a few more days off purgatory) and the Archdiocese has this to say on their website:  "The most important thing here is the Goal, not the Way. Jacobean Pilgrims do not go on pilgrimage for the sake of the Way. Through the Way they do get to the Tomb of Saint James "the Great"."

Walking pilgrims can frame their credentials - these will be their "Certificate of Conscience", proof that they walked to Santiago.
Walking to Santiago is a choice.  Nobody forces you to walk 100km or 1000km - it is your choice.  The fact that you have decided to walk doesn't make you a better pilgrim than the person who saves up all their money to travel to Santiago to visit the tomb of the saint for religious reasons.
A wise lady recently said, "Pilgrim is as pilgrim does" - I think its time to stop all this judgemental, self-righteous nonsense about 'real' pilgrims. 
Over 12 million pilgrims are expected to visit Santiago next year - only 250 000 are expected to walk - and less than 10% will walk more than 114km to the city. Many will journey long distances to reach Spain and the shrine and all have the right to be called PILGRIMS.

2010 HOLY YEAR - "Faithful to the Light"

Click on this link for an explantion and history of Holy Years in Santiago:
http://amawalker.blogspot.com/2008/06/holy-years-in-santiago-de-compostela.php

And on this Xacobeo Blog:  http://blog.xacobeo.es/category/spirituality/langswitch_lang/en/

Spain is counting down the days to the 2nd Holy Year of the new century and the 119th since its inception.  I will be adding news about the Holy Year to this post from time to time.

Presentation Compostela Holy Year 2010 "Faithful to the Light"

SOURCE: http://revistaecclesia.com/

1. PASTORAL LETTER Archbishop Julián Barrio

"Each year, an increasing number of pilgrims set off to Tomb the Apostle James the Great, with the pilgrimage, among other realities, allegory Church, People of God walk toward "citizenship of the saints. In the Holy Year of 1999 I decided to escort the pilgrim Jacobean in its spiritual and pastoral reflection, pilgrimage in spirit and in truth and in 2004 with the Pilgrims for pastoral grace. In this second Compostela Holy Year of the Third Millennium of Christianity to celebrate the 2010, bring to mind the story of the disciples of Emmaus who refer their encounter with the Risen Christ. Also, from his tomb, the Apostle James, the "friend of the Lord" conveys the message that Christ lives and, therefore, the pilgrim has to give this witness, knowing that friendship with the Lord ensures the fertility of the mission of the Christian life: "I have called you friends, because all I heard from my Father I have made known ... and I have set to go and bear fruit and that your fruit is permanent" (Jn 15,15-16 ), Jesus told his apostles. Pilgrim with you, I offer this reflection from the faith with the awareness of knowing that the Lord also comes to meet us, enlightens us with his presence and his word, and delivers us from all fear.
With this hope, thanking this privilege granted to Church particular in Santiago de Compostela Church "Largest and oldest known to all, founded and constituted in Rome by the two glorious Apostles Peter and Paul," communicate the conclusion of the Second Jacobean Holy Year for the third millennium to my diocesan dioceses and sisters from Spain, Europe and other continents, inviting them to journey to Tomb the Apostle to confess faith in the Risen Christ and receive the abundance of divine mercy as a manifestation of God's love for life man. It is an event of grace that we celebrate and share with all the particular Churches, taking care not to undermine the sense of the Camino de Santiago, as the path of forgiveness, for other reasons beyond their spiritual dynamism that St. James Pilgrimage which becomes "penance" on the roads of the accusation of sins, the forgiveness of sins of our neighbor, prayer, almsgiving and humility, you live in a spirit of conversion and that the Holy Year help us to revitalize our Christian life as a vocation to holiness and eternity, asking the Lord to the intercession of St. James, "a man for whom we visit Galicia", that the meeting of the pilgrims with the apostolic tradition, the goal of joy , hope resonates".

So begins Pastoral Letter of Archbishop of Santiago, Julián Barrio, whose letter becomes his "program" to prepare and pastoral life of the Holy Year 2010. The menu is divided into seven chapters and an introduction:

Introduction: It communicates the conclusion of the Second Jacobean Holy Year of the Third Millennium and calls directly on a pilgrimage to Tomb of St. James. It also indicates the main theme of his letter, the Gospel story of the Road to Emmaus, and links it already has the Camino de Santiago.

I. The Resurrection, The foundation and goal in the Christian pilgrimage: In this chapter, Archbishop Julián Barrio a parallel between the Christian pilgrims and pilgrims of Emmaus inviting the Jacobean Pilgrim's commitment.
II. Pilgrim's spiritual food: Following this previous relationship with Emmaus Christian, the Archbishop travels the spiritual foundations of every Christian, accentuated with the pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago. Faith, prayer, the EucharistThe community and the reality of sin and forgiveness are issues that are clearly developed.
III. The pilgrimage, evangelization and event response to the call on the Road: In this aspect, says Mgr District "We need not only teachers but especially witnesses to the faith." This is the chapter that invites the testimony and confession of faith.
IV. The pilgrim and his participation in the life of the Risen: Following the pilgrims of Emmaus, the goal of the journey becomes an experience of encounter with the Risen Christ.
V. The testimony and community experience of faith: "Reaching the goal of his pilgrimage to Tomb of St. James as an encounter with Apostolic Tradition and a renewal of life, Jacobean pilgrims, as the Emmaus pilgrims have returned to the family community, the workplace and the parish, being witnesses of what they have seen, heard and lived with the conviction that history Final of the human person is not confined to the finite ".
VI. Pilgrimage and Christian mission: In this chapter, indicates that the pilgrim, transformed into a new man with the experience inside the Camino de Santiago, must feel the urgency to transform society with their Christian attitudes and Catholic vision.
VII. The Jacobean pilgrimage today: "We welcome the Jacobean Holy Year 2010, the second of the third millennium and in the time of the call transmodernity. It is the Holy Year 119 in the history of the Holy Years Compostela. At a time like the present one marked by human distress and uncertainty generated dramatic lack of solidarity, violence and terrorism, and also for the malaise of a culture that tries to dilute the religious dimension of man, a process which is accompanied by reality of depersonalization that we are suffering, one wonders whether there may still be room for doctrinal and spiritual content, permanent and genuine, this celebration, one of whose manifestations is the most accomplished pilgrimage. If we analyze the statistical data available from the Jacobean pilgrimage, we can see that in the last twenty years the trend in the number pilgrims has always been increasing. Prophetically anticipating what would happen in the last decade of last century, the Bishops of the Camino de Santiago in his pastoral letter in 1988 echoed this flowering when writing: "El Camino de Santiago which leads to Tomb St. James, in the city that bears his name, Santiago de Compostela, Finisterre in Galicia, from the most diverse of Spain and Europe has now again become unusual in recent years. The number of pilgrims who travel to the traditional style of the venerable medieval pilgrimage, along with those who do using modern means of locomotion is steadily growing.

2. POSTER
The poster has been made by the company to Enxeño Galicia Archdiocese Santiago de Compostela. Explanation of the cartel Modesto Gomez, director of Exene Galicia:
We envision the road as a melting pot of people who, with their multitude of colors, pilgrims of the hand toward a goal.
We envision a destination and draw la Quintana peregrina its essence: its threshold of reconciliation, the prelude to the embrace that allows us to open ourselves to the world Obradoiro Glory.
We envision a style and decided to compose a mural can symbolize the plurality of the road: rounded at the base and bottom line at the top, colorful in its origin, while sober and full of air in the top half while chromatic clean, decorated with a scheme which simplifies the interpretation of three distinct parts that intersect naturally: the representation worldly, full of life and color, characterized by a multitude pilgrim, the spiritual, driven in that ethereal mix of chiaroscuro and unencumbered the silhouette of the cross, and a central plane in which the cathedral is the goal of the Path.   Obradoiro blurring the towers in an overhead shot imaginary, we highlight the vision of la Quintana as Plaza with the presentation of Tower Clock and Holy Door in a composition of simple lines and gray, adorned by colorful and rounded lines on special importance.  
At the door are three elements that stand out: first the images that humanize the stone. On the other, forming a central axis, two representations of the apostle. How could it be otherwise in the case of la Quintana, Place of living and dead, an apostle recumbent, which is the guiding light at the end of the road, rises above the door in its niche as a living witness of Christ and the pilgrim who, as a good host, awaits us at home.
To his right, the clock tower stands as a beacon of hope, a symbol of three essential elements: the clarity, the call and time. It's more symbolic of the temple tower. It represents, in descending order, a glimmer of hope that flows from its guiding light, a perennial call to conversion that resonates in each "badalada 'of the BerengariaAnd a gentle discourse of hours to the rhythm of the needles of a clock that evokes our lives and our history. At the base we wanted to establish a modern, simple and illuminating logo: from the Roman era to today, Pilgrim Church, at the hands of the cross and Vieira, icons of Jesus and James, pilgrimage guided by the light of Christ, walking together, hand in hand with faith, from 2010 years ago.

3. PROGRESS OF ACTIVITIES

1. Pilgrimage to Santiago de the CROSS of the WORLD of YOUTH (From 3 to 8 August 2010).
Early in the special Holy Year Redemption in Rome, held between 1983 and 1984, John Paul II decided to Basilica San Pedro a large wooden cross of two meters. At the end of this anniversary year the Pope gave this cross to the youth of the Centro San Lorenzo saying "Carry it throughout the world as a symbol of the love of Jesus to humanity and announce to everyone that only in Christ dead and risen find salvation and redemption". But the Pope decided to make a copy of CrossOne is found in the Centro San Lorenzo, permanently, another pilgrim on the five continents.

2. European Youth Pilgrimage (5-8 August 2010)
During the last Holy Year, 2004, Santiago admitted to more than 30,000 young people participating in European Pilgrimage Youth, under the theme "Witnesses of Christ in a Europe of Hope." In 2010 this pilgrimage will be organized while in Santiago Cross of World Day of Youth 2011, to be held in Madrid. The call at the foot of Tomb of St. James between days 5 and August 8 is the most important event of this Holy Year 2010. Compostela bring together thousands of young Europeans, who have the task of building a new civilization in an area of peace, freedom, democracy and pluralism.
3. Other pilgrimages emphasizing:
-- The Archbishop invited as in previous Holy Years Pilgrimage on a pilgrimage to Episcopal Conference Spanish
-- Pilgrimage of 25 French bishops with their diocesan bishops and the Spanish the French way (19, 20 and 21 July 2010)
-- Pilgrimage of the Diocese of Galicia and many of Spain and other countries
-- Pilgrimage of Arciprestazgos and parishes of our diocese
- Pilgrimage of other institutions Church and other social and cultural institutions

4. Operation Office Pilgrim: The times will be from 9am to 21pm. Is currently in dialogue with Xunta Galicia after requesting 16 positions through grants. The bureau will, as usual, be issuing the Compostela and accommodate the different pilgrims.

5. Delegations Diocesan Pilgrimage for Youth and organize activities both in Santiago and along the various walks of Santiago for youth to participate in the welcoming pilgrims. Also during the year for concerts, training courses, theater workshops, vigils, prayer meetings, etc.. in different pastoral areas Diocese to promote volunteerism among youth.

6. Meeting delegates Diocesan Media Church in Spain (January 2010) organized by The Episcopal Conference Spanish and diocesan delegation Media of Santiago de Compostela. Around a hundred delegates and over 50 leading journalists in the world of modern communication, reflect in Santiago on Church and the media.

7. Organization of congresses. Some of them are:
- European Congress on Education and Family (May 2010)
- Congress "Humanism and Progress"
- World Congress Family

- Meeting of Families

- Fourth World Congress of Guilds and Associations (in October 2009, on the threshold of the Holy Year to promote pilgrimage)

8. Official publications being developed and are in press:

- Different explanatory leaflets on the occasion of the Holy Year, their significance and how to win the Jubilee. At this time there will be a first printing of 200,000 copies. They are to be distributed in the Cathedral Santiago, at churches and throughout the Camino de Santiago.

- The Pilgrim's book: a book for all the pilgrims coming the other way on foot. The first printing will be 50,000 copies.

- The liturgical book Cathedral provide participants in the Eucharist. The first print run will be 5,000 copies.

- Catechism of preparation for the pilgrimage, pastoral materials to help prepare his pilgrims road to Santiago. This material is currently being drafted and circulated to all parishes of Galicia and all those who want to work these catechesis.

9. Exhibitions and concerts in Cathedral, San Martin Pinario Seminary.

WINTER WALKING ON THE CAMINO

14th October 2009 - Due to a corruption of some of the script, this post has been moved to:

http://amawalker.blogspot.com/2009/10/walking-in-winter.html

HOLY YEARS IN SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

When was the first Santiago Holy Year celebrated?

According to Xacobeo Blog only in the 15th c:    "The alleged grant of a Jubilee to Compostela by Pope Callistus II in the year 1119 and ratified in 1179 by Pope Alexander III to confirm this as a perpetual bull by Regis Aeterni, is a process that has been put in quarantine by some historians. They propose a later origin suggesting that the Jubilee in Santiago did not start until the first half of the fifteenth century. They argue that this Jubilee Holy Year was born imitating the successful Roman Holy Year which was celebrated for first time in 1300 as a response to Pope Boniface VIII spontaneous demand that special thanks be given to the thousands and thousands of pilgrims who visited Rome in that landmark year at the change of the century.

There are essentially two positions on the origin of Compostela Jubilee Years. They are summarized through the work of two of the few experts who have been concerned with this issue, trying to throw light on it, though from differing viewpoints.

1. Jesus Precedo Lafuente is former Dean of the Cathedral of Santiago, and was responsible for leading the organization of several Holy Years in Compostela in the second half of the twentieth century. He argues that Aeterni Regis, following the Bull (1179) of Pope Alexander III, the first Jubilee was held in Santiago in 1182. He defends well, that which is maintained from the time this celebration in the years that in accordance with the bull, agreed that the Sunday celebrating the martyrdom in Palestine of St. James is 25 Julio, that usually happens every 6,5,6, 11 years (Precedo Lafuente, Jesus, "Origin and Significance of the Year Santae Compostela" pilgrim's Guide Calixtino Salamanca, Fundación Caixa Galicia, A Coruña, 1993, p.20).
2. Compostela professor, Fernando López Alsina, the historian who has studied this question more thoroughly, suggests a later origin, suggesting that the first Compostela Holy Year was not held until 1428 or 1434.  "Only since 1434, and throughout the rest of the fifteenth century, can we follow the regular celebration of the Compostela Holy Year at planned intervals of 6, 5, 6, 11 years. (Lopez Alsi, Fernando: "Romans and Holy Years Holy Years Compostela in Santigo, Rome, Jerusalem. Proceedings of the Third Congress Jacobean-International Studies Caucci, Paolo, ed. Xunta de Galicia, Santigo de Compostela, 1999, p. 235)

The truth is that only since the fifteenth century can we follow the ceremony of the Jubilees regularly in Compostela. They have occurred since that period with characteristics closeness to the present when the festival the apostle James the Great falls on Sundays. In this case, reference to the Holy Year of 1434, the first of which there is a strong historical record, means that up to the year 2004 there have been a total of 83 Jubilees Compostela.
Those who advocate a previous home based on the bull Aetterni Regis, say at least 118 to 2004.

Is there any evidence for earlier Holy Year celebrations? 

Mary Storrs wrote in her book "Jacobean Pilgrims from England to St James of Compostela from the 12th to late 15th cenury" that 1395 was a Holy Year and that a large number of pilgrims sailed to Spain in that year. (The 25th July 1395 was on a Sunday.) She further writes that 916 pilgrims sailed to Spain as pilgrims in 1428 and that in 1434 the number of pilgrims from England was 2310

Trivial Info:

Catherine Gasquoine Hartley wrote in her book that, "There is still in existence in England a curious law, it never having been repealed, by which the Keeper of the Tower of London can levy a charge of sixpence on each English pilgrim visiting Compostela.

In a 16htc book of verse, Fancisco Molina speaks of the sacred relics, which were shown to the pilgrims, by an officer called el lenguagero, who was specially appointed for his linguistic talents. "The head of the glorious Apostle is carried around the cathedral on all feast-days in solemn procession.

. . . One of the relics is a drop of milk from the breast of the Virgin in a vase as fresh and perfect as if of to-day. There is also a precious lock of her hair, and a thorn from Christ's crown, which turns the colour of blood every Good Friday."

We know that from the early 16th-c pilgrimage became not only unpopular but dangerous and that numbers were affected by the plague, the reformation of the church and religious wars in Europe.  In 1589 the relics of the saint were moved and hidden from a possible attack by Frances Drake – and were then forgotten for almost 300 years! It’s not surprising that the number of pilgrims to Santiago dried up almost completely and it would be almost 400 years before its reanimation.

"In late 17th century, the pilgrimage experienced something of a revival and reached a new (if more modest, honestly religious) peak, but mid-18th century again saw a marked decline. The scientific and industrial revolution in 19th century also rendered the pilgrimage obsolete in the rest of Europe.” Antti Lahelma

"As late as the year 1794, D. Miguel Ferro, the architect of the cathedral, wrote : " The crowd of people on feast-days is so great that only two-thirds of them can get into the cathedral " and we read of altars being temporarily erected in the cloisters and in the plazas adjoining the sacred edifice, at which the priests said Mass." Catherine Gasquoine Hartley

“In the Holy Year of 1867 just 40 pilgrims turned up for the celebrated mass on 25th July.”

A search for the relics was launched in 1879 and they were eventually found between the walls of the apse. “A papal bull from Pope Leo XIII (in 1884) declared them to be genuine in order to silence sceptics.”

 

What is a Holy (or Jubilee) Year?

The origin of the Christian Jubilee goes back to Biblical times. The Law of Moses prescribed a special year for the Jewish people: "You shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim the liberty throughout the land, to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his family. This fiftieth year is to be a jubilee year for you: you will not sow, you will not harvest the un-gathered corn; you will not gather the untrimmed vine. The jubilee is to be a holy thing to you; you will eat what comes from the fields."(The Book of Leviticus 25, 10-14)  The trumpet with which this particular year was announced was a goat's horn called Yobel in Hebrew, and the origin of the word jubilee. The celebration of this year also included the restitution of land to the original owners, the remission of debts, the liberation of slaves and the land was left fallow. In the New Testament, Jesus presents himself as the One who brings the old Jubilee to completion, because he has come to "preach the year of the Lord's favour" (Isaiah 61: 1-2).

ST JAMES’ FEAST DAYS Whenever St James's day - 25th July - falls on a Sunday, the cathedral declares a Holy or Jubilee Year. Due to leap years, Holy Years fall every 6, 5, 6, and 11 years: the most recent ones were 1982, 1993, 1999 and 2004. The next Holy Year will be 2010 and then 11 years later in 2021.

In the early Middle Ages the 30 December was St James’ Feast day, based on the old Hispanic (Mozarabic) rite.
In the 11th century King Alfonso VI abolished the Hispanic rite in favour of the Roman rite and 25 July became the principal feast day to commemorate the martyrdom of St. James.
December 30 was incorporated into the present liturgical calendar as the Feast of the Translation of his relics. And, just to confuse matters more, although we celebrate his Feast Day on 25th July using the Roman Rite calendar, it was formerly on the 5th August on the Tridentine Rite calendar.

Watch a video of the 1915 Holy Year here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsnB1mLZwlQ

This is thought to be either the 84th or the 119th Jubilee Year.
The Puerta Santa (Holy Door), which gives access to the Cathedral from the Plaza de la Quintana is opened on 31st December on the eve of each Holy Year, and walled up again a year later. As in the past, pilgrims reaching Santiago during a Holy Year, and fulfilling the conditions for it, are granted a plenary indulgence. (This means that you can get remission for all of your worldy sins). The plenary indulgence is given, not only in Holy Years, but also in ordinary years on Easter Sunday; 21st April (the anniversary of the consecration of the cathedral); and on St James's three feast days. (25th July, 30 December and 23 May).
On the eve of St. James' Day (the 24 July) a magnificent firework display is held on the Orbradoiro facade of the cathedral called the "Fuego Del Apostol”. An impressive statue of St. James as a warrior is taken from the cathedral and carried through the streets. Further celebrations are held to commemorate the removal of the remains to Spain on 30 December. You can read accounts of Holy Years in 1951 and 1965 here:

/Holy%20Year%201951.pdf

/Holy%20year%201965.pdf

This is a list of Holy Years from 1604 as supplied by the Archdioces in Santiago:

1604 1700 1802 1909 2004 2100 2202
1610 1706 1813 1915 2010 2106 2213
1621 1717 1819 1920 2021 2117 2219
1627 1723 1824 1926 2027 2123 2224
1632 1728 1830 1937 2032 2128 2230
1638 1734 1841 1943 2038 2134 2241
1649 1745 1847 1948 2049 2145 2247
1655 1751 1852 1954 2055 2151 2252
1660 1756 1858 1965 2060 2156 2258
1666 1762 1869 1971 2066 2162 2269
1677 1773 1875 1976 2077 2173 2275
1683 1779 1880 1982 2083 2179 2280
1688 1784 1886 1993 2088 2184 2286
1694 1790 1897 1999 2094 2190 2297

Over 12 million pilgrims are expected to visit Santiago in 2010.

Hundreds of thousands (250 000 has been suggested) of pilgrims are expected to walk to Santiago in 2010 - not only because it is a Holy Year but because the next Holy Year will be eleven years later. 

The relics of St James in the crypt of the cathedral in Santiago.

Hugging the saint after walking to Santiago in the 2004 Holy Year.

This list shows the growth of numbers of pilgrims who received the compostela in Santiago. These numbers do not include pilgrims who walk sections of the various caminos, or who do not apply for the compostela.

1985/6 2.491

1987 2.905

1988 3.501

1989 5.760

1990 4.918

1991 7.274

1992 9.764

1993 99.436

1994 15.863

1995 19.821

1996 23.218

1997 25.179

1998 30.126

1999 154.613

2000 55.004

2001 61.418

2002 68.952

2003 74.614

2004 179.944

2005 93.924

2006 100.377

2007 114.026
2008 125,141
2009 144,812 (to November)

For up-to-date info on preparations and programs for the 2010 Holy Year, visit:
http://blog.xacobeo.es/