Day 6.- Loyola

A  trip through Spain isn’t complete without stopping at Loyola - birthplace of St. Ignatius.  Ignatius grew up in a wealthy, noble family.  Since he was a child Ignatius wanted read and dreamed about chivalry.  He wanted to be a soldier and he entered the battle of Pamplona convinced he was answering God’s call for his life. However, when he was injured by a canon ball in battle everything changed.  He was laid low for 9 months recovering from his injuries.  He almost died.  His leg was re-set when he insisted his leg be re-broken so that he could walk without I a limp (in order to appear better suited for the ladies!).  During his recuperation his brother gave him two books to read - one on the life of Christ; the other on the lives of the saints.  Indigo became consumed by these recede and turned his life over to Jesus.  He read of St. Francis and Dominic and became desirous to become a saint.  He hadn’t been much of a student but then wanted to study in Paris and went back to school in his 30’s.  He was ordained and had a strong desire to serve the poor.  His life had completely changed and he was passionate to serve God and to create a “company” of men who would dedicate their lives to God, live to educate young people, and be obedient to the holy father.  Ignatius’ missionary efforts would bring the Catholic Church to the far reaching places of the world like India and China and his community today continues to support leaders and educators throughout the world. It all began here - in the city of Loyola, Spain and we were blessed enough to have Mass in Indigo’s bedroom - the “room where it happened,”. The room where it all began.”

Celebrating Mass in the room of Ignatius’ conversion.  

A mask made from the corpse of St. Ignatius immediately after his death.

A depiction of St. Ignatius conversion moment.

Cathedral at Loyola.  Notice the moorish influence of the pillars.

The outside of the Loyola home.  Bottom layer for protection from intrusion.  

Top layers for living quarters. 

St. Ignatius depicted with education texts in hand.

Our lady of Montseratt

Day 5: Burgos - The Camino

 Burgos is a beautiful city situated in an important and strategic place on the Camino de Santiago - the “way” of St. James.  It is known for its beautiful UNESCO listed Gothic Cathedral and the birthplace of the mystical hero El Cid and has served as the capital of the unified kingdom of Castile and Leon for five centuries.  We had the opportunity to visit both the old and new Cathedrals here and stayed overnight on our journey to Lourdes.  Our visit to both Cathedrals was no less than amazing and we stood in awe of the amazing stonework and the mastery of building these two edifices - one from the 12th century and the other from the 15th.  

Day 5: Avila and St. Theresa

This morning we departed from Salamanca and drove approximately one hour to the city of Avila.  It is an amazing place - a walled city filled with baroque beauty and intrigue.  St. Theresa was born here in 1515.  She was born into a relatively wealthy family and became a significant figure in the renewal of monastic spiritual life.  Her mother died when she was only 12 years old and she turned to Mary to be her spiritual mother.  She fled her family home to run off to the convent.  There she led an austere life but became very sickly and spent nearly an entire year in bed.  At one point they even thought she had died and sealed her eyes with wax.  They had even prepared her tomb.  But she wasn’t dead.  She would go on to live a full life and worked with St. John of the Cross to found 17 Carmelite communities throughout Spain and worked diligently with him to reform the Carmelite rule of life.  She was so well respected as a writer and theologian that she became a doctor of the Church.  Her fascinating life is forever noted in her autobiographies The Interior Castle and The Way of Perfection.  Avila has now become an important stop on any pilgrimage to Fatima as St. Theresa and St. John of the Cross have played a significant role in the life of religious communities and in the history of the Catholic faith.

Part of the gigantic wall surrounding the city of Avila.

A statue in front of the chapel of St. Therese of Avila and the small apartment where she lived.

A relic from the finger bone of St. Therese of Avila

Day Four - Salamanca

 Salmanca is a beautiful university town of just under 150,000 residents.  It is unique with a town center like no other.  The beautiful stone begins in a lighter color and eventually fades into an orange like tone that give it a unique one-of-a-kind hue that is characteristic of this area.  It is one of the four earliest places in the world where universities began and was associated with the church.  The cathedra was the chair of learning and the cathedral was the place where learning was associated.  

There are actually two Cathedrals here - the old, dating from the 1100’s and the new, dating from the 1500’s.  Both are stunningly beautiful yet very different.  The town itself definitely throws off a youthful vibe with many cafes, shops and plenty of places to hang out, visit and shop.  It took approximately 4 hours on the bus to arrive here and, after a few hours for lunch, touring and mass, the weary pilgrims were ready to turn in for a late dinner (8:00 p.m.) and get to sleep for our trip to Avila in the morning.

Day Three: Exploring Fatima - Basilica, Chapel, Museum, Modern Church

Today we took a leisurely walk to explore the chapel a little more in-depth, to celebrate Mass, to visit the graves of Jacinta, Lucia and Francisco, to visit the museum, and to visit the modern church.  After that we had the entire afternoon to explore on our own.  

The chapel is considered the “Heart of Fatima.”  This is the place called the miracle of the sun.  Mary appeared in a very large tree to the 3 children.  This chapel was where we prayed the rosary last night and where it is prayed every evening - rain our shine - no matter what the weather.  It is a protected space.  The statue of our Lady of Fatima is only removed here on the days commemorated Mary’s appearances.  

Day Two: St. Stephen Church, Santarem Eucharistic Miracle, Stations of the Cross - Fatima, Rosary, Procession

 Today was a day packed with miracles and amazing beauty.  We began our day with an hour long bus ride from Lisbon to the city of Santarem where one of the oldest Eucharistic miracles took place in the year 1247 .  A very unhappy woman named Maria came to church that day after visiting a sorcerer who had asked her to bring a consecrated host to her and she would help her in a situation in which she thought her husband was unfaithful to her.  She received the host on her tongue and then took it from her tongue and placed it into a hankerchief and carried it home.  It began bleeding profusely.  She placed it into a chest at home.  When her husband came home, she could not sleep and the weight of guilt on her had her confess what she had done to her husband.  A bright light emanated from the chest where the host was kept.  They prayed and reconciled with each other and the next day she returned the host to the church and it become an object of veneration in the church to this day.  Hundreds of years later scientific tests have been done on the host and it has concluded it is flesh from the heart with the same blood type - AB positive from the same quadrant of the heart as other Eucharistic miracles samples.  

All of our pilgrims had the opportunity to climb up to the Euchraristic elements - still encased in a monstrance behind and above the main altar.  No photographs were allowed but I’ve taken a photograph of a postcard the church gave me and you can see it from there.  Amazing.  St. Carlo Acutis visited this Church of St. Stephen when he was creating his website of the Eucharistic miracles.  

Day One - St. Anthony Church - LIsbon, Portugal

 We all have lost things from time to time.  Most of us have prayed to St. Anthony for that lost item or person to be found. “Tony, tony turn around, something’s lost and must be found.”  St. Anthony is the saint for lost things or persons.  Though we associate him most often with Padua, Italy he was actually born in Lisbon, Portugal.  On our first day of this great pilgrimage, we stopped by St. Anthony of Padua Church, at the very place where St. Anthony was born.  This beautiful and special church is dedicated to his memory and, after mass, we had the opportunity to venerate a relic of St. Anthony.  He was an Augustinian priest - a wonderful preacher.  It was said that even the fish would listen to him preach - spellbound by his ability to communicate the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.  Though his body is preserved in Padua, Italy, a portion of his jaw bone and a portion of his arm are preserved in Lisbon.  We had the opportunity to venerate his jaw bone after our mass in the beautiful Church, on the way to our hotel in Lisbon.