Benel Lagua l June 17, 2022 l The Manila Times
THIS writer recently had a chance to walk the Camino de Santiago, “The Way of St. James.” It is Europe’s ultimate pilgrimage route, where pilgrims travel — by foot, bike and horse — to pay homage to the remains of St. James in his namesake city, Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
The traditional motivations to walk the Camino include “to relieve your sins, to experience a miracle, to get advancement in court.” Today, people walk for reasons such as nature, meditation and religion. Even non-Catholics walk the Camino. According to our organizer, Marly, “walking the Camino is a beautiful gift. It allows you to escape the rush of the day-to-day life and gives you the freedom to enjoy time to yourself. It gives you the opportunity to reflect, to assess your priorities and to realize what truly matters in life. It provides space where you can get to know both yourself and those around you in a profound way.”
The experience was truly meaningful. My group chose to walk 151 kilometers (km) to Santiago — around 20-plus km a day. Pilgrims need to gather at least two stamps a day on their credencial, the pilgrim’s passport, so that on arrival in Santiago, one is entitled to receive a compostela or certificate of pilgrimage that requires completing a minimum of 100 km.
We were mostly seniors in the group — ME and Economics classmates in Ateneo with our spouses and some new friends. To say the least, we were not necessarily in our peak forms coming out of the pandemic to walk a route that went up and down, in both sunshine and rain, in a place that could be cool, then hot, then wet, along all types of terrain, including some that were narrow, steep and muddy in the rain. We came equipped with hats, ponchos, rain jackets and trekking sticks. At the ultimate, we had our not-so-young bodies to contend with.
But we walked just the same, amid some pain, from the mountain village of O Cebreiro, starting from the 9th-century Iglesia de Sta. Maria, where the parish priest who invented the yellow arrow (the Camino’s guide), came from. The terrain was lush and green and in Galicia, we passed simple farms, stone churches, moss-covered stone homes with slate roofs, old trees, apple orchards, flocks of sheep, goats, cows of all colors, horses, dense forests of oak, chestnut and eucalyptus. The sights, landscape, the sound of birds and crickets, and the flowing streams all combined to provide a magnificent walking experience. There were wildflowers everywhere and an amazing cacophony of colors and smell.
We started in groups, initially chatting, looking for the yellow markers and the granite way markers etched with scallop shells, the Camino symbol. But as we plodded along, we took our own paces and fell quiet, mostly thinking about the road and the next step. You find yourself truly focused on the present, where yesterday and the next day do not matter. You focus on the next step amid the beautiful scenery, looking to survive the day’s challenge. Mindfulness is one sure gift of the Camino experience.
Of course, it was not all pain. Our Camino was well planned by Greg D., Roby S. and Lito C. We were with a support van that helped move our luggage from one hostel or manor to the next. Lunch in cafés along the way was where we would find ourselves during the long day walk. The dinners and the two rest days we had were bountiful feasts of Spanish cuisine and the specialties of the area — scallops, fish, octopus, meat, ham, cheese, wine; whatever was best. We ate well to fuel ourselves for the next day’s walk and it was one way of imbibing the culture of the locality. During the rest days, we even had wine tasting, cheesemaking, river and vineyard tours.
All in all, the Camino offered a chance for an inner journey, meeting pilgrims of all types and nationalities, the young, the old, by themselves or in a group, Mexicans, Americans, Italians, other Europeans, and even four Filipino priests from Bataan.
God was with us in the company and kindness of strangers, in enjoying the beauty of nature, in villages that appeared frozen in time, in experiencing the joy of light travel, and in the strength to move forward despite pains and aches. Before our Camino, somebody shared this: “‘Which is more important?’, asked the pupil, ‘the journey or the destination?’ The teacher answered, ‘The company.'”
So, it’s only fitting to thank Greg D. and Weng for their generosity and for the surprise arrangement of the renewal of vows among couples by the SDC assistant parish priest, Fr. Manny Domingo, at the trip’s end. To Roby S. and Nina, who made all the preliminary arrangements with our tour provider as we managed various pandemic postponements from 2020 until the trip. To Tony O. and CY, our Washington, D.C. friends, who joined us and brought their unique charm and animo. To Terry S., who was our all-in-one, jack of all trade group support with her complete farmacia services. To Annie A., who joined at the last minute and perked up the group with her bubbly personality and resolve to complete the walks. To Lito C., who captured the journey with his stunning photos, and Myra C., who provided most of the inputs in planning a thorough trip. To Noel B. and Liaa, who joined the last two walks and provided renewed energy and insights as we entered SDC. Finally, of course, my beloved MaFe, who motivated me to walk the Camino and who will be my Camino partner for the rest of my life’s journey.
Fr. Brendan McManus, SJ wrote in his guide: “The Camino produces some extraordinary changes and healing in people, transformation never thought possible, and this brings genuine happiness and inner peace… New ways of being emerge that are respectful of self, others and the world… The truth of the Camino demands an honest heart, a certain amount of humility and a great desire for the transcendent. Pick up your pack and walk.”
*** Benel de la Paz Lagua was previously EVP and chief development officer at the Development Bank of the Philippines. He is an active Finex member and an advocate of risk-based lending for SMEs. Today, he is an independent director in progressive banks and in some NGOs. The views expressed herein are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of his office as well as Finex.