Hotel Exteberri has its own chapel and we began the day with Mass there at 7.00am.  After breakfast we continued our walk along the River Urola valley.  Then we began a very difficult climb from the village of Brinkola up to the Franciscan Sanctuary of the Virgin of Arantzazu. The Sanctuary is located on the site where it is said that the Virgin of Arantzazu appeared to a shepherd named Rodrigo de Balanzategui in 1468. According to legend, the figure of the Virgin was in a thorn-bush, and the shepherd’s exclamation “Arantzan zu?!” (Thou, among the thorns?!) gave rise to the name of the place.

Today was tough.  Very tough. In May-June 2011 I walked the Camino Frances from St Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.  The 21.5km first stage from St Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles was very tough, perhaps the toughest stage on the Camino Frances.  The stage from Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro was tough too.  But neither was as tough as the unrelenting climb up the mountain and down the other side to Arantzazu today.

I wondered if I would make it, and whether or not it had been wise to invite people to make this pilgrimage.  In my darker moments I thought, “What if one of the party dies up here on the mountain?”  In fact after a couple of hours walking two of our party decided to go back and take a taxi Zumárraga to Arantzazu.  Fr Sacha Bermudez-Goldman SJ kindly escorted them back.  It was a wise move.

We know that Iñigo would have taken this route across the mountain to Arantzazu and I wondered what sort of footwear he had and how he coped seeing that he had one leg shorter than the other as a result of being wounded in battle at Pamplona.

The noises you hear on the sound track are the bells which the cows, sheep and horse wear up on the mountain.  In unison they sound like some sort of eerie symphony.

At last the sanctuary at Arantzazu

Arantzazu is a centre of Marian devotion and pilgrimage (as Saint Ignatius stated in his Autobiography). It was here that Inigo meditated through the night and took vows of chastity. Little is left of the primitive sanctuary.  The current complex is a wonderful example of contemporary Basque art.

Fr Paddy Mugavin is doing a blog about his experience of the Ignatian Camino which he has called The Unholy Pilgrim.   You can view it by clicking here.  May I say that Paddy is the complete antithesis of unholy!  Paddy is the Parish Priest of St Mary’s Church in Hamilton in the Ballarat Diocese.  He is on the pilgrimage with two other priest friends, Fr Joe Taylor and Fr John Fitzgerald.

Today was our first day of walking.  We had Mass at 7.00am in the Conversion chapel.  After breakfast we gathered in front of the Hotel Arrupe.

The group outside Hotel Arrupe

Our guide Luis Renes, the Director of Nativa Tours, led us over to the Tower House of the Loyola family and we each stood on the step which Inigo would have stood on as he left his home on his pilgrimage in 1522.

Helen Lucas on the doorstep of Loyola Castle about to begin the Ignatian Camino

Led by Luis and Fermin Lopetegi, a local Basque man who has walked the Camino to Santiago de Compostela 13 times and the Ignatian Camino twice, we walked through absolutely beautiful scenery following the old railway line to Zumárraga. We set a very leisurely pace as we have a long way to go (640 km) until we reach Manresa and we don’t want to get injuries early on the pilgrimage.  We passed through the town of Azkoitia, home to the impressive church of Santa María la Real and some lovely tower houses in the old quarter. We followed the River Urola valley all the way to Zumárraga.

Helen, Sacha and Tracy on the trail

On the outskirts of Zumárraga the group was met by two women reporters from different local newspapers both of whom interviewed me about the Ignatian Camino and why we are doing this.  I understand that Fermin Lopetegi let the press know we were coming.  We are the first organised group of pilgrims to undertake this Camino.  The local Basque people seem fascinated that a group from Australia would come all this way to walk the Ignatian Camino.

The article in the Spanish language newspaper

The article in the Basque language newspaper

Please click here for a PDF of the Newspaper article

Before dinner we had a hour of reflection on the day. We addressed the following questions:

1. When did I experience joy today? When did I struggle today?
2. How was the Scripture or Ignatian theme reflected in my day?
3. What, from the sharing of others in the group, had an impact on me? Is there anything else I would like to share in light of what I have heard?

We are staying at the Hotel Exteberri.  It is a beautiful hotel with a garden and we are amazed that it only has a 2 star rating.  We would recommend it to anyone visiting the Basque country. The restaurant offers Basque cuisine and we had a delicious meal this evening.

Having nothing much to do on the Emirates flight from Dubai to Barcelona yesterday, I put together this film trailer for the Ignatian Camino

http://youtu.be/6Haz_r53duo

I hope you enjoy it.