In the morning we met as a group at 8.30am to evaluate the Ignatian Camino. Vin Dillon was our facilitator and helped us with a good process. After breakfast we had a talk from Josep Sugranyes SJ. We spent the rest of the morning exploring the Centre of Ignatian Spirituality.

Our credentials received the stamp for the final stage, and Helen picked up an “Ignaciano” for each of us, our official certificate of completion. We also purchased tee-shirts, calendars and other memorabilia.  After spending the morning in Manresa, we took a bus to Barcelona.

  

In the late afternoon Josep Lluís Iriberri SJ. met us at the hotel in Barcelona and took us on a tour of the Ignatian sites in the city. Then he joined us for dinner and a review of the Ignatian Camino.

Josep Lluís Iriberri, SJ planning our afternoon walk around the Ignatian sites

The sword of Saint Ignatius

This excerpt from the Autobiography speaks to the significance of Ignatius’ sword:

He continued on his way to Montserrat, pondering in his mind, as was his wont, on the great things he would do for the love of God. And as he had formerly read the stories of Amadeus of Gaul and other such writers, who told how the Christian knights of the past were accustomed to spend the entire night, preceding the day on which they were to receive knighthood, on guard before an altar of the Blessed Virgin, he was filled with these chivalric fancies, and resolved to prepare himself for a noble knighthood by passing a night in vigil before an altar of Our Lady at Montserrat. He would observe all the formalities of this ceremony, neither sitting nor lying down, but alternately standing and kneeling, and there he would lay aside his worldly dignities to assume the arms of Christ.

When he arrived at Montserrat, he passed a long time in prayer, and with the consent of his confessor he made in writing a general confession of his sins. Three whole days were employed in this undertaking. He begged and obtained leave of his confessor to give up his horse, and to hang up his sword and his dagger in the church, near the altar of the Blessed Virgin. This confessor was the first to whom he unfolded his interior, and disclosed his resolution of devoting himself to a spiritual life. Never before had he manifested his purpose to anybody.

Ignatius offers up his sword

The eve of the Annunciation of Our Blessed Lady in the year 1522 was the time he chose to carry out the project he had formed. At nightfall, unobserved by any one, he approached a beggar, and taking off his own costly garments gave them to the beggar.

Ignatius gives his fine clothes to a beggar (from The Life of Saint Ignatius by Peter Paul Reubens)

He then put on the pilgrim’s dress he had previously bought, and hastened to the church, where he threw himself on his knees before the altar of the Blessed Mother of God, and there, now kneeling, now standing, with staff in hand, he passed the entire night.

The street where Saint Ignatius lived in Barcelona

The place in Sant Maria del Mar where Ignatius used to sit when he was begging

The matress and the chair of Saint Ignatius

Our final dinner together

Over dinner we shared our experiences with Josep Lluís and made recommendations about ways in which the Ignatian Camino could be improved. One of the things he told us was that we were the first organised group of pilgrims to walk the entire way from Loyola to Manresa. We are honoured to have achieved this.

Today was a very welcome rest day in Lleida. I must admit that I had never heard of Lleida before I came on the Ignatian Camino. It is a wonderful city. I slept in, had a late breakfast, did my washing and caught up with emails before exploring the city.

Clothing drying outside our window in the hotel

Lleida is an important regional centre within the region of Cataluña and famous for its agricultural produce and textile industry. Of Iberian origins, the city (which was well known to the Romans who named it Ilerda) was under Muslim rule for four centuries.  It was later conquered by Count Ramon Berenguer in the middle of the twelfth century.

I walked down into the centre of town at midday and had an excellent hamburger with the lot before walking up to the Cathedral of St. Mary of La Seu Vella. After exploring the Cathedral, I spent an hour there praying.

The cloister at Seu Vella

Situated along the Ebro River Valley in a very picturesque setting, Zaragoza is a city with an impressive landscape, old traditions and popular customs.

Basilica El Pilar

The city’s most important monument is the Basilica El Pilar. This church is one of the most popular destinations for pilgrimage in all of Spain, consecrated to the Holy Virgin of Pilar, patroness not only of this town but of all Spanish-speaking countries.

Outside the Basilica El Pilar

The Basilica del Pilar is built in the place where our Lady is said to have appeared to Saint James. It’s told that St. James the Apostle came through this region to evangelize Spain and, while he was dejected and questioning his mission,  the Virgin Mary appeared in a vision to encourage him. In the vision, she was atop a column or pillar, which was being carried by angels. That pillar is believed to be the same one venerated inside the Basilica.

Our Lady of the Pillar (Nuestra Señora del Pilar) by Goya

The baroque building, finished in 1681, is flanked by four towers. Some parts, such as the neoclassical main-facade, were added in later periods. In its interior the wall-paintings in the cupola, works of Goya and Bayeau, are of particular interest.

Yesterday I booked an appointment with a physiotherapist and today I had a session with Rafael. My legs are feeling much better and he assures me that I should be able to walk tomorrow.  He took a photo of the acupuncture needles.

Acupuncture needles

Rafael the physiotherapist and his grateful patient

In the early evening I took a taxi with Fr Paddy Mugavin to the “Reina Sofia” Hospital in Tudela. Paddy, who speaks fluent Spanish having been a missionary in Chile for six years in the late eighties and early nineties, was my interpreter. I could not have been happier with care I received.  My blood pressure was 138 over 78, and my heart rate was 58. I had blood and urine tests. All is well. The doctor prescribed some Daflon tablets to drain the build up of fluid in my shins as a result of the trauma and some special Compressport socks which we purchased from a Farmacia on on way back to the hotel.

The nurse taking my blood at the Tudela Hospital

The doctor says I can begin to walk the Camino again when the swelling in my legs goes down.

Today we enjoyed a rest day in Logroño, the capital city of the autonomous region of La Rioja.  Fermin took us to visit the 16th century Cathedral of “La Redonda” with its two Baroque towers called “Las Gemelas” (the twins).

The rest day in Logroño gave us the opportunity to wash our clothes, rest, recuperate, stock up on supplies, make use of facilities such as the post office, and to visit the old city.

We are staying in the Hotel Cuidad de Logroño in downtown Logroño, and across from the González Gallarza Park.