The Reverend Philip Banks writes:

Santiago de Compostela

Sabbaticals for Church of England clergy are supposed to come roughly once every ten years, but somehow the time was never quite right and, although I’ve been ordained for 16 years, this is my first. A sabbatical is intended to be a time for rest and relaxation, travel and study, and for retreat and prayer, and I will be returning to Parish duties again in September – my first Sunday back with you will be for the Flower Festival weekend.

St James the Great

My exit from Parish life began with a ten-day walking pilgrimage along a part of the ‘Camino’ – one of the ancient pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. It became a major destination for Christian pilgrimage when the followers of St James the Great (Santiago in Spanish) claimed to have brought his body there for burial. James was an apostle of Jesus, and so pilgrims believed that, by coming to his tomb, they were able to come, physically, as close to Jesus as was possible. Pictured below is part of a triptych in Santiago Cathedral depicting James’s beheading at the behest of King Agrippa. Another part of the triptych shows the coffin’s journey to Spain: during a storm, the ship sank near the coast, and one legend describes how, when his followers recovered the coffin, it was covered in scallop shells – hence the scallop shell that has become St James’s symbol in art.

The Journeying

For those who can, I think everyone should make the journey there! Not for the destination only. For the walking itself is just as, if not more important, than the arriving. Often on the journey I had to cross motorways full of rushing lorries and cars. The speed of my legs and the speed of traffic seemed like worlds apart – and, as a pilgrim, “slow was beautiful”. And I met some amazing people on the way, including an amazing woman in her 70s who had travelled from Brazil in order to walk the Camino. Walking - sometimes alone, sometimes with others, either talking or in silence – was a ‘retreat’ in itself: a chance to come up for air, to reflect on life’s journey, to think about God’s hand In the past and to ask what God wants of me in the future. Everyone should have the opportunity to do that sometime.

Walking through Spanish towns and villages was also a treat and a privilege – the welcome and the smile from locals or motorists was wonderful. And the lure of good food and wine in the evenings ensured that I kept walking, even though some days were long distances. I met the (statue of!) the lady who picks all the Pimientos in Padrón (pictured above), and so am able to claim that I have eaten Pimientos de Padrón in Padrón itself – as well as lots of octopus and other atlantic seafood!

The Arriving

Ascension Day Fiesta weekend was happening when I arrived in Santaigo. So, as well as a fabulous Ascension Pilgrim Mass in the Cathedral, the city was buzzing with dancers and musicians and a traditional fair – the ferris wheel was very high and very scary, but gave beautiful views over the medieval buildings.

Those who walk though the Cathedral’s pilgrim entrance can see a tiny 12th-century roundel of the ‘Alpha and Omega’ (“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end”, says the Lord). Except that…  the Alpha and Omega are the wrong way round! Is this an accident of the stone-carver? Not at all: it is a reminder to pilgrims that, although their journey to Santiago has come to an end, their pilgrimage of life, walking the way of Jesus, can start afresh again – ‘Omega and Alpha’. So, amidst all the fun and celebration in the city and in the Cathedral (the famous ‘Botafumeiro’, a massive incense burner, was in full swing!), that small symbol is one of the things which I will always hold on to – that each day, life’s pilgrimage starts afresh with the person of Jesus walking by our side.

This comes with my love and prayers,

Fr Philip Banks