Coming Soon 2025 Holy Year Pilgrimage

Yes I am back - for now.   Needless to say - life has been hectic.  We recently returned from our 11 day Italian Shrines of Italy Pilgrimage in November with 43 great pilgrims. It was awesome to put it mildly.  Shown in the photo below is our group in front of one of the churches built  for St. Padre Pio in San Giovani Rotondo. 

   

Today I am announcing my 2025 Holy Year of Hope pilgrimage to Poland which I am calling the Poland - Pilgrimage of Mercy. Besides the cultural - educational aspects of international travel - the spiritual aspect of Hope - Mercy is very obvious. We will follow in the footsteps of St. Pope John Paul II as well as St. Maximillian Kolbe and St. Faustina. Travel dates are July 7-15, 2025 in the summertime specifically selected so that school teachers will be ale to join us. I can take a maximum of 44 pilgrimages so feel free to contact me at:       

                           DeaconTravel@gmail.com                             or call my cell at 630.334.5065.  Deadline to register is soon - so if interested please act  

  quickly.  Cost is $3899 per person double occupancy. 

  Click This Link For More Info: 

https://gateway.gocollette.com/link/1269336

Camino - Final Things

 Last Things 

Divine Mercy Sunday

April 7, 2024

It would be impossible to end my Lenten Reflection series of posts without mentioning God's Divine Mercy. On Good Friday we began the Divine Mercy Novena - 9 days of prayers celebrating Jesus' Divine Mercy - His love given freely to mankind - young & old - male & female - everyone.  God - Jesus - the Holy Spirit - does not limit His love - forgiveness - to any one group of people.  He is all for all - period.  With this novena - we celebrate and honor our Lord with all that is Divine and good.  The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is prayed daily at the 3 o'clock hour by many.  In a series of revelations to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska in the 1930s, our Lord called for a special feast day to be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter.  Today, we know that feast as Divine Mercy Sunday, named by Pope St. John Paul II at the canonization of St. Faustina on April 30, 2000. 

To Pray The Chaplet Click The Link Below

Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Buen Camino - The Journey That Never Ends 

Deacon Dale 

Day 47 - The Way - Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter!  

Jesus Loves Me This I Know

He Did It - For You - For Me - For Us

We pray that this day is filled with true joy and happiness and everyone gathers and celebrates in their own way.  Thank you to those who followed this blog for part of their Lenten reflection.  Thank you for your comments.  In this blog I showed select photos from the Camino pilgrimage that we walked in fall of 2013.  At your request I am posting the link to a video that is on YouTube from our Camino.  This will include our entire video file and comments that were posted daily as we walked those almost 400 miles   You are invited to get a drink and a snack and sit back and enjoy the video - it runs about 34 minutes.  Enjoy! 

https://youtu.be/IggCogi4HNw?si=FotJSMTdlu6QSze5

May Your Camino Be Filled With Easter Blessings 

Buen Camino 

Deacon Dale  

Day 46 - The Way - Holy Saturday

 Holy Saturday

A day of waiting 

Tonight the Easter Vigil - the Mother of all vigils.  This - not Christmas - the greatest celebration in the Christen Church.  Yes - celebrating the birth of Jesus - very important - the day when God came to earth as Man - Easter - even more important - celebrating Resurrection - the day Jesus rose from the dead - giving hope to everyone that they will one day share in that resurrection - life in Heaven.  Although apparently quiet and abandoned early in the day - a lot of activity going on inside church.  In my parish - the early morning Blessing of Easter baskets - an ancient tradition celebrated by the Polish and other Slavic peoples - followed by the final instruction and blessing of those who will be baptized and received into the Church at tonight's Vigil.  The Art & Environment crew removing signs of Lent - the purple banners and replacing with signs of renewal - Easter flowers - white banners - all signs of hope.  After sunset - the faithful gathering - marking the beginning of the Easter liturgies. 

This day on the Camino we finalized our pilgrimage - walking almost 400 miles - by ourselves - not alone - carrying cremains of my two brothers and my deceased sister-in-laws' rosary with us.  This day we head to the farthest point in Finisterre, Spain where we will say prayers and commit those cremains and rosary to the depth of the Atlantic Ocean. Jesus we trust in you - we trust that you are always with us - in life and in death - will always be with us on earth and in heaven - always.

Please do not drive your car off the edge - we are walking 

Heading to the edge 

Our goal in sight 

Up the stairs and to the left please 

At the end of the earth 

Happiness

Arlene tossing the rosary into the ocean - RIP Susan - Miss You 

Dale tossing the cremains into the Atlantic - RIP Dennis and Dean - Miss you

And on that day God shined His love on His Ocean of love 

As we celebrate Resurrection tomorrow on this Easter Sunday - we rejoice in the fact that no matter who we are - where we are - what we have done - have not done - God loves each and every one of us.  For those who believe - for those who do not believe - for those who question - Jesus is always there.  Just as we wait this Vigil night with prayers - Jesus waits with His Love and open arms - for you.

Buen Camino 

Deacon Dale 

Day 45 - The Way - Good Friday

Good Friday

Wrapping It Up 

Having completed the walking portion of the pilgrimage - we had just a few things to do before heading home. Initially we had anticipated spending 7 weeks in Spain - we finished after 5 weeks and admittedly were homesick as this was the longest we had been away from home.  Some had urged us to visit Barcelona or go south to Seville - we had already visited the southern part of Spain on a previous trip and trying to be reasonable with our expenses did not think spending two weeks in Barcelona would be justified as two weeks in normal hotels and restaurants would easily double our budget that we had allowed for the Camino.  We changed our flights and scheduled our return for 4 days later.  We wanted to go visit Finisterre - the purported end of the earth. Before anyone had ventured father west - Finisterre was the western most point of land in Europe.  Unknown to anyone - we had walked the Camino carrying some special cargo with us. I had a small container that I kept with me night and day containing the cremains of my older brother Dennis and my twin Dean.  Arlene had carried a rosary that belonged to Susan - my twin's deceased wife who - although not Catholic - had frequently prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet on that rosary.  Our intent - to send both container and rosary into the Atlantic ocean at the end of the earth.  Having ended Lent and now in The 3 days of the Triduum  - time to let go and let God.  Whatever one needs to let go of - now is the time - give it to God - expect nothing in return - except Joy as we all celebrate Easter this Sunday. 

Welcome to the Port of Finisterre - Doorway to the Ocean 

Another Monument Pilgrim - Sailor

The Harbor

Anchors Away 

Small Castle

Finisterre on west coat of Galicia, Spain - Atlantic Ocean 

For many pilgrims walking to Santiago ends their pilgrimage - for many others continuing on to that spot which was once considered the end of the earth - an added experience - seeing the Atlantic ocean.  In Lent many Christians observe the full forty days of Lent - miss the Days of The Triduum - returning only on Easter Sunday.  In The Triduum we celebrate with moving liturgies - the institution of Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood - The day of final atonement when Jesus was crucified - veneration of the Cross - the Vigil with a multitude of Scriptures and Prayers - as the faithful wait in anticipation of the Resurrection on Easter morning.  For those who are able - the Triduum is not to be missed.

Buen Camino 

Deacon Dale  

The Way - Day 44 - The Triduum

 Holy Thursday - The Triduum

The Botafumerio

Botafumerio  80Kg (167 pounds)  5 feet tall

At the conclusion of the Camino pilgrimage the majority of pilgrims will attend the daily 

Pilgrims' Holy Mass in thanksgiving for blessings received during their pilgrimage.  A large number of pilgrims are not Catholic - these pilgrims also attend the Pilgrims' Mass out of 

curiosity just to see the Botafumerio fly through the Cathedral at the end of Mass.  I am 

listing two video clips for you to see.  

The first is from the Pilgrims' Mass in 2011 - note the volume of smoke - originally it was not

 just signifying that the prayers rise like incense - in the early days of the Camino the 

pilgrims had spent a month or more walking - most without baths thus the smell was not pleasant and the incense provided a way to eliminate the stink. 

https://youtu.be/S_s2Rf0Z0eE

The second clip is from December 31, 2020 with much less people and the focus is strictly 

on the Botafumerio marking the beginning of the Holy Year of St. Joseph.    As you observe either or both clips - please use those minutes to reflect on your Lenten journey - the prayers 

that you offered up to God - flying like the smoke from the incense to heaven above.

https://youtu.be/zpobjTG99m4 

With this post we officially end Lent - tonight marks the beginning of The Triduum - the

three holiest days of the Christian Year.   Holy Thursday - Good Friday - Holy Saturday. 

Tonight at Holy Mass we celebrate the institution of Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood.  

Tonight we commemorate that day when Jesus told His disciples - Take and Eat - this is my 

body and in a similar way - Take and Drink - for this is my blood shed for all mankind.  After supper Jesus told them - Go and make disciples of all - baptizing them in the Name of the 

Father - and the Son and the Holy Spirit thus the creation of the priesthood.  As baptized Christians - have we done as Jesus commanded? 

Buen Camino 

Deacon Dale 

The Way - Day 43

 Completo?

Today marked the official end of our pilgrimage - the quest to walk to the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela - to reverence the bones of Saint James.  In the cathedral in a niche behind metal bars lies the container of those bones.  You cannot touch the container - you cannot see the bones - in faith you know they are there.  In reverence we stand - bow our heads - in thanksgiving we offer our prayers for a safe - pilgrimage.  We allow tears to well up in our eyes as we consider what we have done.  By ourselves - no tour guide - no bus - our planning - research - our faith has brought us to this moment.  In this Holy Week - our eyes fill with tears - as we thank our God for all our years of life - for all the Lents we have walked - for all the blessing He has given us.

In a Niche 

Behind protective bars 

Remains of Saint James 

Well deserved smiles 

Pilgrim Mass

The silver  botafumerio hanging top center 

The Botafumeiro is suspended from a pulley mechanism in the dome on the roof of the church. The current pulley mechanism was installed in 1604.  The present Botafumeiro is made of an alloy of brass and bronze and is plated by a very thin 20 micrometer layer of silver. The current one was made in 1851. The Santiago de Compostela Botafumeiro is one of the largest censers in the world - weighing 176 pounds and measuring 5 feet in height. It is normally on display in the library of the cathedral -  for certain important religious occasions, it is brought to the floor of the cathedral  and attached to a rope hung from the pulley mechanism.  It is swung normally once a week during the pilgrim Mass.  For special groups it can be used for a 450€ fee. On a future post I will show this being used at the end of Mass. 

Today even more pilgrims than yesterday waiting for their compostela 

Our Compostelas

Arlene's Compostela 

 Deacon Dale's Compostela 

Pilgrim Passports showing the stamps each of us collected

Pilgrim Passports - we collected one stamp for each albergue we stayed at. From Sarria we had to collect two stamps each day - one at our albergue and one at a church or restaurant we visited during the last 100 kilometers as proof that we were actually walking.  Those who were biking had to collect stamps from the last 200 kilometers.  Some people were so desperate to collect the stamps that they cheated by driving and not walking or cycling. Walking the Camino for residents of Spain is very important for their resumes when applying for some jobs and promotions.  For those who honestly prepare themselves for Easter - no proof required - God knows their hearts - what was done.

Buen Camino 

Deacon Dale

The Way - Day 42

 Rain!

The one thing we feared the most on the Camino was rain - rain produces mud - rain makes smooth rocks slippery - rain makes clothing damp and sticky - rain is not a trekker's friend. This morning - on our final day of walking the last 20 kilometers - we got rain. On the one hand - that did not make us happy - on the other - we were finally able to justify hauling rain gear with us for the entire Camino. At one point I was able to make Arlene realize how much lighter her back pack felt since we were wearing our rain jackets and pants rater than hauling them on our backs.  Although we had to cope with rain this day - we made very good time and were standing at the cathedral in Santiago by 3:30 PM in the afternoon. Neither of us - 11  years later - believes that we have actually done this - this was the most adventurous thing that we have ever attempted - just living in a foreign country as long as we did - has been an amazing experience. The adventure does not end there as we still had to visit Finestre - aka the end of the world - before we returned home. When we got to the Cathedral - we were going to get our Compostelas but noticed a security sign stating we should not bring in our backpacks- so we decided to check into our hotel room first.  After showering and cleaning up we returned to the cathedral to get our Compostelas - a procedure that took over an hour as the line was fairly long. On the Camino - we learned patience - Spain does not move quickly - the Spanish people do not move quickly - there is more to life than moving quickly - everything is to be savored and enjoyed.  In Lent we learn patience - hopefully a lesson well learned. In Holy Week we pray that God rain His love upon us daily as we walk towards Easter.  Lord - what do you ask of me this day? 

Ancient Camino Marker 

Arlene frowning at the trail - rocks & tree stumps no fun 

Rocks - small boulders - daily challenge - yes

We accept these challenges - life is full of them - walk around & continue 

Chilly morning & light rain - blue raincoat for our packs 

Orange creek - what's going on here?  Always open to surprises

Raining harder - time for torrent jack & rain pants - changing in tunnel

Ninja Dale - rain gear & blue pack covers 

This was our daily lunch - Coke + lemon slice and bocadilla - ham & cheese sandwich 

shared - Man does not live on bread alone - ham - cheese - Coke - prayer also needed

Rain stopped - removed hot sweaty rain pants  

This sign reminded me of my deacon brother in San Marcos, CA - RIP Deacon Jerry 

Dirt changes to blacktop & wind 

The hills never go away 

More shells in the pavement 

Santiago welcome monument 

Santiago, Spain 

Arrived! Back doors to Cathedral

Cathedral Square 

Welcome to  the pilgrimage office 

This office hands out certificates of completion - The Compostela

to approximately 250,000 pilgrims yearly - not all qualify

Waiting to get their Compostela 

More pilgrims waiting 

And still more - about 100 people the day we waited 

Technically - this ended the pilgrimage - as far as the walking portion - more to come to make this a true spiritual experience.  Just because we walk inside a church does not make us a Christian anymore than walking inside a garage does not make us a truck or car.  It takes more than that - there has to be a change inside - our hearts - minds.  Walking through Lent only proves we did the work - participating in the Triduum - celebrating at Easter makes the difference.  Our journey - continues.

Buen Camino 

Deacon Dale