Raising them up

Why do pilgrims walk to Santiago? That question has been asked and the answer debated for centuries. Some of us from the moment we hear about it we are simply inexorably drawn to do it. For others it is a way or marking a change in life - such as retirement or leaving college. For others it is a way of meeting other people, learning a new language, experiencing a different culture. And of course for some it is a way to have an economical holiday. There are also many pilgrims who walk for other, higher purposes.

I met two American women recently who walked to Santiago, not for themselves, but in memory of people who have died. They didn’t know each other when they set off on the Camino Francés. They met on the Way. Both are small in height but huge in stature. Strong and committed their purpose was noble. Something of which all of us can be proud.

Sunny Cobb from Colorado was deeply saddened by the tragic killing of 12 people in her local community earlier this year. She decided walking in their memory would be the purpose of her pilgrimage to the tomb of St James in Santiago.  This modest, understated pilgrim arrived quietly. From our correspondence we were expecting her. It was a bitter sweet moment when she received her own Compostela and then was presented with a Memorial Certificate recording her pilgrimage and its purpose. The wording says it all:

In Memoriam

On the 3^rd day of November, in the year of Our Lord 2012,

 pilgrim Sunny Cobb arrived at the tomb of the Apostle Saint James

in the Cathedral Church of Santiago de Compostela,

having walked 800 kilometres from St Jean Pied de Port in France.

Sunny Cobb has dedicated this pilgrimage to the memory of those

who died or were injured in the tragic incident in Colorado.

We join with all pilgrims in expressing our sympathy

to those who have lost loved ones.

We pray that those who were injured will be healed

and that everyone affected by this terrible tragedy will be strengthened.

We remember in particular:

Veronica Moser-Sullivan     Baby Moser     Rebecca Wingo

AJ Boik     Alex Teves     Gordon Cowden     John Larimer

Alex Sullivan     Micayla Mede     Matt McQuinn
Jessica Ghawi     Johnathan Blunk     Jesse Childress

All surviving victims and their families

        

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

and may perpetual light shine upon them.

Within 24 hours,  pilgrim Maggie arrived. She had written to us in advance wondering how best to create a memorial to her friend and fellow pilgrim Enrique Luis Ferraro who had died on pilgrimage at Cacabelos. There proved to be no easy answer. With 200,000 pilgrims walking each year it is in the very nature of things that some will die during their pilgrimage. When this happens their loved ones often wonder what do to mark their lives. Some visit Spain and walk a part of the route. Others leave plaques or other memorials on the routes. There are one or two websites with lists of some of the names of those who died. One of these lists is held in the Pilgrims’ Office in Santiago. It isn’t complete. It only contains the list of the names of people for whom pilgrims have asked for a Memorial Certificate. Not everyone knows about this. It is a simple certificate which looks like a Compostela but which marks the passing of a pilgrim who set out to travel to the tomb of St James but who died on the Way.

We were very happy to provide such a certificate to Maggie in memory of her friend. In addition she attended the Pilgrims’ Mass that day which was dedicated to Enrique. Hopefully this was a fitting tribute to a life well lived during which he made several pilgrimages to Santiago.

Maggie’s pilgrimage for her friend has started a discussion here in Santiago as to how best we can mark the lives of those pilgrims who die on the way. I hope that the most likely outcome is a Book of Remembrance within the Cathedral in which the names of those who have died can be inscribed. A fitting and lasting memory held in a place which their loved ones can visit to remember.

And in my own tribute to these two strong American women who walked and to the memory of those they walked for – a song from another place, with another Book of Remembrance. Perhaps Santiago Cathedral will have one soon.

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
when troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
until you come and sit awhile with me.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.