Journey of the Soul

my day started finding a local specialty coffee shop that roasted their own coffee. from the coffee to the all the ingredients that wanted to making a great cup of coffee latte mocha, and even the pastries use the best ingredients sourced locally and you could feel the passion from the owner. I went there when they opened at 8:30 and hung out for an hour getting recharged with three shots of espresso plus a mocha waiting for the rest of the group to arrive to pick up their certificates of completion.

at 9:30 we left to attend the pilgrim‘s mass in English and the priest just brought everything home started. I haven’t everyone stand up and introduce themselves where they’re from where they started the Camino and if they’re with a group, the priest, then one and two address the congregation about the movement of the body and the journey of the soul. It was a beautiful Talk. I wish we could’ve recorded it to remember more of it, but everyone that attended was touched the theme of love one another rang throughout the entire mass including the prayer of the faithful where the priest welcomed everyone to come up like a candle and to pray for those that they had paid for throughout their journey. we prayed for peace, Pope Leo, those who are still on the Camino ,those who were injured during the Camino, for a safe trip home, and all the personal intentions of those attending mass. I offered up prayers for all of you, my wife, family, friends, our CMASAS family, and especially for Mary Macie who is battling cancer for the 3rd time.

I was asked to do the first reading and was honored and humbled to be able to participate in part of the mass in front of some of our students and staff I thank God for having me proclaim while in Hawaii and giving me the confidence and courage to do so.

One of the things I was regretting most was not being able to secure having the Botafumeiro used during the 12 noon pilgrims mass at the cathedral. however, the Pilgrim’s mass in English brought such a sense of peace and calm and completion that Botfumeiro didn’t matter. Cathy Rebecca and I went from the English pilgrims mass over to the cathedral for the 12 noon pilgrims Mass at the cathedral. Again, we got there 30 minutes prior to mass and it was completely packed No seats whatsoever people lining the walls, It was a little bit overwhelming, but I was there just to stick it out and to take in as much as I could after all this was the end of the pilgrimage, and the continuation of my journey of the soul. during communion, I managed to stand in this little corner up against the pillar that was towards the front of the church that is until the nun came by and closed off access just after communion and made me go back behind the rope took us as a perfect opportunity, just to kneel just behind the rope, providing perfect site of the altar for myself and for all others behind me and into our utter amazement, the men came out with the rope that secure the botafumeiro to start the ritual. My soul was filled with the Holy Spirit with a sense of completion, grace and peace.

Botafumeiro

The Botafumeiro (“censer” in Galician) is one of the most famous and popular symbols of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It is a large thurible that hangs by means of a system of pulleys from the main dome of the Cathedral and swings toward the side naves. It takes eight men to move it, who are known as “tiraboleiros”. It weighs 53 kg and measures 1.50 metres; it hangs from a height of 20 metres and can pick up great speed.

The Botafumeiro is used for liturgical reasons, in the same way as a priest would use a censer at the altar. It operates during the Cathedral’s main solemnities during the entrance procession or at the end of the Eucharist. The purpose of this great censer is to symbolise the true attitude of the believer. In the same way that the smoke from the incense rises to the top of the temple’s naves, so must the prayers of the pilgrims rise to reach the heart of God. And in the same manner that the aroma of the incense perfumes the entire basilica, so must Christians, with their virtues and the testimony of their lives, impregnate with the good scent of Christ, the society that they live in.En savoir plus