As part of our Jubilee reflections, we asked Samuel Mapletoft, one of our diocesan seminarians, to share his experience of pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago, a time-honoured penitential route and a demanding challenge requiring both mental and physical stamina.
“As I come to the end of the propaedeutic year,* I have been reflecting on the experience of this year of seminary formation. One of the highlights of the year was the opportunity to go together as a college on the Camino de Santiago.
On Monday 28th April, a group of 22 seminarians and six members of the formation team from the Royal English College, Valladolid, set out to Ferrol to begin the Camino Ingles – the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela which begins on the north coast of Galicia, and travels south through that beautiful part of Spain to the tomb of St James. The 116km route had been taken by many pilgrims before, and is the traditional route taken by English pilgrims.
Our pilgrimage started off precariously – we had no idea if we would even make the first day. Before we left Valladolid early on Monday morning, few of us had heard the word ‘apagón’ before, but a national power outage put us in a peculiar position. After some back and forth trips in the support van, we realised our hotel would host us, and our Camino could continue. From there, the journey was much easier. It was simply a case of putting one foot in front of the other, day after day, and watching the kilometres fall as we journeyed together through the lush countryside of Galicia. There is something freeing about walking the Camino. Being removed from the trappings of modern life opened us up to the beauty of our common home, and the restorative power of being in nature. Feeling the breeze along the estuaries, smelling the eucalyptus forests, and watching the birds flying overhead was grounding.
The journey together also opened us up to each other. We had already spent several months together in our seminary, however the new context we were in would mean we were much more receptive to listen to each other. I learned much more on those few days about my seminarian brothers than I had for some time. All it took was to journey together on the road. As on any pilgrimage, much time was devoted to silence and to prayer. Here, I carried with me prayer intentions from home and from people across the diocese. I kept you in prayer as I walked.
There was a sense of relief as we approached the venerable city of Santiago de Compostela. The cathedral towers grew closer and we knew that we had reached our goal. From there, it was a simple matter of avoiding the thunderstorms to take a group picture, collect our Compostela (the certificate of completion), visiting the tomb of St James, and attending the Pilgrims Mass. To be surrounded by thousands of pilgrims who had made similar journeys was a testament to the universality of our Church. It is a memory that will stick with me forever. And then it was time to return.
We set off in search of St James the Greater, an apostle. Through him, we were seeking Him who he knew – Jesus. In finding St James, and therefore Jesus, we found ourselves in the communion of the Trinity, and in so doing, better know ourselves. This was also the purpose of the propaedeutic year. The year spent in Spain is one spent contemplating the Word of God, and to accept the call to discipleship as we prepare for the next stage of seminary formation. The Camino together was simply a part of this, and in a ‘way’, the propaedeutic year in miniature.”
*The Propaedeutic year is a dedicated period of discernment and spiritual formation designed for men considering the priesthood.