As I imagine boarding the British Airways flight in full regalia of hiking boots and backpack, I think about the whole North American "backpack Europe" after college thing. Since I never graduated college, got caught up in trying to figure out who I was and all that adult responsibility, the dalliances of youth got postponed for me. Maybe now is my chance even if I am still trying to figure out just who it is that I am. Just maybe this will bring me closer to knowing that.
If you don't want to read about some of the aspects of spirituality that have brought me to this point, feel free to skip over this posting!
While I have never been affiliated or indoctrinated into or with a particular 'religion', aside from being baptized a Methodist, (thanks Mom and Dad) I consider myself a deeply spiritual person. I feel this has given me an unclouded view and Spirit could begin to grow me in a more open sense. I have, like all people, aware or not, been on a "journey" since the day I was born. Whether you choose to believe it or not for yourself, I feel I have been guided all of my life. This is not exclusive to certain people. I believe there is not one of us who is not imbued with the 'stuff' of creation and that we are all aspects of divine nature. We were, after all, created in His image as the bible says. I also believe that God is so much bigger than the box of our humanness and the ever present temptation of man to want to close him off and separate him and hold him exclusive within that box. I am in awe of and respect the myriad ways and paths that God uses to draw his children ever closer.
The history of the Camino de Santiago and Spain as a whole, is and has been, largely Catholic. I imagine a number of the churches and pilgrim support places on the way will be an example of that I am sure. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to retreat in silence on a number of occasions at various Catholic centers for just that, one being the awe inspiring Cabrini Shrine just outside of Denver. My learning through these experiences has been that they are very accommodating to people outside their own religious affiliations for personal pilgrimage and retreat. I've been grateful for that.
I have been hard pressed to find female mystics from any religion outside of Catholicism. I am learning that they had and continue to have so much to teach us about the experiential knowing of the divine, that is to say, the very personal nature of enlightenment. It is through this search that I have found two female Christian mystics who have touched my soul in the profoundest of ways. They just happen to be Catholic and they are both Saints. Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini and Saint Teresa of Avila.
I wanted to know more about Mother Cabrini. She was Italian in origin and came to the United States and ultimately ended up in Denver to create an orphanage for young girls. Their summer retreat center was what now stands as the Cabrini Shrine. It's a beautiful spot in the foothills and there are many gardens and walkways for contemplation.
This is from a room in the original building where the orphanage was and where we now have our own comforting space for contemplation and meditation or prayer.
From the book by Segundo Galilea "In Weakness, Strength" about Mother Cabrini: "Frances Xavier Cabrini had a solid religious and spiritual formation. But she was a woman of her time, and had not studied theology or the great Christian mystics. She did not read much; she read only what was required of her by duty. From adulthood, she had no spiritual director. She lived in an age when Catholic spirituality was markedly devotional; we know that from her childhood, devotion to the Sacred Heart had captivated her. But the young foundress had gone much further; of this devotion she created a mysticism in the loftiest and most authentic sense, in which were integrated all the values of Christian spirituality."
These women saints were examples of one who has committed their entire being to following the will of God. Which to me means the surrender of the habit of letting ego lead the way in life.
"To lose confidence dishonors God since it implies that God will fail us, which is impossible. It's always WE who fail and place impediments to the work of grace. So, from now on instead of a lack of trust, I will place my humble trust in Him, certain that the more I acknowledge my misery, so much wider the field in which the goodness of the Almighty will act." ~ Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini 1885
I have also loved studying the life of Saint Teresa of Avila. I learned AFTER we had committed to this journey that she set up churches and monastic sites all over Spain! The last of which was in Burgos where we will hopefully be walking through and her body is also interred there! I will be carrying the spirits of these two very inspiring and devoted women with me on the pilgrimage.
"This magnificent refuge is inside you. Enter. Shatter the darkness that shrouds the doorway. Step around the poisonous vipers that slither at your feet, attempting to throw you off your course. Be bold. Be humble. Put away the incense and forget the incantations they taught you. Ask no permission from the authorities. Slip away. Close your eyes and follow your breath to the still place that leads to the invisible path that leads you home." ~St. Teresa of Avila
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