If You Like Incense . . .

I have a church for you . . . but it is a long commute and You have to walk!  

But first a few other notes. 

I walked with Luis Miguel and Mariana to their hotel – it was close. I thought their hotel reception desk could direct me to my less luxurious hostel. Walking in the door I realized my reservation was at the same hotel / hostel – San Martin Pinario. This hotel is a grand old building across the street from the cathedral. It is also a seminary, but these days only the third floor is used as a seminary (Sept – May). The remainder of the building is housing for Peregrinos (hostel), simple single and double rooms; and more luxurious rooms if you want to pay more.  (My room reminds me of the room I had when I was in the seminary in St.  Paul, Minnesota).

After getting settled in my room, I walked to the Compostela Office to receive my Camino Certificate from the bishop. (As I walked down the street my phone rang. It was the hostel from last night. They found my sun glasses!  Now I have to figure out the bus system so that I can get back there to retrieve my sun glasses.)

The stamps I received in my Camino passports along The Way. Every stamp is dated, and two stamps are required each day for the last 100 km of the Camino. 

Certificate of Completion of the Camino, written in Latin with my Latin Canino name – Rogerium. 

The certification of the distance travelled on the Camino – this one in Spanish. 

As I approached the Certification office, Tomas (my Camino walking partner for several days was just in front of me). We stood in line together for about an hour. He started in St. John, so his Camino was almost 800 km.

The cathedral in Santiago is massive. Again, like Burgos, too large to be captured fully with a camera. 

The building of church the church began in the 10th century, and its glorious century was the 16th century.  It is currently undergoing  a massive restoration project. 

This is the “Holy Door” through which you enter to see the tomb of St. James (Santiago). It is said that the bones of St. James were “translated” from the Holy Land to Santiago (with different stories about how this happened).

The crypt of St. James. 

Some side chapels. 

The last photo is the Chapel of reconciliation, where confession and absolution are given face-to-face.
Now, for the interior of the nave of the cathedral. 

Half of the pipe organ. 
At the end of the Friday evening mass, the great thurible (a 5 ft. tall, gold incense pot) is lowered from the crossing of the nave and the transepts.  It is held above and slightly in front of the altar supported by a 3″-4″ rope on a pulley. 

Four strong young men in scarlet vestments lower the thurible, insert the lighted incense. Then they raise it and it swings the entire length of both transcepts from floor to ceiling. (Should Trinity consider a slightly smaller version of this thurible?)

The video below is in three parts – blast off, in orbit, and the landing. (It is best to watch these videos on a large screen.)

1.  Blast Off

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2.  In Orbit

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3.  The Landing

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They take Psalm 141 seriously in this church: 

Let my prayer rise for You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Incense is a symbol of prayer, but it also has the practical purpose of covering the odor of a thousand peregrinos who have walked 800 km in the hot sun for the last month or more.  

Sherry and her daughter (of Burgos and Astorga fame) saw me in the cathedral before the mass began. We planned to have a reunion dinner after the mass – with her Camino friend from Sweden. It was a delightful evening.  Fortunately, Sherry’s foot issues are now all resolved and she has her new debit card – so they are back in business. 

Pr. B