We have begun our 400km walk on the Camino de Santiago. Here we are in León, the night before Day One of the Camino, which was today. We walked 13+ miles and tomorrow the same.
As we arrived into León, we both thought about how significant it is to start our journey from a city which holds the name of the lion. Of course Sammy’s surname is Lyon, which comes from the Italian surname Leonelli, Sammy’s family. Also, Sofia comes from a line of de Leon’s on her mom’s mom’s side. We are both of the lion.
As we walked through the city, we were struck by the beauty and silence of the place. We headed toward the convent, where we could stay for 5 euros each. We came upon an old cobblestone plaza that contained the convent. The welcomers were so friendly and gave us our Pilgrim Pass (credencial de pilgrim), which allows us to stay in pilgrim shelters and gets stamped along the way until we reach Santiago. We were invited to receive a pilgrims blessings, and of course accepted! Every night at 10pm the nuns come out to the church for the night prayer and Pilgrim’s Blessing. We joined about 12 other people in this ritual. We didn’t expect to be so moved, but we were. The nuns sang prayers so beautifully, with such peace and reverence — just like The Sound of Music. We read along and sang too. Then the nuns came forward to bless us on our journey – that we stay protected and safe, that we find shelter, dialogue with Spirit and have an altogether blessed pilgrimage.
Why are we walking, and what are we going for? Honestly, those questions we expect to discover on the journey. This walk is a symbol of the journey of our marriage, the beginning, and the difficult but joyous path we walk together. It’s also, I’m sure we’ll discover a deeply personal journey where we can reflect on what our lives are all about.
What happens after the choosing of this path, we cannot say!
