What follows is my attempt to chronicle and recreate a few of experiences in Spain and France this summer for those interested. Focus primarily will rest on history and religion, and in particular the history that lives in the churches and castles that line the pilgrim roads to Santiago Compostella in Spain.

The Muslim conquest of the Holy Land in the Seventh and Eighth centuries caused the traditional pilgrimage to Jerusalem to become increasingly dangerous. As the Middle Ages unfolded, the journey across the Pyrenees and into Spain to the traditional burial place of St. James became the dominant pilgrimage route. The results were dramatic. The first great wave of Christian churches in the Middle Ages sprung up along the pilgrim roads - the age of Romanesque was born. Architecture, spirituality, culture and politics would all be dramatically affected by the great mass of Medieval Christians on the road to Compostella.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Feast of the Assumption

We went to the Vigil of the Assumption in Notre Dame in Paris. It was a wonderful experience. The cathedral was packed standing room only with thousands of people. The choir was magnificent and the polyphony was stunning

After mass the Cardinal and priests processed out to walk along the Seine with the statue of the Virgin


Don't get in the way of feisty nuns in a procession

There were seven boats to take everyone in procession down the Seine

The Cardinal's boat was in the lead with the statue up front
The thousands of people in the boats were given candles
All the boats were hooked up to the same PA and they prayed the rosary in different languages and everyone sang hymns
Notre Dame in the distance

Returning back to the cathedral
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