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.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

The Ignatian Trail: Part 2

After leaving Montserrat Ignatius journeyed to the town of Manresa. There he lived in a cave doing extreme prayer and penance. Within the cave he wrote the main text for the Spiritual Exercises and had profound mystical experiences.

We traveled there on the Vigil of the Feast of Ignatius, July 31st! The cave is awesome and we had a profound experience there.


The mountains of Montserrat as they appear from Manresa

The church built over the cave: Sancta Cova

The entrance to the cave
Isabel and I are standing at the entrance to the cave. Behind us is an altar. As we arrived and sat in the cave, an Argentinian priest showed up to say mass for the Feast of Ignatius by himself. He was great and he invited us to join him. It was an awesome and very spontaneous moment. We were the only four in the cave.

The altar piece detailing Ignatius in the cave writing the Spiritual Exercises




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