Day 7: Camino

September 30, 2024

Today we went from Aruza to Arca...about 12 miles.

Today we began with Holy Mass at the nearby church of St. Eulalia of Mérida. St. Eulalia was born in 292 and died on December 10, 304. She was a young Roman Christian martyred in Augusta Emerita, the capital of Lusitania (modern Mérida, Spain), during the Persecution of Christians under Diocletian.

I mentioned to the sacristan how I'd read their saint was only 14 when she died. The sacristan corrected me: she was 13.  They are very proud of their saint. The gospel today talked about childlike faith, and I couldn’t help but think about the faith of this young woman most of the day today.


It is also the feast day of Saint Jerome, the man who translated the Bible into the Vulgate. He did this project in a little cave right next to the place where Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He simply wanted to be close to Jesus. I asked many of the members of our group today as we were walking what their favorite Bible stories and verses are.  It was neat to hear their answers and the why behind them

I spoke with the man today who is a tour guide in the holy land. He lives in Jerusalem. He was giving a tour to a group of pilgrims on October 7. He took them to the airport and Tel Aviv, and then he reported for duty since he is in the military. He had met a woman here on the Camino, who was at the concert on October 7, and she somehow managed just barely to escape. She is here for healing. This man, he is a Jew. He spoke so fondly of Pope John Paul II, as opposed to Pope Pious the XII. This man told me that he had left a stone at the Cruz de Ferro, a place along the Camino where the custom is to leave a stone or other memento, often in memory of someone who has passed away, on the mound surrounding the cross. He left a stone there for his ancestors who were killed in the holocaust. A man next to him asked him who his stone was for. He told him. The man who asked was from Germany, and he embraced the man.

I met a wonderful couple from North Dakota. I asked them if they knew a certain priest, and of course they did. I then asked if they were familiar with Michelle Dupong, the FOCUS missionary from North Dakota whose cause for canonization is open and being investigated. This couple knew her and remembered her from before she was sick.

I also encountered several folks from Mexico. One of them is the cussing of a priest in Mexico City, who serves as the vice Rector of the Basilica of our Lake Guadalupe! She gave me his name and phone number, and told me that the next time I go, I should look him up and he can tell me all sorts of things and show me all sorts of things.

So many wonderful souls I came to chat with today and pray with today.

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