Sunday, 26 Sep. Logrono, 5.7 miles walking around

I stayed put today and it was wonderful. Things still aren’t dry though they’ve been hanging all day, but they’ll be better than they would have been and clean (ish) clothes will be great.

Logrono was near the site of where St. James appeared on his white horse to help the Christians fight the Moors. It’s a large city with a core old city in the midst which is where I spent my time. From The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: “The Spanish Inquisition, founded in 1478, did not cease operations until 1834. (Horrifying) It had a dozen or so regional tribunals, of which Logrono was one.”

Went to mass at the Iglesia de Santa Maria la Redonda with someone I’ve met up with on and off over the week. She was delighted to have company. Her hiking partner went ahead and she was taking a break and catching a taxi to the next spot later. I keep forgetting that it’s about 20 minutes by car between these stops. Tomorrow is 18 miles, I can see why she took a cab.

The mass was interesting for a few reasons. A – a mass – very different from sitting meditation. The lights were on so I could see a lot more of the church. Sat near the Mary that I thought was beautiful yesterday.

This is behind one of those side chapels so bit of a hard angle.

The best part for me of the service was the music being played while waiting for the mass to begin. The acoustics in these cathedrals are incredible. I wish they all had music playing. Then the nun came out lighting candles, putting the readings out and then the priest tottered out. And I mean tottered. I was nervous every time he rounded a corner or had to take a step up or down. When he did the communion service another priest came out and he was even more fragile, using a cane and slooowwwly making his way to the side of the first priest. Oh boy, this is not looking good for the church. There were probably 30 people total, all seemed to be active members except for Maryanne and me.

I just thought how hard it would be for this to be your comfort and mainstay and in not too long, there may not be a priest serving this church. My goodness, these churches are all over the country. What a huge change.

Most did communion, choosing whether the wafer was put in hands or tongue. Of course I was thinking of Rick the whole time and his analysis of tongues from being an altar boy 🙂

When I was talking about the service to Merv and Fiona, he said that the majority of priests world over used to be Irish raised and trained. When all of the scandals came out, 15% of all charged are/were Irish. In 2019 less than 10 men chose to be trained as priests. That’s a huge change. He was a Dublin policemen who did investigations and definitely knew what he was talking about.

But – I got to see the main cathedral in action and it was beautiful to look around and see the incredible detail of carving, painting and imagination.

Then I walked over the peregrino’s church – Iglesia de Santiago de Real. This seemed like a much more active community, lot more people, little kids, the priest was way more lively, could get up and down by himself and sang part of the service. I only caught the last bit, but was glad I went in. Somehow, this church and all of the statues and mentions in Logrono gave a feel for all the prilgrims who’ve passed this way over the 100’s of years. I’ve put photos of a statue of Santiago, the choir and the church and the pilgrim’s prayer. And tomorrow, my path starts in front of his church.