Today was an amazing day. The energy in our albergue this morning was different; you could feel it in the air. There was a level of excitement, everyone smiling, people wishing each other good luck and buen camino with just a bit more enthusiasm than most days. We were just shy of 20 kilometers from Santiago de Compostela, and everyone knew what was coming next!
We still enjoyed beautiful scenery, like this church in A Escravitude, just a few hundred meters from our albergue.
One more little church on the outskirts of Santiago.
Finally, the moment had come. As we approached the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela, there was an electricity in the air unlike any previous day on the Camino. We did it!
We had just enough time before the noon Pilgrim’s Mass to get to the Pilgrim’s Office to collect our Compostela. The Compostela is the certificate that confirms that you’ve officially completed your pilgrimage. They first inspected our credentials to ensure that we had an appropriate record of our journey before giving us the final stamp to certify our Camino.
Then they presented the Compostela! The Compostela is written in Latin and, in keeping with the tradition, the pilgrim’s name is translated to Latin too.
We then attended the Pilgrim’s Mass in the Cathedral which was packed with both pilgrims and tourists. The celebrant recognized the pilgrims in attendance by announcing every nation from which pilgrims had come in the last day, and the Mass itself was beautiful. We were surprised by the swinging of the Botafumeiro since it is only typically used on special occasions. Witnessing the use of one of the largest incense burners in the world as part of such a special Mass was remarkable!
After Mass, we paid our respects to St James for keeping us safe on our journey. We did this first by taking the steps under the altar to visit his tomb, where I knelt briefly and prayed. Then we ascended the steps behind the altar where there is a statue of St. James which pilgrims embrace. These were powerful moments for me, and sorry, no selfies with St. James. 🙂
After spending some more time in the Cathedral, we enjoyed lunch with some Camino friends we had met along the way. Then we checked into a nice hotel here in Santiago for a few nights, and after showers and some rest, we headed out to celebrate in style with wine and tapas of course!
It’s been a terrific journey and we hope you’ve enjoyed following along. We’ll continue to post for a few more days, so let us know if you have any questions or comments about this amazing experience!
