THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA
August 24 – Carrion de Los Condes, Spain
Yesterday we went to an evening mass at the Church of Santa Maria! To say it was special is an understatement! I really can not describe how I felt and how much this mass moved me and touched my heart!
I Love this Church in Carrion de Los Condes, Spain!
WHAT MADE THE MASS SO SPECIAL?
I was immediately captivated by the voice of one of the nuns who was singing and playing the guitar, as we enter the church.
Although she was singing in Spanish, she had the most beautiful angelic voice and I was immediately drawn to the lyrical music she was playing.
Her voice throughout the mass was captivating!
I remembered the priest from two years prior when I was at the same mass. He was enthusiastic. He was sincere, and he truly was happy to have people celebrating an evening mass at his church.
I believe that if he were the priest at my church, I would be there every single Sunday!
What Was The Surprise?
The priest finished mass and then he called ALL CAMINO PILGRIMS to come to the altar. There were over 25 of us. He had us each indicate which country we were from. He held his hands out and blessed us all. The priest then came to us one by one and making the sign of the cross on our foreheads, blessing each of us with a safe and happy Camino!
ANOTHER EXTRA SPECIAL SURPRISE!
The small star below was handmade by nuns. The nuns belong to The Order of St. Augustine. (My late father’s name was Agostino/Augustine).
I remember receiving this star the last time which I was there, which was two years ago. I have never taken that start of my wallet in the last two years. I can’t tell you how almost tearful I became as they were getting ready to give us another one.
One of the Spanish nuns got up and had a translator who translated what she was saying into English.
She basically said the stars were made and coloured individually by the nuns and given to all pilgrims. The star represents the light and the corners of the star represent the hands of God to reach out and protect us as we walk our journey of the Camino. The star’s light is like the light of Christ in our hearts encourages us to be kind and thoughtful to others and thankful for our blessings!
I went up and showed the nun the star given to me 2 years ago at this very Church! I wanted her to know that I’ve had carried that paper star in my wallet for two years and also to let her know just how important that star was to me. I wanted her to know that I didn’t treat it as a piece of coloured paper and that for me, it represented everything that they wanted it to represent when they gave it to us two years ago. I told her how special this mass was and to ask her to Thank ALL the sisters for their efforts in making the stars! Now I am blessed with the second star!
The priest said that each time we look at this star, someone in the world is thinking of us! VERY SPECIAL!
We ended the blessing by gathering around this statue of Santa Maria of the Camino while a special blessing song was sung. This gathering song is a tradition that many pilgrims have done for over 800 years! Yes, the angelic voiced nun did sing the song!
I lit candles right there! I lit a candle for my family. I lit a candle for my Camino family that I’m travelling with. I lit a candle for the victims of the Barcelona terrorist attack, and all other victims of terrorism. I lit a special candle for my friend Kathy Hein, who was there with us last year. I told her that if I went to that mass, I would do that for her!
MY SPECIAL REQUEST TO YOU IF YOU HAVE READ THIS POST!
If you are reading this post, I simply ask you to do one kind thing for somebody in the next few days. Do it for no reason other than just to be kind. I hope in doing whatever deed it is, it makes you smile.
TOTAL TRACKER STEPS – 21,345
KEEP WALKING!
