Snow storms, snow photographs and a debate on whether Protestant pilgrims should take Holy Communion whilst on the camino dominated the forums this week.
There were photographs posted of 1.2m deep snow outside the Paderbon Albergue in Pamplona and of an Italian trying to shovel his car out of the snow. Check out the CaminoSantiago.com forum: http://www.caminosantiago.com/way_of_saint_james/pilgrims_forum.htm
A few pilgrims posted updates on the pilgrimage-to-santiago.com forum and one the 27th March a pilgrim said:
**Disappointed ... unable to start walk at
On the :http://www.pilgrimage-to-santiago.com/ Forum:
**I just arrived in Cizur Menor a few hours ago. The weather is beautiful, about 65 degrees or so and blue, blue skies. I arrived in Spain on the 26th and stayed overnight in Pamplona. The next day I took the bus to Roncesvalles and attended the Mass there. It was wonderful! There was a lot of snow and the camino path was not passable. You had to follow the main rode to Zubiri and then you could get on the path there. Although there was a lot of mud, it was awesome.
**During my easter holidays in Asturias (Camino del Norte) was snowing during 40 hours!! Beautiful sights from my hotel.
On the Caminosantiago.com forum:
**Hi everybody! I´m now in Portomarín.It´s still wet and muddy.Going to wash all the things I´ve got ánd hope to get them dry. Greatest problem; my boots which were once waterproof are soaking wet.It´s very hard to dry them.
On the Santiagobis Forum there has been an on-going discussion about Holy Communion for Protestants on the Camino. One member posted advice from a priest that ruffled a few feathers!
**By all means go to communion if you are a regular communicant in your own church and can say ‘yes’ to this being the Body and Blood of Christ. After all, when you are walking the Camino, you are probably a long way off from receiving the sacrament from your own church! And surely everyone on pilgrimage has the proper disposition!
Before the moderator stepped in and asked members to take the debate off the forum there were some interesting replies:**I think that this is very bad advice... I would not be so free in inviting non-Catholics to the Catholic communion rail.
**Non-Catholics may go to Mass, but mustn't receive the Communion. Receiving the Communion is reserved for Catholics.
**If one church thinks it has a monopoly on God how are we ever going to re-unite the churches. The camino is inclusive and so is Christ. Those who stick to such rigid interpretation of the rules only risk further splits. If you go to Mass/Eucharist believing in Christ who has a right to
refuse you?
**My question is why would non-Catholics even want to take communion? Is it to feel part of the group? Is it to find out how dry the host is? Is it to mock the belief? Is it because without it you
won't have had a "full" Camino experience?
**It is important to remember that communion not exculsive to the Catholic church but is one of the two most important Christian sacraments. Perhaps what all Christian pilgrims are seeking is to be in Holy Communion with Christ whilst on their pilgrimage and, as there are practically no Protestant Churches in Spain, they seek out the obvious places - the houses of God. For them this is not a meaningless ritual but a very Holy liturgy.
**Following the parameters you give, no one, I mean no Roman Catholic person, would receive the Eucharist today. No one would ever be worthy of it. A question being, does one need to be worthy to receive the Eucharist, or does receiving the Eucharist make us worthy?
Eish! So many opinions - all because some Italian men in the 4th C decided to complicate matters by including tradtions and laws into the sacraments. Perhaps the best advice comes from the 12th C in a Latin Hymn called the La Pretiosa:
Its doors are open to the sick and well
to Catholics as well as to pagans,
Jews, Heretics, beggars and the indigent,
and it embraces all like brothers.
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