PILGRIMAGE TO SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
"Chronicle of Love"
~Santa MarÍa de Roncesvalles~
~Santa María de Nájera~
~Santa María de Burgos~
~Santa María de León~
~Santa María de Villafranca
del Bierzo~
~Santa María de Portomarín~
While reading a Medieval pilgrim guide, the Liber Sancti Jacobi, Codex Calixtinus (1139), Jack de Groot becomes intrigued by its contents. What exactly is a pilgrim? Why do ten thousands of persons go on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela every year? To what extent have the circumstances changed since the first pilgrims walked in the ninth century? How does one benefit from an experience which, very likely, will include some hardship? What to look for and how to find it? How to prepare? The author decides to become a pilgrim himself to compare his predecessors writings with todays realities.
On his way the pilgrim discovers that he becomes the protagonist of his own, private legend. Through profound thoughts, intimate conversations, inexplicable coincidences and through the imprints of his/her footsteps the pilgrim continuously relives and revives a religious tradition. The Chronicle of Love which emerges from this religious tradition proves to be even more intricate than the pilgrimage itself. It provides up-to-date answers to legendary questions.
.
The original manuscript (p. 153)
REVIEW OF PILGRIMAGE TO SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, CHRONICLE OF LOVE.
In: Bulletin, nr 101, March 2008, pp. 40-42
Written by Graham Ward (Confraternity of St. James, London)
"De Groot's take on the account of Santiago's life, death and subsequent journey to the westernmost point of Europe is delivered
in a colloquial, entertaining style which also succeeds in being informative for those readers perhaps less well-acquainted with
the Compostela story [...] one feels that the author has sifted fact from fiction, and layered it with an acutely
personal take on the story of James' miraculous journey.
De Groot succeeds in creating vivid pen-portraits of his fellow pilgrims, and one has the sense that, like most of us who have
been in a similar dynamic with other travellers, he does so with the knowledge that by their very nature, relationships forged with fellow pilgrims
are, by the very nature of the experience, temporal, not necessarily friendships forged for the journey beyond.
De Groot perfectly evokes, for example, the act of reaching O Cebreiro, skilfully juxtaposing the experience of arriving there
with an amusing account of an impromptu concert that just happens to take place, and as a consequence a night of denied sleep!
Elsewhere in the book he gives good account of his meseta experiences, and offsets the legend of the live chickens
at Santo Domingo de la Calzada with that of an evening spent in the Cistercian Hospederiá, punctuated throughout with the animated banter
of those whom he encounters over supper there.
By and large, de Groot's Chronicle of Love sustains a strong evocation of the pilgrim experience throughout and is a worthy
addition to any pilgrim's library."
The author sincerely thanks the following persons
for their suggestions and corrections while writing the book:
Emily Burns-Higley, New York: proofreading (see picture below)
Professor Alfredo Martínez Expósito (University of Queensland, Australia)
Ignacio Jiménez (Brisbane: religious contents)
Tina Richardson (New Orleans: corrections, formatting) (See picture below)
Javier Guerrero Méndez (Granada: computer programming)
REAL COLEGIATA CHURCH, RONCESVALLES (STONE STAIRS ON THE LEFT, MENTIONED ON THE FIRST PAGE)
THE FOLLOWING IMAGERY ACCOMPANIES THE BOOK:
* * *
Madrigal al Cibda de Santiago
Chove en Santiago
meu doce amor.
Camelia branca do ar
brila entebrecida ô sol.
Chove en Santiago
na noite escura.
Herbas de prata e de sono
cobren a valeira lúa.
Olla a choiva pol-a rúa,
laio de pedra e cristal.
Olla no vento esvaído
soma e cinza do teu mar.
Soma e cinza do teu mar
Santiago, lonxe do sol.
Agoa de mañán anterga
trema no meu corazón.
Federico García Lorca
***
Love song to the City of Santiago
It rains in Santiago
Darling
A white camelia in the air [a cloud]
overshadows the sun.
It rains in Santiago
In the dark night
Silver grasses of sleep [his moving eye browes]
Cover a dancing moon.
Hear the rain in the street
Lament of stone and crystal
Hear in the vanishing wind
The shadow [dark] and ash of your sea.
The shadow and ash of your sea [Fisterra]
Santiago, far from the sun
Water of ancient morning [death]
Makes my heart tremble.
Translation: Jack de Groot
The "Credencial del Peregrino" and an introduction letter from the "Albergue de Logroño"
Santa María de Villafranca del Bierzo (pp. 100 - 101)
The church of Barbadelo (pp 107 & 31)
The shop at Palas de Rei closed a few years ago. (p. 127)
Jack reading from the Bible in the "Misa de Peregrinos", every day at noon.
The Jazz Man in Santiago (p. 149)
"... and soon you will return home, walking in our company, feeling proud" (page 154)
PUBLISHED BY:
UNIVERSITY PRESS OF THE SOUTH
NEW ORLEANS, USA
