You Never Walk Alone

By Greg McEnnally

Today, numerous individuals find themselves adrift, seeking meaning in a world where various ideologies have faltered: Communism, Capitalism, Nationalism, Materialism. Amidst this ideological void, one ponders: What is the essence of life? Who or what can genuinely satisfy human yearnings? Each year, hundreds of thousands embark on the Camino, or segments of it, in a quest for purpose. In 2018, I joined this pursuit, starting my journey on the Camino Frances from St. Jean Pied de Port in France and concluding in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. This 800 km trek, spanning forty days, was a solo venture, but as this book reveals, I was never truly alone. Along the way, I encountered numerous individuals, sharing not only the physical path but also profound connections. I wholeheartedly recommend this pilgrimage – far more than a mere walk – to anyone earnestly seeking meaning in life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 28, 2024
• ISBN: 9781035840892

Greg McEnnally

After 14 years teaching secondary school in Australia, Greg McEnnally needed a break. In particular, he wanted to learn more about the Bible and Bible lands. He was also attracted to one very special Scripture scholar, Fr Carroll Stuhlmueller C.P., who was lecturing at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and also leading study tours of these lands. This was ideal—he signed up for six months study in Chicago plus three months based in Israel. This was in 1987. At the end of this year, he spent three years in Papua New Guinea, then ten years in hospital ministry, before deciding to sign up for another sabbatical. In 2000, he spent a further six months studying at CTU, Chicago, followed by a further three months in Israel, but this time based at the Anglican St. George’s College, Jerusalem. The rest of his life has been informed by these two marvellous years. This book is an attempt to share those years with others.

Book preview

About the Author

Greg McEnnally was born and raised in Sydney, Australia. For most of his life he has worked as a teacher, having graduated from Canberra University with a Bachelor of Applied Science. He taught science and mathematics mainly in Australia and Papua New Guinea, before switching to teaching English to speakers of other languages with a certificate from Cambridge University. Subsequently, he taught in Indonesia then ten years in China. In 2018, he walked the Camino in Spain, this book being an account of his experiences.

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to those wonderful people I met and walked with along the Camino. In particular, I would mention those marvellous people who are offering hospitality to pilgrims. I have been inspired by these people.

Copyright Information©

Greg McEnnally 2024

The right of Greg McEnnally to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The story, experiences, and words are the author’s alone.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035840885 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035840892 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2024

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

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Acknowledgement

While this book is entirely my own work, in walking the Camino, I relied heavily on the wealth of information provided by John Brierley in his book, Camino de Santiago, 15th edition, 2018.

I would also like to thank those wonderful people in the Albergues I stayed in along the route. Without them there would be no book.

The cover photograph shows a section of the Meseta, a 200 kilometre stretch of the Camino, a relatively dry and barren section, where there is little shade. The path heads towards a ridge and can be seen winding up the side. The path down the other side is steep. It seems lonely, but it is not: one is never alone. In fact, another pilgrim can be seen at the end of the straight section, about to begin the climb.

Preface

This small book is intended for those for people thinking of walking the Camino Frances. It is meant to be practical, to answer some questions. By writing of my own journey, I am hoping that people will get not only some information of what to expect but also a better feel for the Camino. Each person’s journey, of course, is different. You will meet different people and have different reactions.

For those who have already walked the Camino, this book should bring back many memories, helping to relive experiences.

For those who have not walked the Camino and have no intention of doing so, my reflections on my experiences could still prove to be beneficial. I hope so.

Introduction

A bold red cross with stylized, ornate ends, resembling a medieval or religious emblem.

We live in a society in which many people are lonely, in spite of the internet and mobile phones – possibly partly because of them. Our society is also secular, with fewer people attending religious services, resulting in weaker relationships not only with God but also with each other.

For some years, I had been thinking of walking the Camino Frances. This is a pilgrim route beginning in the town of St Jean Pied du Port in southern France and ending in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, western Spain. I had envisioned completing this nearly 800 km walk in 40 days, which is what I did, beginning on Thursday 5th July, 2018 and finishing on Monday, 13th August – 40 days. It was for me an incredible journey.

This small book is an attempt to explain why this is so and why you never walk alone.

Map of Spain and Portugal highlighting the Camino de Santiago routes, with major cities and pathways marked in red and blue.

Chapter 1

Why Bother?

For many people, the very idea of dropping everything for an 800 km walk is not particularly appealing. Just a couple of days into the walk, having climbed over the Pyrenees and walked long distances for several days, I was agreeing. By the end of day 6, I had had it: exhausted, legs aching, really tired. I flopped onto my cot in the albergue, Hospital de Peregrinos in a town called Estella. Why am I doing this? Greg, you are mad! I stayed prostrate for three hours, before getting up for evening meal. And yes, that night I slept like a log.

As the days went by, I walked far more easily – except for a dicky knee – and was really enjoying myself. By the end, I was having a ball. It was a fantastic experience, one I would thoroughly recommend.

Walking this pilgrimage is not a recent fad. People have been doing it for 1,000 years. Of very recent years, however, after a period of decline, it has become fashionable again. Why? What is the difference between the medieval pilgrims and our modern pilgrims? Before I began I surmised that this has a lot to do with faith.

Our medieval counterparts were expressing their faith by walking to the tomb of St James. They walked, or maybe rode a donkey or a horse if they were rich, because there was no other means of transport: no buses, no cars, no trains and certainly no planes. But what about the modern pilgrim? Why are they going to the trouble of walking when it is far easier to use mechanised transport? One man I saw was riding a horse, one family had a donkey, and indeed many people were riding bikes; but the vast majority walk. In the Western world today, society has become increasingly secular. Organised religion does not have the appeal it used to have: fewer people attend religious services; many people claim no religious affiliation.

With this background, why are people wanting to walk the Camino?

Religious practices may change, but the essentially spiritual nature of people remains constant. We are more than just material beings: we are spiritual beings. I surmised that people were looking for faith, searching for God. And they were. Listening to people and talking with them remains one of the highlights of my Camino.

However all of this may be, if you decide to walk the Camino, you might ask yourself the same question: why? What or whom are you searching for?

Chapter 2

Who Was James?

A bold red cross with stylized, ornate ends, resembling a medieval or religious emblem.

The Camino is a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, so it is fair to ask what this name means. Santiago is simply Sant Iago, or St James. Who was James?

Jesus chose twelve apostles. There were two Simons, two Judes and two James. The other six were Andrew, Philip, Nathaniel, John, Thomas and Matthew. One of the Simons was renamed Peter or Rock by Jesus and appointed by Jesus as the chief. One of the Judes is generally called Judas, from the town of Iscarios. Andrew was the brother of Peter. Phillip and Nathaniel were friends; Nathaniel is sometimes called Batholomew, which simply means that his father was Tholomew. So there are lots of pairs. Even Thomas was a twin. That left poor old Matthew out on a limb, but he was a tax collector, and who likes tax collectors? I do not think he got on too well with Peter who was a tax evader! Matthew, who wrote one of the Gospels, pairs himself with Thomas.

That leaves us with the two James. Perhaps unfairly, one is called James the Less, while the other – naturally – is called James the Greater. Now which one is which? James the Less was a cousin of Jesus, or brother as some translations have it, forgetting that in the language of Jesus’ day there was no separate word for cousin. This is not surprising in a society where the concept of family was wider that simply Mum, Dad and the kids. The same is still true in many societies today, including Papua New Guinea, where I worked for a few years. This James the Less became the first bishop of Jerusalem. He was rather conservative by nature and as such became something of a thorn in the flesh for St Paul. James the Greater was the brother of John, both being sons of Zebedee (and Joanna?). James and John were also called Boergenes or Sons of Thunder, because they wanted to call down fire from Heaven to destroy a Samaritan village which refused them hospitality. Goodness, you would not want to mess with them. He was also part of Jesus’ inner circle of Peter, James and John. These were the only three at the Transfiguration and were present at Jesus’ agony in the garden – until they fell asleep. This James was the first of the apostles to be martyred, being beheaded by Herod in AD 42.

A stone statue of a pilgrim holding a staff, set against a green backdrop, commemorating the Camino de Santiago route.

Photo 1: St James the pilgrim

Photograph 1 shows a statue of St James as pilgrim, with shell motifs on him and behind him. You will find a number of these statues along the way.

Now legend takes over. It is alleged that James preached in western Spain. Mt 28/19 tells us that Jesus instructed his disciples to preach and baptise to all the nations. One interpretation of this is that were sent to the ends of the earth. Now it just so happens that the Romans considered western Spain to be the end of their empire, at least in the west. Beyond is the Atlantic Ocean, which was not crossed till Columbus in 1492, which is indeed considerably later. The Roman name for the western-most cape was Finis Terrae or The End of the Earth. Today it is called Finisterre. Many people do not end their pilgrimage in Santiago, but travel on about another 100 km to Finisterre. Did James go there? Jesus most probably died in AD 30 (when the feast of Passover happened to fall on a Saturday). James died in AD 42, so he certainly had plenty of time, though he was martyred in Jerusalem. Hence it is certainly feasible.

Then it becomes a little more problematic – or fanciful. Legend has it that some of James’ disciples (read converts) came back to Jerusalem with him. This too is feasible. After all, Paul did exactly the same thing. It is alleged that after James’ death they took his body back to Finisterre. What is meant by body? There was no refrigeration in those days; no jet planes either. A common practice was to leave the body for a year, until after the flesh had rotted, then put the bones into a special box, called an ossuary. Maybe they did this.

The legend continues. In Finisterre, a local queen took umbrage at James’ imminent interment in her territory so chased these Christians out. They found a field about 100 km away and it is there that they buried the body, in a district known as Lebradon.

Time passed and legend again takes up the thread. In AD 813, a shepherd boy called Pelayo was led to a field in Lebradon by a bright star, where a body was found buried. It was a local bishop – possibly an entrepreneurial type – who decided that this was none other than the body of St James. Goodness: should he not have done a DNA analysis? Here he built a church over the site, which ever afterwards has been known as Santiago de Compostela, or Saint James of the Field of the Star. In Latin, campus means a field, while stella means a star.

More time passed. It usually does. Muslims invaded Spain and after centuries of Muslim rule, the Christians were fighting back. They have a habit of doing that. In southern Europe, they endured 360 years of Muslim attacks, enslavement, raping of their women and burning of their towns before they decided to fight back in what we know as the Crusades. So too in Spain Christian armies were formed, and what better figure to lead them than St James. In Santiago I saw paintings of St James, sword in hand leading the Christian armies and cutting off the heads of Muslim soldiers. How ironic: St James was himself beheaded. I wonder what he thinks of these depictions. In AD 844, a Christian army defeated the Muslims at Compostela itself – naturally with St James leading the charge. Other battles followed.

Eventually all of Spain was won back from the Muslims and St James was declared to be the patron saint of all Spain. He still is.

Meanwhile, Christian armies were not doing so well in the Holy Land, which had also been invaded by Muslim armies. By the end of the 12th century, the Holy Land was once again in Muslim hands. The Jews of course had been kicked out centuries earlier, though there were always some still in Palestine, and they always claimed this land as the land God had given to them. Once again they still do. Since Christian holy sites had been overrun, the Christians were looking for another pilgrim destination – Santiago filled this gap. Traditionally, of course,