Today was a fascinating experience coming into the very small seaside town of Cobreces. We knew that the local albergue was connected with a Cistercian monastery, so as we crested a hill and saw a two-spired cathedral in the distance of what we thought was our destination, we got pretty excited.
As we drew closer to those spires, I had a welcoming feeling to this beacon in the distance showing us the way, much like what pilgrims of previous generations experienced before the advent of GPS software on our phones.
The beauty of the cathedral was only surpassed by the beauty of the aged monk who welcomed us to the albergue. He could not speak a word of English, but he made it clear we were invited to the vespers service at 6:45. This proved to be a rich worship experience with the 21 brothers chanting most of the worship. Unfortunately, we were the only pilgrims there, and I got the feeling that the monks were surprised by our presence, though running the albergue and serving pilgrims has obviously been a long-standing ministry for this community.
Caleb noted to me afterward that he can’t remember any pilgrims we have met who are doing the Camino for spiritual reasons. I am sure pilgrims like us still are out there, but the Camino seems to have sadly become yet another thing to be physically conquered by people, rather than allowing God use it to do his amazing work in each of us.
A page from the liturgy that was sung tonight.