The Sunday Archive: The Pilot, October 1997 - Part 3

The Sunday Archive: The Pilot, October 1997 - Part 3

A visit to Santiago De Compostela
By Pauline Druiff

I climbed the steps of the ancient cathedral of St James, Santiago De Compostela, in north-west Spain, with excitement and anticipation, although half expecting to be disappointed. On other occasions — visits to St Mark's in Venice and St Anne's Cathedral in Montreal being but two — I had felt excitement and a sense of being about to have a profound experience, both spiritual and visual, but had been disgusted and disappointed at finding wonderful places of worship packed with tourists, each group with a guide shouting to be heard above the general babble. A couple of steps inside the door was enough before I turned and left, to wait outside for my companions.

Gingerly I stepped through the doorway and into the darkness to be entranced by wonderful organ music and, as my eyes adjusted to the comparative gloom, to bask in the radiance of the golden light from the chandeliers and the magnificence of the gold and coloured decorations on the screen behind the altar. As I stood there at the back, people passed me, many were bending to kiss the head of a statue of the Saint before taking their seats in the nave. These were worshippers, local people and pilgrims, coming together for the celebration of the Mass.

The cathedral at Santiago De Compostela has been a site of pilgrimage for hundreds of years and remains so today. Modern pilgrims are required to walk, cycle or ride horseback at least 100 kilometres of the Pilgrims' Way. On arrival at Santiago they receive a certificate and a welcome like none other. It was this welcome which we were privileged to witness. Mass takes place at intervals throughout the day. It is a grand mixture of the spiritual and the theatrical, which offers pilgrims a wonderful experience of worship and majesty. A fitting reward for a long and hard journey. But it is not only the pilgrims who are welcome. The rest of us, sightseers, tourists, rubbernecks, call us what you will, were, in an intangible, but also very real way, made to feel warmly welcome. Guides did their talking outside the cathedral, and inside people behaved in a respectful and quiet manner. We spent three hours wandering quietly round the great building, absorbing the atmosphere, the music and the spectacle of the swinging of a great censer. The censer, which must be at least 4 ft tall, is attached to a rope hung from the roof in the centre of the chancel and swung from side to side by four strong men with pulley ropes, so high that it reaches the roof of the side aisles, puffing incense and flaming dramatically. This was followed by the processing of a statue of the Saint accompanied by the beautiful chanting of an elderly priest.

I left the Cathedral of St James in Santiago De Compostela reluctantly, feeling I had been welcomed and included by both priests and people as they celebrated, in a very special way, the life, death and sacrifice of our Lord.

Bookshelf

Some books are fascinating and yet infuriating, don't you think?

Fascinating because when someone condenses wit and wisdom into a few memorable words we appreciate it and can more easily remember what was said: infuriating because so often we cannot lay our hands on the book or magazine when we want to use a particular piece which we know we have put aside somewhere!

There are two books of quotations which you might like to have on your own bookshelf. The first one I would suggest is the 'Lion Christian Quotations Collection' which has over 5,000 quotations past and present. This fat hardback is very well indexed by era, key words, themes and sources. I took this book home to look at it and got so completely engrossed in the wide variety of quotations that time slipped away and this article did not get started! Did you know that Henry Ward Beecher said that "the elect are whosoever will, and the non-elect, whosoever won't"; and T S Eliot said that "Destiny waits in the hand of God, not in the hands of statesmen."? 

The second book of quotations is a paperback called 'A Dose of Salts' and has 247 "sparkling stories from life for speakers, preachers and teachers." Simon Coupland put this collection together over several years and has grouped them in sections such as family life, faith hope and love clergy etc. The book is indexed by theme and Bible reference. Number 35 (not page 35) gives a supposed management consultancy view on the potential strengths and weaknesses for the twelve men chosen by Jesus of Nazareth — and concludes that Judas should be Controller and right-hand man! Very revealing.

Finally, a book for children and parents which will get attention even by its title. 'The Angel who flew backwards for Christmas' is about Astrid, the imaginary little angel who gets into a muddle when she puts on her wings and flies backwards into adventures but does get to Bethlehem to find baby Jesus. The price of £3.99 is good for such a colourful hardback book.

HEATHER BROOKS