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Inspire & Ignite Blog
ALMOST TRUE CONVERSATIONS FROM THE CAMINO IGNACIANO
Editor’s Note: This past July, Jim Broderick King ’87, Director of Ignatian Spirituality & Formation, and Annie Etling, Faculty & Curriculum Coordinator, joined 12 people from other Jesuit schools around the U.S. on a two-week pilgrimage. They walked along the Camino Ignaciano, following the path that St. Ignatius traveled from his hometown of Loyola to the city of Manresa.
Here are their reflections on that experience along with their spiritual guide, Fr. José Iriberri, SJ, referred to as Father here, recorded somewhat accurately from creative memory.
January 2019 | RJHS
AE: So, we’re really doing this?! We’re going to walk St. Ignatius’ steps through Spain?!
JBK: Yeah! This is really going to happen! I’m feeling pretty adventurous. Can you imagine? Barcelona, Ignatius’ cave, eating paella, some healthy pilgrim strolls, eating tapas, churches, museums! This is going to be amazing!
AE: So, we’re really doing this?! We’re going to walk St. Ignatius’ steps through Spain?!
JBK: Yeah! This is really going to happen! I’m feeling pretty adventurous. Can you imagine? Barcelona, Ignatius’ cave, eating paella, some healthy pilgrim strolls, eating tapas, churches, museums! This is going to be amazing!
Editor’s Note: This past July, Jim Broderick King ’87, Director of Ignatian Spirituality & Formation, and Annie Etling, Faculty & Curriculum Coordinator, joined 12 people from other Jesuit schools around the U.S. on a two-week pilgrimage. They walked along the Camino Ignaciano, following the path that St. Ignatius traveled from his hometown of Loyola to the city of Manresa.
Here are their reflections on that experience along with their spiritual guide, Fr. José Iriberri, SJ, referred to as Father here, recorded somewhat accurately from creative memory.
January 2019 | RJHS
AE: So, we’re really doing this?! We’re going to walk St. Ignatius’ steps through Spain?!
JBK: Yeah! This is really going to happen! I’m feeling pretty adventurous. Can you imagine? Barcelona, Ignatius’ cave, eating paella, some healthy pilgrim strolls, eating tapas, churches, museums! This is going to be amazing!
AE: So, we’re really doing this?! We’re going to walk St. Ignatius’ steps through Spain?!
JBK: Yeah! This is really going to happen! I’m feeling pretty adventurous. Can you imagine? Barcelona, Ignatius’ cave, eating paella, some healthy pilgrim strolls, eating tapas, churches, museums! This is going to be amazing!
April 2019 | RJHS | Following a conference call with the other members of our pilgrimage group
JBK: Umm, do you actually know any of these people?
AE: No. I guess they all seem nice; more women than men; from all over the country; wide range of ages.
JBK: Wide range of ages, sure, but I think I’m going to be the oldest.
AE: Well, I think Fr. Iriberri is older than you.
JBK: Maybe, but he does these pilgrimages all the time. Was he serious when he said 35 kilometers in one day? Guess I better start warming up and break in some better shoes.
AE: We’ll be fine. It sounds harder than it will be. Father did say we’ll be staying in hostels with all these people, right? Bunk beds? Bring our own sheets? I guess it’s not going to be the Ritz.
JBK: Umm, do you actually know any of these people?
AE: No. I guess they all seem nice; more women than men; from all over the country; wide range of ages.
JBK: Wide range of ages, sure, but I think I’m going to be the oldest.
AE: Well, I think Fr. Iriberri is older than you.
JBK: Maybe, but he does these pilgrimages all the time. Was he serious when he said 35 kilometers in one day? Guess I better start warming up and break in some better shoes.
AE: We’ll be fine. It sounds harder than it will be. Father did say we’ll be staying in hostels with all these people, right? Bunk beds? Bring our own sheets? I guess it’s not going to be the Ritz.
July 20 | Barcelona
JBK: Woot! This is amazing! I love it here. Kinda hot though, right?
AE: Yeah, they’re talking record high temps in Europe this summer. But seriously, this is wonderful. Great dinner – tapas! So, are you ready for this? I never really asked – why did you decide to do this?
JBK: I think I’m ready. Why do this? I think I just feel I’ve grown to know Ignatius so well, but I feel like being in his spaces will help me know him better and give me a sense of what made him. What about you?
AE: Thinking about that a lot these past weeks. I guess, after going to public schools right through college, I didn’t get to experience Jesuit education as a student like a lot of you and our students. Being at RJ for over 10 years, I’ve come to understand Jesuit ed pretty well through our colleagues and students. I think RJ does a great job giving us opportunities and formation as Ignatian educators—new teacher programs, national leadership seminars, prayer experiences, the daily Examen, retreats and immersion trips. But I thought maybe this pilgrimage would be a way for me to experience and learn through the lens of a student about this Jesuit way.
JBK: That’s awesome. I think we’re in for quite an experience. Another plate of patatas bravas?
JBK: Woot! This is amazing! I love it here. Kinda hot though, right?
AE: Yeah, they’re talking record high temps in Europe this summer. But seriously, this is wonderful. Great dinner – tapas! So, are you ready for this? I never really asked – why did you decide to do this?
JBK: I think I’m ready. Why do this? I think I just feel I’ve grown to know Ignatius so well, but I feel like being in his spaces will help me know him better and give me a sense of what made him. What about you?
AE: Thinking about that a lot these past weeks. I guess, after going to public schools right through college, I didn’t get to experience Jesuit education as a student like a lot of you and our students. Being at RJ for over 10 years, I’ve come to understand Jesuit ed pretty well through our colleagues and students. I think RJ does a great job giving us opportunities and formation as Ignatian educators—new teacher programs, national leadership seminars, prayer experiences, the daily Examen, retreats and immersion trips. But I thought maybe this pilgrimage would be a way for me to experience and learn through the lens of a student about this Jesuit way.
JBK: That’s awesome. I think we’re in for quite an experience. Another plate of patatas bravas?
July 24, 2019 | Loyola
AE: Wow! Incredible! We’re right where Ignatius was born and grew up. It’s beautiful here. And the Basilica is amazing.
JBK: Can you believe we just had Mass in Ignatius’ room where he recovered from his battle wounds?! This is a very holy place.
AE: Can’t wait to start the long walks tomorrow.
JBK: Today was an all time record high here. But it’s supposed to be a little cooler tomorrow.
AE: Wow! Incredible! We’re right where Ignatius was born and grew up. It’s beautiful here. And the Basilica is amazing.
JBK: Can you believe we just had Mass in Ignatius’ room where he recovered from his battle wounds?! This is a very holy place.
AE: Can’t wait to start the long walks tomorrow.
JBK: Today was an all time record high here. But it’s supposed to be a little cooler tomorrow.
July 25 | Somewhere in the Basque mountains south of Loyola
JBK: NOBODY said anything about starting off with five miles straight up a mountain! What the hell have we gotten ourselves into? Doesn’t feel a bit cooler than yesterday!
AE: That was rough! I’m out of water. You got some?
JBK: Uh, yeah, the three liters Father scolded us to bring for ourselves. What about yours?
AE: Just give me some water.
JBK: Fine. Bring more next time. By the way, how many more statues of Mary that miraculously appeared in a cave to a shepherd do you think we’re gonna see? I think we’re up to three now, by my count.
AE: Whatever. What I wouldn’t give for a tapas place right now.
Father: Come on, you lazy pilgrims, we need to keep going!
JBK: NOBODY said anything about starting off with five miles straight up a mountain! What the hell have we gotten ourselves into? Doesn’t feel a bit cooler than yesterday!
AE: That was rough! I’m out of water. You got some?
JBK: Uh, yeah, the three liters Father scolded us to bring for ourselves. What about yours?
AE: Just give me some water.
JBK: Fine. Bring more next time. By the way, how many more statues of Mary that miraculously appeared in a cave to a shepherd do you think we’re gonna see? I think we’re up to three now, by my count.
AE: Whatever. What I wouldn’t give for a tapas place right now.
Father: Come on, you lazy pilgrims, we need to keep going!
July 29 | On the highway ascending Montserrat
AE: How are you feeling?
JBK: Shhh! Father told us to stop talking during silent prayer hours. But I’m wiped. This is a long day. How about you?
AE: My feet are really hurting me.
JBK: I’m finally getting blisters and my knee is killing me. These hills are really tough. I feel like I’d rather have a frontal lobotomy than feel like this. But seriously though, I’m excited to get to the monastery.
AE: Ha! I’m excited too. Despite all the tour busses trying to run us over, this place is breathtaking. It’s hard being silent for this long, but I’m starting to enjoy it more.
JBK: It is refreshing. I like the meditations Father gives us. For being such a hard case when we started, he’s really a gentle, spiritual man.
AE: He’s very charismatic when you talk to him for a while. Like a guru.
Father: Look, pilgrims! There is the abbey where Ignatius held vigil before the Black Madonna and left his sword. And down there is the cave where the shepherd discovered the miraculous statue.
JBK: Well, that’s at least number four.
AE: How are you feeling?
JBK: Shhh! Father told us to stop talking during silent prayer hours. But I’m wiped. This is a long day. How about you?
AE: My feet are really hurting me.
JBK: I’m finally getting blisters and my knee is killing me. These hills are really tough. I feel like I’d rather have a frontal lobotomy than feel like this. But seriously though, I’m excited to get to the monastery.
AE: Ha! I’m excited too. Despite all the tour busses trying to run us over, this place is breathtaking. It’s hard being silent for this long, but I’m starting to enjoy it more.
JBK: It is refreshing. I like the meditations Father gives us. For being such a hard case when we started, he’s really a gentle, spiritual man.
AE: He’s very charismatic when you talk to him for a while. Like a guru.
Father: Look, pilgrims! There is the abbey where Ignatius held vigil before the Black Madonna and left his sword. And down there is the cave where the shepherd discovered the miraculous statue.
JBK: Well, that’s at least number four.
July 31, 2019 – The Feast of St. Ignatius | Manresa, Spain on the roof of the Jesuit retreat center
AE: Fr. José, who is your favorite Jesuit saint?
Father: Hmmm, I don’t know. I like Peter Claver and Xavier of course. Ignatius for sure. But, for me… it’s just Jesus. I only want to follow Jesus.
JBK: True. Sometimes we have to remember to orient ourselves that way. Look at that view!
AE: Montserrat looks so far away!
Father: That’s 25 kilometers.
JBK: Looks further, doesn’t it? Can’t believe we just walked that yesterday.
Father: You can imagine Ignatius in the cave right below us looking at this view, then walking back and forth, over and over to Montserrat to see his confessor. That’s dedication.
AE: Definitely a tough walk, but I really enjoyed it yesterday. The silent hours were really powerful for me.
JBK: Agreed. It was probably the worst day for my knee, but I didn’t really seem to mind. I felt more refreshed just … well, just praying silently.
Father: So, with it all said and done, what was your most important take-away from this experience?
AE: I thought I would say feeling more connected to our mission and history at RJ and in Jesuit education, which I do feel. But I think I’m more surprised at this deeper sense of myself and my relationship with God. I feel physically worn out but spiritually refreshed.
JBK: Me too. I originally thought I’d do this pilgrimage and be so nostalgic for all of these places where Ignatius was—the cave, that hospital he lived in, the streets where he begged, the castle in Loyola, on and on. Those were great, but I think what I’ll take away more than that is being drawn closer to God in the same spaces and by the same circumstances that drew Ignatius closer: simplicity, physical challenge, nature, the Eucharist, community.
Father: Ah, pilgrims, you see. The way isn’t just the last ten days, is it? Each day is a step. The pilgrimage just keeps going, no? You can’t be a lazy pilgrim and make the steps from here on. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
AE: Fr. José, who is your favorite Jesuit saint?
Father: Hmmm, I don’t know. I like Peter Claver and Xavier of course. Ignatius for sure. But, for me… it’s just Jesus. I only want to follow Jesus.
JBK: True. Sometimes we have to remember to orient ourselves that way. Look at that view!
AE: Montserrat looks so far away!
Father: That’s 25 kilometers.
JBK: Looks further, doesn’t it? Can’t believe we just walked that yesterday.
Father: You can imagine Ignatius in the cave right below us looking at this view, then walking back and forth, over and over to Montserrat to see his confessor. That’s dedication.
AE: Definitely a tough walk, but I really enjoyed it yesterday. The silent hours were really powerful for me.
JBK: Agreed. It was probably the worst day for my knee, but I didn’t really seem to mind. I felt more refreshed just … well, just praying silently.
Father: So, with it all said and done, what was your most important take-away from this experience?
AE: I thought I would say feeling more connected to our mission and history at RJ and in Jesuit education, which I do feel. But I think I’m more surprised at this deeper sense of myself and my relationship with God. I feel physically worn out but spiritually refreshed.
JBK: Me too. I originally thought I’d do this pilgrimage and be so nostalgic for all of these places where Ignatius was—the cave, that hospital he lived in, the streets where he begged, the castle in Loyola, on and on. Those were great, but I think what I’ll take away more than that is being drawn closer to God in the same spaces and by the same circumstances that drew Ignatius closer: simplicity, physical challenge, nature, the Eucharist, community.
Father: Ah, pilgrims, you see. The way isn’t just the last ten days, is it? Each day is a step. The pilgrimage just keeps going, no? You can’t be a lazy pilgrim and make the steps from here on. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
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