The pilgrim’s path to peace

Spain’s Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage that draws people from all over the world. Dan Mullins shares the stories of fellow travellers who were healed by its majesty.

Walking for her life

Ruth Beardsley’s worst nightmare was coming to fruition. She and her husband stood in the kitchen of their Brisbane home holding a letter confirming that she had ovarian cancer. Two tumours. Not only was she facing a massive operation, the road to recovery would be long and arduous. Ruth is a fighter – a fiercely proud Canadian/Australian. She was up for the fight. Her husband, Richard, squeezed her tight and vowed to take a year off to care for her. They would do this together.

During her recovery from a successful operation, Ruth heard me talking about the Camino de Santiago in a radio interview with Alan Jones. The Camino is an ancient pilgrimage from the French side of the Pyrenees to north-west Spain. People have walked the Camino for thousands of years and pilgrims still walk this way today.

“You know what,” Ruth thought, “I’m going to get better and I’m going to do that walk.” It was her motivation. People say the Camino calls you. The call was ringing loud in Ruth’s ears.

Ruth began walking to the end of the street. Two weeks later, it was the local shops. By the end of the month

“I’m going to get better and do that walk.”

she could walk one kilometre. The nurses who cared for her called her the cat with nine lives. Six months later, she booked her ticket to Spain to begin the adventure of a lifetime.

The Camino’s religious significance stems from a shepherd in the early part of the ninth century who discovered the remains of Christ’s apostle St James in a meadow. The Spanish built a majestic cathedral to house his casket in Santiago de Compostela (St James “beneath a field of stars”).

History tells us St James spent time in what was then Iberia as part of his pilgrimage to spread Christianity. He returned to Jerusalem and was executed by Herod, and his followers took his body back to Spain, burying him in the field. The Vatican decreed more than a thousand years ago that pilgrims who walked to Santiago were granted a plenary indulgence – their sins were forgiven. These days, walking the Camino is less strictly religious – more an adventure of the heart and soul. Some walk for hope, some for guidance, inspiration, renewal or transformation. Some are grieving, some commemorating, forgetting, forgiving or simply praying with their feet. Walking the Camino is also slow tourism, living and breathing the Spanish culture one step at a time. The Camino provides a chance to live.

Disaster struck just days before Ruth was due to fly out to the

Camino – her symptoms returned

– but she decided to go anyway. Richard said, “If you can’t walk any further, I’ll come and get you.”