You just can’t make some of this up.
(And sorry but this includes a long - and somewhat unbelievable - story.)
The destination of any of the Camino routes is Santiago de Compostela, and specifically the Cathedral of Santiago and the tomb of St. James the Apostle. The current cathedral dates from the 11th century. The facade is incredible and quite the sight as you walk into the plaza (especially after 500 miles!)
The interior is also very nice…
…and of course a highlight is the tomb of St. James.
Upon completing the pilgrimage, it is customary to attend one of the four pilgrim masses held each day in the Cathedral. We chose to attend the mass at noon, and there was standing room only.
One of the very unique things of this cathedral is the “botafumeiro” which is an incredibly large incensor that is sometimes used at mass.
Unfortunately, it is not always used. In fact, it is pretty much hit and miss because someone must pay (that is, make an offering) for it to be used. Unfortunately, it was not used at the mass we attended. (By the way, you can see it in action in the movie “The Way.”). Because of this we decided to return that evening once again for the 7:30 mass.
Since I had already attended as a pilgrim, I thought it might be interesting to see if I could come celebrate the mass. After a quick Google search it seemed like it was possible and rather easy to arrange. And, in fact, it was. I talked to someone working at the Cathedral who directed me to the sacristy where I was told, “Just show up here around 7 o’clock and you’ll be fine.”
So, that’s what I did. A little after 7:00 I went to the sacristy and was greeted by two very nice Sisters. I told them who I was in my broken Spanish, and they asked if I had a “celebret” which is an ID saying that I’m a priest in good standing. I presented it to them and they quickly directed me to a room where I could find an alb. After vesting, I went into the sacristy where there were a few other concelebrants already waiting.
There were a few priests from Spain, one from Italy and one from Brazil. We quickly discovered that we all had a common language in Italian. (Finally learning Italian was paying off! Hahaha). A few minutes later one of the sisters came and asked me to step out of the sacristy. I assumed that they needed some information from us. But it was because someone had come to get some religious articles blessed and the sisters wanted me to do it in English. This actually happened three or four more times as well. So, basically, I am an official Cathedral Santiago Blesser now 😁
One thing that I learned that I had to do was sign the registry of those who would be concelebrating. I did this and then noticed that at one of the earlier masses a priest from my home diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend had also been there. I recognize the name (Fr. William Schooler) but don’t know him. However, I’m assuming a few people reading this will probably know him.
Incidentally, near the registry was this picture. It made me laugh.
About five minutes before mass started one of the priests who seemed to be in charge approached me and asked if I was from the United States. I said “yes” and he proceeded to ask me if I would read part of the Eucharistic prayer in English. I agreed to.
The main celebrant also had me elevate the chalice during the doxology (another priest had to nudge me to get my attention)….
…and then I distributed communion to the faithful.
Now, at this point I should mention that the main celebrant was a bishop from Spain. Earlier, I had asked another priest about him, and I only knew that he was from a small diocese around Barcelona.
Once mass was over we returned to the sacristy. After taking off my vestments, I just lingered for a little bit. I think it was partly to take in what I had just experienced, and also I wanted to thank those people who allowed me to do this. But they’re also seem to be something else that was just keeping me there.
I noticed that one of the other priests was looking at the registry book, and specifically looking at my entry. He proceeded to come over to me and asked if I was a Marianist. Of course, I said yes, and he went on to tell me that the bishop who had just presided at mass had three brothers who are also Marianists, two of whom I know relatively well: Manolo Cortez who was Superior General and whom I ived with in Rome; and Miguel Angel Cortez whom I met at our last General Chapter. I think my jaw must have hit the floor, because I couldn’t believe this connection.
The priest went on to introduce me to the bishop and when he heard that I was a Marianist his eyes lit up. We probably talked for about 15 minutes (in Italian). As I was leaving I told him I couldn’t believe that this happened. He simply commented, “It was a providential meeting.”
I should tell you that once again the botafumeiro was not used at this later mass. However, I think that at least for me this mass will be very memorable.
Buen Camino!
