Cathedral – Candle in a Cave

6 October 20266 October 2026

Santiago: Day Five

It was a very early start today so that I could get to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela when it opened and before all the other visitors. I was fourth in line and this little creature kept me company while I waited for the doors to open.

Promptly at seven, the doors opened and I made my way to the altar. It so much more glorious than this picture shows.

From the back, you get another hint of what you are searching for.

The little star is the clue…

According to medieval tradition, after his martyrdom in Jerusalem around AD 44, the body of St. James the Greater was carried by his disciples to Galicia in northwestern Spain and buried there. Over the centuries, the location of the tomb was forgotten.

Around AD 813, a hermit or monk named Pelayo (Pelagius) began seeing mysterious lights—often described as stars—shining over a wooded place called Libredón. He reported the phenomenon to Bishop Theodomir of Iria Flavia, who investigated and discovered an ancient tomb containing remains believed to be those of St. James and two of his disciples.

King Alfonso II of Asturias was informed and ordered a church built over the site. That shrine eventually developed into the great Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and became one of medieval Christianity’s major pilgrimage destinations.

The famous explanation that Compostela means campus stellae, “field of the star,” comes from this tradition. It is beautiful and very old, although modern linguists generally think the actual origin of the name Compostela is different. The star, nevertheless, became one of Santiago’s enduring symbols—heaven itself, in the legend, pointing pilgrims toward the apostle’s resting place.

Taking several steps further down, you find the Apostle James. It is very moving.

I had about 30 seconds with him alone, then the other pilgrims began filing in, but for those 30 seconds… yeah.

I have now prayed before the remains of Peter, Paul, James, Josémaría Escrivá, John Paul II, and several others (and let’s not forget Fatima). It is always an experience and you feel the… what?… connection seems like such a weak word.

Different angles of the cathedral…

I came back and visited with a lady from Brazil. She is a lawyer and an author. All of her books are in Portuguese, but if you like…

From there, I was off to the “office.” I continued to work on my report on the artwork and other bits of San Fiz’s history while attending to the duties. Visitors come in singles or many at once. It is very rare that I’m in the church alone.

When I am, I take silly pictures (or proof that I’m actually here!)…

There was octopus for lunch with roasted potatoes and chips with chocolate-filled biscotti for dinner… just working the spectrum.

As a hint to the “research project”: this is the baptismal font located in the church. The base and pedestal are from two different centuries. I found the seven holes on the rim interesting and wondered what they were for. Research indicates that there was perhaps a locking lid (formally required) and several other instances could be found, so I asked to recreate what it may have looked like. How the font currently looks…

Based on intact examples, a rendering of the font may have looked something like this…

Is that what it would have looked like? I don’t know, but I’m making a fairly educated guess that it is close.

Something to do while I attend to the church and visitors.

I pray you are all well. I am happy to light a candle for you in the Church of San Fiz if you like. Just send me a note or comment on this post.

Blessings!

FYI: Her Royal Felineness seems a little less hissed off than a few days ago and also appears to be coming close to slinkying off the counter…

2 October 2026

Santiago: Day One

A partial tour of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. I’ll be going back for more.

Portico of Glory by Master Mateo and his workshop. You can no longer enter the cathedral from this entrance and must pay to see the portico. Of course I did. You can see the hand print where thousands upon thousands of pilgrims have touched it, but you can no longer join them (the guard is there to see to it that you don’t.) It is glorious and will be well preserved. No pictures allowed. The photo was available online.

This was followed by a tour of the rooftop, and yes, my legs are still wiggly from all the steps.

The progression of the pictures. St. James from below. St. James zoomed in from below. The back of St. James from the top.

Other shots from the roof.

Afterward, I stopped by “the office” — San Félix de Solovio (aka: San Fiz). All the pictures are from the inside because I forgot to take one outside.

I was not expecting to “work” today, but the priest who was here had to leave early, so I took the Mass at 4 p.m. I have not been that nervous praying the Mass since my first time!

The brief history provided to pilgrims:

This church is mentioned in the Codex Calixtinus and is associated with the first pilgrims. Legend has it that this was the first church in Compostela and the home of a hermit named Paio, who, guided by a star, was able to discover the tomb containing the remains of Saint James. The pilgrim Leon de Rosmital, who traveled between 1465 and 1467, wrote in his diary: iOn the outskirts, before entering the city, there is a small Galician church believed to have been built by Saint James, where he lived while preaching in Galicia.”

Historians date the original church on this site to the 9th century. Damaged during the Arab invasions, it was rebuilt around 1122. In 1316, a portico and a polychrome tympanum depicting the Adoration of the Magi were added.

The tower was added several centuries later.

The early medieval church was destroyed by Almanzor and rebuilt in the 12th century by Diego Xelmirez. In the 18th century, it was rebuilt once again by Simón Rodríguez, who significantly expanded the church grounds and built a new bell tower, whose design was often imitated throughout Galicia in the following years.

At a side altar. She is beautiful… Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (Mary, Mother of Sorrows)

She is Mary alone in her grief after Christ’s Passion. Attributed to Galician sculptor José Ferreiro, she wears dark mourning colors, tears visibly streaming down her face. The sword recalls Simeon’s prophecy, while her upward gaze transforms sorrow into prayer, surrender, and hope.

Other pieces throughout the church that I plan to learn more about during the week.

It was then time for dinner because I forgot to eat lunch. Let’s just say, “I’ll be going back.”

Taberna Montes— a wonderfully Galician meal: zamburiñas a la plancha, small scallops grilled in their shells with olive oil, garlic, and herbs, followed by pulpo á feira, tender octopus dressed simply with olive oil, coarse salt, and smoky pimentón. I washed it all down with a crisp, refreshing glass of Albariño—Galicia on a plate.

The lines for the public areas of the Cathedral are long. Maybe not tomorrow, but I will be up early one day this week to get in at 7 a.m. while pilgrims on their way are not yet here and pilgrims who are here are sleeping in.

I pray you are all well and happier than The Queen who is not yet sociable at the Cat Resort (I get her a room to royal self and she sleeps in the darkest corner.)

18 April 2026

Travel: Ghent, Belgium to Rouen, France – Day Five & Six

My days may be off, but we are seeing the world. I hope this post is more than a photo dump like the other day, but… I’ve experienced so much. Let’s see what happens…

Yesterday was a travel day extraordinaire! Twelve hours from point A to point B. One of those hours was stupidity on my part in not knowing how to read my ticket, the other eleven hours were automobiles and buses (two of them to be exact). The first half of the trip was good, but when I hit Paris — OY! Note to self: when reading your bus ticket, don’t look for destination—look for bus number. I was probably standing directly next to my outbound bus for thirty minutes, but the board never said, “Rouen.” Instead, it said the next stop (whatever that was), and I missed it. Had to purchase a new ticket for the next bus. Dang near missed that one as well until I realized my mistake.

There was a fun sight along the way:

Paris traffic was c.r.a.z.y. and the bus driver headed down the wrong street twice and had to back up! but I finally arrived (two hours later than planned) in Rouen, France. Life is good! I’m in France for Pete sake! (Sorry, “Pierre sake!) The fella checking me in at the hotel was VERY French in attitude, but I smiled. It was dark, but I decided to see what I could see. It was so worth the 12 hours of traveling. I came around a corner… I don’t know that a tear ran down my cheek, but it was a close call.

This morning, I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to see what the city offered, but I did have one destination in mind. First things first, though… I went back to the cathedral to see the inside, but no sooner had I arrived and they were ushering us all out. What? Turns out, Mass was about to begin. Well, my Anglican friends, I kept my mouth shut and had a seat. What a surprise and blessing for me: from my Facebook post… “When your heathen soul gets lucky and you show up on time to attend mass with the Archbishop of Rouen and Primate of Normandy, Monseigneur Dominique Lebrun. Second photo from web.”

At this point I was feeling good. I continued with my tour, seeing what I could see. Only problem: so much of what I wanted to see was behind locked gates and I wasn’t allowed to get close. Just you wait! My first time through the 12-century gothic Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen.

1000 years in the weather has done much damage to everything. They are working on the restoration, but it is a slow process.

St. James: notice the shell on his cap. Having walked a portion of the Camino de Santiago, that shell is like a secret sign and your eye is immediately drawn to it. I stopped dead in the middle of a street later in the day. I’ll show you that in a minute.

I would like to say that It was Jesus who caught my attention in this picture, but it was that red hair. I don’t know what that says about me. I haven’t identified the artist.

We’ll be back at 2:30 p.m. but for now, I headed to my next destination—and the point of coming to Rouen to begin with—the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.

Friends, Joan of Arc has been a hero of mine forever. This was on the list of places to visit from the first time I came to Europe. It was simple, noisy, dirty, smelly, drunks being loud, people oblivious, none of it mattered… I pulled out my small rosary and rubbed it in the dirt of this place.

I came back later in the day and found the spot with the sun directly behind the marker.

The small Joan of Arc medal on my rosary that came home to her ashes…

Sitting here shaking my head… don’t know how to explain.

I stopped and had some lunch, seafood, then made my way back to the cathedral. I had read somewhere that there is a tour that begins at 2:30 on Saturday. It is not posted anywhere or publicized. Show up and join in. I did. For the next three hours, I visited the parts of the cathedral I wasn’t allowed to get close to and parts I didn’t even know existed! Amazing. There were only ten of us on the tour. Did I mention it was all in French? I didn’t understand a word said, but it was absolutely fascinating.

The Baptistry…

It was all I could do not to straighten that candle!

The Joan of Arc side chapel…

Chapelle de la Vierge (Chapel of the Virgin)…

And I haven’t forgotten…

Some of you may remember this photo…

It was taken in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, the starting point of the Camino de Santiago in 2024. Well, today, as I was walking along, I came across this…

The Camino is not done with me. It keeps calling in the most remarkable ways. Just wait until this October! I’m still blown away by this development, but that’s later. For now… Yeah… “Buen Camino!” Mine continues! God is good.

My day and my life. It was and is a good one. Tomorrow, is another travel day. Back to Luxembourg. There are some places I want to see and I’m planning on a couple of “vacation” days where I look out the window of my hotel room, read my book, sip some wine, and not worry about the world too much.

Blessings to you all.

26 May 202526 May 2025

Travel: Japan – Tokyo (Day 3)

I’ve grown accustomed to having my breakfast downstairs at the restaurant here in the hotel. (I think I forgot to mention that I am staying at the Tosei Hotel Cocone. As this is my only experience with a hotel in Japan, I would have to give this one five stars. Very comfortable, very clean, and the people are very kind.) The breakfast is buffet style, and I generally make two trips. Round one is typically breakfast food with a few unusual items, including Ramen noodles with grilled mackerel and onion. Round two… Now that’s something very different.

What we have here is a bowl of rice with three types of sushi: salmon, salmon roll, and fatty tuna. It just makes me happy. Never what I have thought of having sushi for breakfast, but they offer it and I eat it. I get plenty of protein, so I have plenty of energy to see me through the day.

It was only a five-minute walk to the first stop of the day, the Tsukiji Hongan-ji Buddhist Temple.

Tsukiji Hongwanji is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha denomination, also known as Shin Buddhism, which was founded by the monk Shinran (1173-1263) and whose head temple is Hongwanji (Nishi Hongwanji) in Kyoto.

The temple has been destroyed by fire or earthquake several times, and the current structure was built in 1934.

The interior is rather magnificent and ornate. The photographs are not great as you are not allowed to get very close.

I’m sure some will mark this up as my Christian bias, but I just didn’t “feel” all that much while I was there. I got a sense of the peace and the calm (with the exception of all the construction that was going on) yet it did leave my spirit wanting. Am I really so narrow-minded? No. As I am certain they believe Buddha leads to the path of enlightenment; I believe that Jesus leads to the path of life. That’s an argument for another day, so I shall end this discussion with a nice glass of iced, VERY green tea.

It was really good, but I did get the impression that someone had gone out and mowed the grass and made tea from it.

It was time for my longer excursion, which took me about an hour. It was only one train ride, but it included 15 minutes of walking on both ends. All this took me to St. Mary’s Cathedral—the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Tokyo. This is the church I mentioned in yesterday‘s post. I saw pictures of it both on the outside and the inside and wanted to visit.

When I arrived, a service was taking place, so there was time before I could enter. Fortunately, on the church grounds, there is a recreation of the grotto at Lourdes. I made good use of my time and prayed my rosary.

I really like this one…

I don’t know what kind of flower this is, but it was beautiful.

Following the service, I was allowed to enter the church and spend some time. This is where I will make confession and tell you that I am a bad person. There was a sign that said no pictures inside the cathedral, and of course, everyone there was taking pictures… very discreetly.

The building was designed by the famous Japanese architect Kenzo Tange (1913-2005). From an article…

For his Tokyo Cathedral of Saint Mary, he visited several medieval Gothic examples. “After experiencing their heaven-aspiring grandeur and ineffably mystical spaces,” he says, “I began to imagine new spaces, and wanted to create them by means of modern technology.”

I still do not know the architecture type, but I would classify it as brutalist/modern. It provides a very clear message that declares, in no uncertain terms, “The Lord is my rock!”

That is the altar at the top of the red stairs. Maybe that gives you an idea of how large the sanctuary is. If I were given the opportunity to build a church, oh yeah…

The Mary Chapel to the left of the high altar.

Following my time at the cathedral, I headed back to the hotel. Today is my last full day in Tokyo, and I must check out my 10 AM tomorrow. What this means is that today is laundry day. For those of you who remember Portugal, this will not be me doing laundry in the sink and drying it with a hair dryer. There’s a good and proper washing machine/dryer downstairs available to hotel guests. It did take me a while to figure out how to use it, but once I put my glasses on, the instructions made a bit more sense. After that’s all sorted out, I may have to go and find myself a bit more sushi. I may turn into a fish before this is over with, but it’s so darn good!

Tomorrow, we ride the bullet. The bullet train, that is! I hear it goes a little over 200 mph. That oughta be fun! I’ll keep you posted.

This is your man in Tokyo signing off.

5 May 2024

Travel: Oslo 2

Today, I attended Mass at the Oslo Domkirke (Cathedral), built between 1694-97, restored in 2010. As you approach from the front, you encounter the massive bronze doors depicting the Beatitudes. Across the top reads “Salice er,” “Blessed are….” Just to the right of the doors is “The Devil of Oslo,” a sculpture showing a man being consumed by evil, represented by a lion and a dragon. It was created in the 12th century and found in the ruins of St. Hallvard’s Cathedra.

Entering the sanctuary, I was bit surprised. I had anticipated it would be much more austere, and although not as ornate as many of the churches I’ve seen, it was still quite ornate and beautiful.

I wanted to get up there and preach a bit, but I didn’t think they would appreciate me doing so.

The service was in Norwegian, so I again did not understand a word of it; even so, it was very edifying, and I found myself feeling immensely blessed as I left. I took a minute to visit with the Pastor who was delighted to learn that I was a priest. He stated that much of their liturgy is based on the Anglican tradition. Even though I did not understand it all, I knew parts and definitely the rhythm. It was a well-ordered service and “polite”—that was the impression for me.

I intentionally arrived an hour early so that I could pray my Rosary. I did not expect there to be a statue of Mary, but…

This was by far the most meaningful of all the Rosaries I’ve prayed on this journey. I was finally able to experience His presence more deeply. Perhaps I’m finally feeling rested and at peace instead of being rushed and pushed.

Outside the cathedral is a memorial to the 77 people who were murdered on July 22, 2011, by a domestic terrorist. The marker reads,

On 22 July 2011, an act of terrorism ended the lives of 77 persons in Norway. In a spontaneous act of solidarity, thousands of people laid down roses in front of Oslo Cathedral. Inspired by this sea of roses, artists Tobbe Malm and Tone Karlsrud initiated a project in which smiths from all over the world, survivors and others affected by the attack were invited to forge roses from iron. Iron Roses is a memorial from the people, for the people.

Iron Roses created by
Tobbe Malm and MDH Arkitekter
2019

The city is quiet today, with the exception of many tourists pulling suitcases to the train station, so I plan to open the windows of my room, read a little and continue writing on the new novel. Did I mention I was working on a new project? It’ll be quite different than what I’ve done before. The first chapter is only three sentences long: “No one claimed responsibility, and the nuclear blast left no evidence. Those who died in the initial blast and from the fallout were the fortunate ones. Those who survived lived and died in great horror.” The working title is Triskelion.

Perhaps I also forgot to mention that I have a new book coming out early fall. It is not a Father Anthony, but maybe you’ll enjoy. I think I’ve got the cover about right…

Farvel for nå.

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