Pilgrim Prayers and Blessings

While the Camino de Santiago is an adventure, it is and always has been, at its roots, a religious pilgrimage.  It is only recently that it has become a secular journey, a recreational challenge for the fit and healthy – another notch to carve in the “Been There, Done That” totem.  But as I explained back in my July 8 post which started this thread, it is for us a true pilgrimage in the religious sense.  That is probably why we were so inspired by Joyce Rupp’s account of her 2003 Camino pilgrimage in her book, “Walk in a Relaxed Manner.”  She spoke of the importance of prayer in her daily life and especially on her journey.  She and her traveling companion resolved early on in their planning to create their own pilgrims’ prayer for their journey, and this inspired us to do the same.  But where does one begin to write a prayer such as this?  What should we say?  How long, or conversely, how short should it be?  Joyce and Tom’s prayer is a good starting point, since as religious persons (i.e. priest and nun) we figured they would set a good example.  Their prayer is included below; but first, let’s look at one of the earliest recorded pilgrims’ prayers written specifically for this pilgrimage to the resting place of St James the Apostle.

The earliest known guidebook for pilgrims on this journey is the Codex Calixtinus, a 12th century illustrated manuscript which contains a collection of instructions and advice for pilgrims making this arduous journey in the late middle ages.  Within the Codex Calixtinus is the following pilgrims’ prayer:

God, you called your servant Abraham from Ur in Chaldea, watching over him in all his wanderings, and guided the Hebrew people as they crossed the desert.  Guard these your children who, for the love of your Name, make a pilgrimage to Compestela.  Be their companion on their way, their guide at the crossroads, their strength in weariness, their defense in dangers, their shelter on the path, their shade in the heat, their light in darkness, their comfort in discouragement, and the firmness of their intentions; that through your guidance, they may arrive safely at the end of their journey and, enriched with grace and virtue, may return to their homes filled with salutary and lasting joy.

That’s a wonderful prayer for pilgrims in any age, and it certainly covers all bases which even a modern pilgrim might expect to experience and encounter on the Way of St James.  We certainly couldn’t go wrong praying that prayer each morning as we set out on or way.  In contrast, however, Joyce Rupp’s and Tom Pfeffer’s prayer is much more brief and to the point:

Guardian of my soul,
Guide me on my way this day.
Keep me safe from harm.
Deepen my relationship with you,
your earth, and all your family.
Strengthen your love within me
that I may be a presence of
your peace in our world.
Amen

That’s more like what we had in mind, but we still wanted our own personal prayer for our own personal pilgrimage.  We both prayed about this, and this is what we came up with:

We thank you Lord for this day and for all our blessings.
We thank you for calling us on this journey, and we call upon St James to intercede for us as we ask that you guide and protect us as you have guided all the pilgrims who have preceded us.
We offer all our hopes, joys, sufferings and pains along the way as an act of faith in you, Father. And we ask that you help us to walk in a relaxed manner in your presence each day.
Amen.