Camino miracles

[Deenise]

Please share your stories of Camino miracles that you experienced. I’ll be there this Fall and those stories get me motivated! Thank you Deenise

 

[David]

Thank you for posting that Deenise, I look forward to reading the replies .. for me it is more the 'way beyond coincidence' experiences rather than miracles in the strict sense.
Following.

 

[MikeJS]

I think it would be a miracle if they were any miracles!

 

[Fullmeister]

Its a miracle my boss gave me a month off .

 

[Pafayac]

The Camino itself is a miracle.
If you want to know why I say this, send me a private message: I am not sure explaining my reasons is allowed by this forum rules.

 

[mspath]

For more happy coincidences or serendipity see this earlier thread.

Carpe diem!

 

[KJFSophie]

I experienced a very odd medical mystery walking the Camino Portuguese . I was determined to walk despite having been diagnosed with a solid tumor in my right knee joint a month before my departure. I had physical therapy to strengthen my leg, was fitted with two different knee/leg braces, and was scheduled for surgery upon my return. I walked, albeit slowly and on many days in a lot of pain. I had been prescribed medications, was using kinesiology tape to support the structures around my knee, ice ( and a glass of wine at day's end )
When I returned home I had a second MRI in order for the orthopedic surgeon to plan my surgery.....and to everyone's disbelief, it was gone!
Of course, no one but the church can say this was any kind of miracle ( but the surgeon was convinced it was )

 

[Deenise]

Thank you for posting that Deenise, I look forward to reading the replies .. for me it is more the 'way beyond coincidence' experiences rather than miracles in the strict sense.
Following.

I am finding exactly that in the planning!

 

[lt56ny]

Please share your stories of Camino miracles that you experienced. I’ll be there this Fall and those stories get me motivated! Thank you Deenise

Trust me the going is motivation enough. It is going to be hard so you better be really motivated to go. Also why fill you head with other people's "miracles"? THere is a very good chance these stories will just create expectations that are counterproductive and can lead to disappointment. Just go and take one step at a time. Let things just happen. Forget everything and breath. Isn't that miracle enough?

 

[Tincatinker]

A miracle? On my first Camino I had made a vow to collect litter everyday. One early morning I realized that I didn’t have a plastic bag to put the litter in. On top of the very first mojone I passed that day was a supermarket carrier bag with an over-ripe pear in it. So I ate the pear and filled the bag with other pilgrims discards. A miracle? Nope, just another pilgrim who couldn’t be bothered to carry something they didn’t want anymore to the next rubbish bin

 

[Deenise]

Trust me the going is motivation enough. It is going to be hard so you better be really motivated to go. Also why fill you head with other people's "miracles"? THere is a very good chance these stories will just create expectations that are counterproductive and can lead to disappointment. Just go and take one step at a time. Let things just happen. Forget everything and breathe. Isn't that miracle enough?

Good point thank you

 

[maryjhollifield]

Albert Einstein said:
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

 

[David]

So many cynics ...... on a Catholic pilgrimage forum ..... I find it rather sad ...

 

[Deenise]

So many cynics ...... on a Catholic pilgrimage forum ..... I find it rather sad ...

A little disappointing but some good points about my expectations as well

 

[maryjhollifield]

To those of you who are offended by the use of the word “miracles:” Hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail in western US refer to unexplainable good things that happen as”Trail Magic”

 

[mattythedog]

So many cynics ...... on a Catholic pilgrimage forum ..... I find it rather sad ...

Agreed. I am fascinated by others' miracles on Camino, and I enjoy discussing my own. However, the negativity of this post has persuaded me not to post.

 

[kwinward]

Please share your stories of Camino miracles that you experienced. I’ll be there this Fall and those stories get me motivated! Thank you Deenise

I'll share my miracle with you. A couple of weeks ago I was in Bilbao and went to the Cathedral of the virgin of begonia to get my stamp. After getting the stamp, I went in and mass was being conducted so I sat on the back row for a while. I sat my plastic sleeve with my credential and US Passport on the bench beside me ( like a dummy). After a while, I stood up and walked away. Within 30 seconds to 1 minute I realized what I had done and I ran back and my passport and credential were gone. I went to the gift shop to ask if anybody had returned it. The lady at the gift shop did not speak English but someone there helped interpret and she said no. We went back into the cathedral and looked around again and the person doing the interpreting asked a few people if they had seen it. One person said she saw a lady pick it up and walk out the door. The people at the gift shop helped me call the police and report it. They suggested I call the US embassy in Madrid and report it to them as well. They suggested I call back in the morning and see if anybody had turned it in. I decided to wait to report it to the embassy until the next morning to see if it was turned in. I am a person who believes in God and believes in prayer. I asked my family to pray that I would be able to get my passport back. My prayer throughout the night was that God would soften the heart of this lady and influence her to return it the next morning.
The next morning I called the police office and no one had turned it in. I waited in my Albergue until after the gift shop opened at 10:00. Upon returning to the gift shop, the same lady was there that was at the gift shop the night before and when she saw me she started jumping up and down and clapping. I immediately knew that my passport had been returned. She could not communicate very well with me but there was another person in the gift shop that helped communicate. Her story was the lady returned that morning with tears in her eyes saying I'm sorry I took this. She then said that God told her to bring it back. The lady at the gift shop kept making the motions of tears flowing down the the lady's face.
After obtaining my passport and credential, I went into the cathedral and sat on the back row and said a prayer of gratitude to God for being aware of me and helping me. The song Ava Maria was playing in the background and I sat there basking in the love God has for me and also for the lady who took my passport but was open enough to God's influence to return it. That was a modern day miracle and I believe they are more common than we realize. Thanks for the opportunity to share.

 

[mattythedog]

I experienced a very odd medical mystery walking the Camino Portuguese . I was determined to walk despite having been diagnosed with a solid tumor in my right knee joint a month before my departure. I had physical therapy to strengthen my leg, was fitted with two different knee/leg braces, and was scheduled for surgery upon my return. I walked, albeit slowly and on many days in a lot of pain. I had been prescribed medications, was using kinesiology tape to support the structures around my knee, ice ( and a glass of wine at day's end )
When I returned home I had a second MRI in order for the orthopedic surgeon to plan my surgery.....and to everyone's disbelief, it was gone!
Of course, no one but the church can say this was any kind of miracle ( but the surgeon was convinced it was )

I can say it was a miracle, and I'm going to tell others.

 

[kuhawkhead]

I think the miracle is found in one’s becoming interested in doing a Camino. I read about it, researched it, thinking well, that would be fun, but I doubt I ever do it. Two years ands 60# lost, surviving a devastating cancer diagnosis for my wife and getting her through the surgery and treatments to have her say, “Only one step left in my treatment…. Portuguese Coastal Route Camino!”. I booked it for her for Christmas this year. We leave Porto on December 29!

 

[mattythedog]

I'll share my miracle with you. A couple of weeks ago I was in Bilbao and went to the Cathedral of the virgin of begonia to get my stamp. After getting the stamp, I went in and mass was being conducted so I sat on the back row for a while. I sat my plastic sleeve with my credential and US Passport on the bench beside me ( like a dummy). After a while, I stood up and walked away. Within 30 seconds to 1 minute I realized what I had done and I ran back and my passport and credential were gone. I went to the gift shop to ask if anybody had returned it. The lady at the gift shop did not speak English but someone there helped interpret and she said no. We went back into the cathedral and looked around again and the person doing the interpreting asked a few people if they had seen it. One person said she saw a lady pick it up and walk out the door. The people at the gift shop helped me call the police and report it. They suggested I call the US embassy in Madrid and report it to them as well. They suggested I call back in the morning and see if anybody had turned it in. I decided to wait to report it to the embassy until the next morning to see if it was turned in. I am a person who believes in God and believes in prayer. I asked my family to pray that I would be able to get my passport back. My prayer throughout the night was that God would soften the heart of this lady and influence her to return it the next morning.
The next morning I called the police office and no one had turned it in. I waited in my Albergue until after the gift shop opened at 10:00. Upon returning to the gift shop, the same lady was there that was at the gift shop the night before and when she saw me she started jumping up and down and clapping. I immediately knew that my passport had been returned. She could not communicate very well with me but there was another person in the gift shop that helped communicate. Her story was the lady returned that morning with tears in her eyes saying I'm sorry I took this. She then said that God told her to bring it back. The lady at the gift shop kept making the motions of tears flowing down the the lady's face.
After obtaining my passport and credential, I went into the cathedral and sat on the back row and said a prayer of gratitude to God for being aware of me and helping me. The song Ava Maria was playing in the background and I sat there basking in the love God has for me and also for the lady who took my passport but was open enough to God's influence to return it. That was a modern day miracle and I believe they are more common than we realize. Thanks for the opportunity to share.

Tremendous!!!!

 

[david g]

Miracle may be too strong a word for a lot of these happenings so I’ll call them “happy happenings”. First Camino we arrived in Bayonne late at night with no place to stay and met a returning Australian pilgrim who over the next couple days helped walk us newbies through the routine of the Camino. Around Puenta la Reina he became ill and we later heard that he had returned home, yet other times we heard he was still on the Camino. On arrival in Santiago we sat in the parador sipping wine and proposed a toast to Peter for helping guide us through those first few days. When we walked out into Plaza de Obradoiro (it was late in the evening) there was a lone figure standing in the center. As it slowly turned our way we saw that it was Peter. Seeing him was such a great way to wrap up our Camino.

 

[Deenise]

I am so happy for you!

Tremendous!!!!

How wonderful! Thank you for sharing

 

[Deenise]

So happy!

 

[naplesdon]

"Miracles are in short supply" is a line from that Movie but in my case the serendipity of meeting and making so many friends over the past years has been an incredible experience.

 

[Deenise]

I think the miracle is found in one’s becoming interested in doing a Camino. I read about it, researched it, thinking well, that would be fun, but I doubt I ever do it. Two years ands 60# lost, surviving a devastating cancer diagnosis for my wife and getting her through the surgery and treatments to have her say, “Only one step left in my treatment…. Portuguese Coastal Route Camino!”. I booked it for her for Christmas this year. We leave Porto on December 29!

How was it in December? Such a lovely story! Blessings to your wife!

 

[TravellingMan22]

Please share your stories of Camino miracles that you experienced. I’ll be there this Fall and those stories get me motivated! Thank you Deenise

No miracles! Preprare, work hard, take responsibility!

 

[fitmelissa]

I lost my only pair of glasses and hunted for them everywhere at the albergue. It was a Sunday, so I would not be able to go to an eye doctor and get a new prescription and glasses in the tiny town I was in. I had given up hope and sat down on a bench. I could barely make out that a pair of glasses was on another bench nearby. No one was around. I assumed they were sunglasses, but decided I would pick them up and found that they not. With nothing to lose, I tried them on. They were perfect. I was shocked and couldn’t believe it. Later on the Camino, I saw someone who knew that I had lost my glasses. “You found them!” She said. I explained what had happened and said “The Camino does provide!” She laughed and reminded me that I had told her while we had walked the previous day how much I love bright , “The Camino must have heard you!” It was true. The glasses I had found had bright yellow rims. I had a few other miracles on the Camino that I still find almost impossible to believe.

 

[David]

The universe is an interventional universe … whatever this reality we are a part of is it is not just random, mechanical, it is not as it seems, not at all as it seems … interventions happen all the time, way beyond coincidence, but those who are running on ego, or are closed, or are cynics (or all of of those) never notice and if something is told to them about one they dismiss with “just a coincidence” ..

Carl Yung understood that what are commonly labelled coincidences are in fact proof of synchonricity and is quoted as defining synchronicity as “meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.”

I think that these become more apparent on Camino as everything else is stripped away, that other home life is gone and it is a backpack and openness so that what is always around us, those odd things, become more easily noticed (let alone that it is a deep religious path whether a person considers themselves religious or not – they were still called to go for ‘some reason’).

Now, miracles do happen but Santiago isn’t Lourdes and there are no racks of discarded crutches in the cathedral (would be ironic if there were!) - but ‘lesser’ miracles? Oh yes.

Being a Unitarian (non-Trinitarian, not universalist) Christian makes me very much a heretic on the Catholic Camino but when out doing my first aid I start each day by praying that I be ‘used’ .. not my will or decisions but something else acting through me .. and often this happens. I get the feeling when about to leave a cafe that I must wait, even though I want to get on, so I wait and in comes the pilgrim in tears, or in a village I ‘have’ to turn off Camino down a side street and then find a distraught pilgrim who needs help sitting by a fountain .. this has been happening for 18 years, each year, every year – way beyond coincidence .. I know who it is that does this but this forum is not the place to discuss it. The one time (to my knowledge) that I have saved a life came about through an irrational few route changes to meet that person.

So miracles in the big sense, I’m sure they do happen but most visible on Camino are those smaller ‘coincidences’, that synchronicity … oh yes, all the time.

 

[mattythedog]

The universe is an interventional universe … whatever this reality we are a part of is it is not just random, mechanical, it is not as it seems, not at all as it seems … interventions happen all the time, way beyond coincidence, but those who are running on ego, or are closed, or are cynics (or all of of those) never notice and if something is told to them about one they dismiss with “just a coincidence” ..

Carl Yung understood that what are commonly labelled coincidences are in fact proof of synchonricity and is quoted as defining synchronicity as “meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.”

I think that these become more apparent on Camino as everything else is stripped away, that other home life is gone and it is a backpack and openness so that what is always around us, those odd things, become more easily noticed (let alone that it is a deep religious path whether a person considers themselves religious or not – they were still called to go for ‘some reason’).

Now, miracles do happen but Santiago isn’t Lourdes and there are no racks of discarded crutches in the cathedral (would be ironic if there were!) - but ‘lesser’ miracles? Oh yes.

Being a Unitarian (non-Trinitarian, not universalist) Christian makes me very much a heretic on the Catholic Camino but when out doing my first aid I start each day by praying that I be ‘used’ .. not my will or decisions but something else acting through me .. and often this happens. I get the feeling when about to leave a cafe that I must wait, even though I want to get on, so I wait and in comes the pilgrim in tears, or in a village I ‘have’ to turn off Camino down a side street and then find a distraught pilgrim who needs help sitting by a fountain .. this has been happening for 18 years, each year, every year – way beyond coincidence .. I know who it is that does this but this forum is not the place to discuss it. The one time (to my knowledge) that I have saved a life came about through an irrational few route changes to meet that person.

So miracles in the big sense, I’m sure they do happen but most visible on Camino are those smaller ‘coincidences’, that synchronicity … oh yes, all the time.

But one has to be willing to be open - think that you are but still don't think you miss the magic around you because it doesn't exist? Then watch this - see if you can count how many passes the white team actually make.

David, I hope to meet you on the Camino some day, or otherwise.

 

[DenWhite]

So many cynics ...... on a Catholic pilgrimage forum ..... I find it rather sad ...

I suggest as an ex Catholic that Catholicism and cynicism go hand in hand!

 

[gordon1]

Good point thank you

Please share your stories of Camino miracles that you experienced. I’ll be there this Fall and those stories get me motivated! Thank you Deenise

Just a silly story but not a miracle,but itthe "Way will provide" but fits how I found my journey.I was sitting having breakfast and at the same table a lady was fiddling with her mobile.Clearly worried. I asked her. problem,and yes new phone only a few months old and black screen and for the last five days nobody can get it to open or even reponsed. Phone held all data for trip hotels flights contacts etc. She was going to Leon to reconfigure all the rest of the trip and flights back to USA. May I have look I asked. Yes you guessed got all here contacts and Data back and the 79 emails from worried family. Not a miracle ,but after waiting for 5 days she was able to relaxed and finish her journey.

 

[Deenise]

I lost my only pair of glasses and hunted for them everywhere at the albergue. It was a Sunday, so I would not be able to go to an eye doctor and get a new prescription and glasses in the tiny town I was in. I had given up hope and sat down on a bench. I could barely make out that a pair of glasses was on another bench nearby. No one was around. I assumed they were sunglasses, but decided I would pick them up and found that they not. With nothing to lose, I tried them on. They were perfect. I was shocked and couldn’t believe it. Later on the Camino, I saw someone who knew that I had lost my glasses. “You found them!” She said. I explained what had happened and said “The Camino does provide!” She laughed and reminded me that I had told her while we had walked the previous day how much I love bright , “The Camino must have heard you!” It was true. The glasses I had found had bright yellow rims. I had a few other miracles on the Camino that I still find almost impossible to believe.

I love it!

 

[jsalt]

Six of us arrived in St Jean Pied de Port mid-morning. We explored, walked around, went shopping.

Late afternoon one of us suddenly realised she didn’t have her smartphone. We all looked everywhere, we all phoned it. Nothing. Gone. Everything was on that smartphone. The lady was distraught and in tears.

My 4 friends are very religious and so they sat together in the dorm and prayed. And they prayed.

My other camino buddy and I set off up the streets revisiting everywhere we had been to that day. We finally found the phone on a shop counter top. We wondered why the assistant hadn’t answered it when it had rung, as it had obviously been left there by mistake, but anyway . . .

. . . back at the gite the other four were amazed that their prayers had been answered.

OK, I’ll go along with that. Maybe. But, whatever, the phone was found, which was the most important thing at the start of their camino.

And before you call me a cynic, there are “miracles”, and there are miracles, for example, I have no reason not to believe in the happenings at Fatima – but their saying that our finding of the phone was a “miracle” is pushing it . . .

. . . I am not a “camino provides” person – I hate that phrase – I am a Plan B person.

But I have great respect for my friends who put all their faith in God; they are very special to me, as they make me feel humbled. They have “something” that I don’t have.

 

[KJFSophie]

The universe is an interventional universe … whatever this reality we are a part of is it is not just random, mechanical, it is not as it seems, not at all as it seems … interventions happen all the time, way beyond coincidence, but those who are running on ego, or are closed, or are cynics (or all of of those) never notice and if something is told to them about one they dismiss with “just a coincidence” ..

Carl Yung understood that what are commonly labelled coincidences are in fact proof of synchonricity and is quoted as defining synchronicity as “meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.”

I think that these become more apparent on Camino as everything else is stripped away, that other home life is gone and it is a backpack and openness so that what is always around us, those odd things, become more easily noticed (let alone that it is a deep religious path whether a person considers themselves religious or not – they were still called to go for ‘some reason’).

Now, miracles do happen but Santiago isn’t Lourdes and there are no racks of discarded crutches in the cathedral (would be ironic if there were!) - but ‘lesser’ miracles? Oh yes.

Being a Unitarian (non-Trinitarian, not universalist) Christian makes me very much a heretic on the Catholic Camino but when out doing my first aid I start each day by praying that I be ‘used’ .. not my will or decisions but something else acting through me .. and often this happens. I get the feeling when about to leave a cafe that I must wait, even though I want to get on, so I wait and in comes the pilgrim in tears, or in a village I ‘have’ to turn off Camino down a side street and then find a distraught pilgrim who needs help sitting by a fountain .. this has been happening for 18 years, each year, every year – way beyond coincidence .. I know who it is that does this but this forum is not the place to discuss it. The one time (to my knowledge) that I have saved a life came about through an irrational few route changes to meet that person.

So miracles in the big sense, I’m sure they do happen but most visible on Camino are those smaller ‘coincidences’, that synchronicity … oh yes, all the time.

But one has to be willing to be open - think that you are but still don't think you miss the magic around you because it doesn't exist? Then watch this - see if you can count how many passes the white team actually make.

@David, I am now for many years a psychotherapist ( pretty much reality based ) , but spent a few decades as an emergency room nurse ( hard core believer of science ) ,then hospice. You'd be hard pressed to find medical professionals in those settings who don't believe in miracles.

** I'll also attest to that 'pause' you experience, as if a hand on your shoulder says 'stop a minute, slow down, sit a minute longer, look around...someone is struggling'. I carry excessive amounts of first aid on long treks and have tended to everything from simple scrapes to near battleground surgery. Countless medical interventions over 8 walks. But in my capacity of a psychotherapist ( and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner ) , these 'pauses' are more intense. I walked with countless broken souls suffering from sexual abuse as a child...these pilgrims in their 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, still trying to heal. Most often it is someone who simply shows up beside me while walking. Many I'd not seen before that moment. What are the chances that they suddenly find themselves walking in the middle of nowhere, speaking to a stranger, disclosing secrets of shame, guilt, pain ? How is it that this person finds me? How is it it that I have decades of education, training, experience and an open heart to welcome them in the middle of nowhere?
No. It's much more than coincidence. And to this day, I remember each one by name, all of the details of their trauma, and a sense that they were on their way to healing.

It all sounds rather fantastical to the non-believer I'm sure.

 

[dick bird]

Six of us arrived in St Jean Pied de Port mid-morning. We explored, walked around, went shopping.

Late afternoon one of us suddenly realised she didn’t have her smartphone. We all looked everywhere, we all phoned it. Nothing. Gone. Everything was on that smartphone. The lady was distraught and in tears.

My 4 friends are very religious and so they sat together in the dorm and prayed. And they prayed.

My other camino buddy and I set off up the streets revisiting everywhere we had been to that day. We finally found the phone on a shop counter top. We wondered why the assistant hadn’t answered it when it had rung, as it had obviously been left there by mistake, but anyway . . .

. . . back at the gite the other four were amazed that their prayers had been answered.

OK, I’ll go along with that. Maybe. But, whatever, the phone was found, which was the most important thing at the start of their camino.

And before you call me a cynic, there are “miracles”, and there are miracles, for example, I have no reason not to believe in the happenings at Fatima – but their saying that our finding of the phone was a “miracle” is pushing it . . .

. . . I am not a “camino provides” person – I hate that phrase – I am a Plan B person.

But I have great respect for my friends who put all their faith in God; they are very special to me, as they make me feel humbled. They have “something” that I don’t have.

OK, I’m a cynic, but 4 people pray that a lost phone be found and two people go and look for the phone, and find it! And the 4 who prayed claim it was their efforts that led to the phone being found rather than the 2 who had the common sense and gumption to go and look for it?

 

[jsalt]

OK, I’m a cynic, but 4 people pray that a lost phone be found and two people go and look for the phone, and find it! And the 4 who prayed claim it was their efforts that led to the phone being found rather than the 2 who had the common sense and gumption to go and look for it?

Yep. So was it their prayers, or us looking for it? It didn't really matter at the end of the day - the phone was found, so we were all happy with the outcome. A miracle in itself

 

[MesaWalker]

There seem to be people who have major miracles happen on the Camino. But I think much more common are small miracles - forgiveness for a wrong done to us, an awakening to beauty, wholeness, gratitude, or our shared humanity, the sense of closeness to our creator.

I don't expect a lightning-bolt miracle on the Camino, but through the Camino's process of stripping away the rush, anxiety, and self- or tribal-centeredness of modern, everyday life, I feel that small miracles are available almost everyday on the Camino, if we're only open to them.

On my wife's and my first camino, I left my hat three times along the way, and all three times it somewhat miraculously and circuitously found its way back to me. But I don't consider those miracles. The miracles for me were the sense of peace and gratitude I've found on our caminos.

 

[Janade]

Trust me the going is motivation enough. It is going to be hard so you better be really motivated to go. Also why fill you head with other people's "miracles"? THere is a very good chance these stories will just create expectations that are counterproductive and can lead to disappointment. Just go and take one step at a time. Let things just happen. Forget everything and breath. Isn't that miracle enough?

While I disagree that everyone’s experience walking is going to be hard, the thought about expectations reminds me of a Camino I walked where another pilgrim was talking about their intense spiritual feelings when visiting a particular tomb. Someone in my party was inspired by this and was very much looking forward to visiting the same tomb so they could have a similar spiritual epiphany. When we arrived, they were disappointed when they didn’t feel anything like that while visiting the very plain and humble tomb. I enjoy hearing about other’s experiences, but I try to remember that my experience might be vastly different. I also enjoy the discovery, and I do find that even after hearing other’s experiences, it’s always a unique experience for me when I live it myself.

 

[David]

@David, I am now for many years a psychotherapist ( pretty much reality based ) , but spent a few decades as an emergency room nurse ( hard core believer of science ) ,then hospice. You'd be hard pressed to find medical professionals in those settings who don't believe in miracles.

** I'll also attest to that 'pause' you experience, as if a hand on your shoulder says 'stop a minute, slow down, sit a minute longer, look around...someone is struggling'. I carry excessive amounts of first aid on long treks and have tended to everything from simple scrapes to near battleground surgery. Countless medical interventions over 8 walks. But in my capacity of a psychotherapist ( and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner ) , these 'pauses' are more intense. I walked with countless broken souls suffering from sexual abuse as a child...these pilgrims in their 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, still trying to heal. Most often it is someone who simply shows up beside me while walking. Many I'd not seen before that moment. What are the chances they they suddenly find themselves walking in the middle of nowhere, speaking to a stranger, disclosing secrets of shame, guilt, pain ? How is it that this person finds me? How is it it that I have decades of education, training, experiencing and an open heart to welcome them in the middle of nowhere?
No. It's much more than coincidence. And to this day, I remember each one by name, all of the details of their trauma, and a sense that they were on their way to healing.

It all sounds rather fantastical to the non-believer I'm sure.

Sophie, you are a true Camino Samaritan (Luke 10:37 "Then go, Ye, and do likewise") .. thank you for sharing your experiences, your heart .. yes, it is odd (but not odd) how those who need to unload find us, sit next to us, or we them, or we are placed next to them for that exact purpose.

Here's a thing. A few years ago I was on my first aid mission on Camino with my little Berlingo, driving from Pamplona to Roncesvalles to meet exhausted pilgrims arriving. For no reason whatsoever as I passed the viewpoint stop at Alto de Mezquiriz I suddenly knew I had to stop there and as I passed suddenly braked and swept in, almost too late. I remember shouting "Christ! Give me some warning!" ..

I had a coffee at the new caravan cafe and put my kit on a table. I helped two Germans with minor blisters and then nothing else and wondered if I had been mistaken, made up the need to stop in my head? ... I was leaving and a pilgrim called me back, said an Italian woman had just arrived with a bad knee, so I walked back.

Her knee (descents are so bad for knees!) was bad .. I massaged, added Ibuprofen gel, put a good compression knee sleeve on and told her I would take her down to Zubiri where she needed to rest a couple of days (oh, she had perfect English) - you know how when you touch someone you can feel their blocks? She was blocked and really holding a strong fence around her.
She said that she needed to walk down to Zubiri and onwards so I told her to be careful and slow and started to leave again ... another pilgrim then ran up to me at my Berlingo and told me that she was a diabetic and had realised she had left her kit on her bunk at Roncesvalles. I went back, offered her a lift back to go and collect.

On the journey up she told me why she was on Camino. Her mother had died but whenever she tried to grieve her husband or one of her adult children would interfere, get her out of her room, try and get her involved in something, for some reason they were afraid of death and therefore afraid of her grieving - so she decided to go on Camino, to get away and grieve and to Santiago and light a candle and pay for a Mass for her mother ... and here she was, disabled, in terrible pain on day three and she told me that she felt that God had abandoned her.

We arrived Roncesvalles and it only took a short while to get her diabetes kit and we started back down the mountain. I persuaded her to let me take her all the way to Zubiri so she could rest. Now ...
now ... I did not say this ... this 'me' said this but I swear, on oath, it was not me speaking, it wasn't even my normal voice .. we sat in silence the first few minutes and then "I" said .. "Your mother, I grieve with you, for you, but what happened was that she fell out of her broken body and up into the arms of waiting angels, and now she is well".

Then I went silent, rather shocked really. She looked at me, stared at me, then turned away and burst into tears, and all the way down the mountain from Roncesvalles to the refugio in Zubiri she wailed and wailed fountains of tears ... complete release, healing. The whole 17 miles and over 30 minutes.

We sat outside the refugio in silence and then she said "When my knee gave out and I thought I could go no further I thought that God had abandoned me and I sat there in the deepest sadness I have ever felt, and then you arrived, and now I know that I had to stop there as I had to wait for you as you were sent by God, sent for me, and God has not abandoned me" .... then we got out of the car and hugged, she took her pack and walked away (well, limped away), and I never saw her again - there are miracles, small though they may be, and God uses us for his purposes - if we let him.

So my opinion on this. So just one of my experiences

 

[henrythedog]

@fitmelissa: an alternate interpretation of the event is that you took someone’s glasses.

 

[Ellen Gotts]

Reading your replies David, is the miracle for me for today. Thank you.

 

[mattythedog]

@fitmelissa: an alternate interpretation of the event is that you took someone’s glasses.

Actually, that is pretty funny.

 

[Aussiewanderer]

Thank you for posting that Deenise, I look forward to reading the replies .. for me it is more the 'way beyond coincidence' experiences rather than miracles in the strict sense.
Following.

I was just going to post this same request. I have my own experience and to me it was very valid and still resonates even after doing 2 more times= 3 in total. 3 and half if you count my attempt at the Via Fracigena but I am desperate to hear anything anyone has to share .. I believe in God and I believe in the Camino. It is powerful and cathartic . I just know Denise. you have to believe you are the miracle. you and your intentions and how you treat the people you meet along the way ... it is not a 'right' to be there it is a privilege, a blessing. Too many people treat it as if it's their 'right' to be there. it isn't. Humility and Charity are still very much part of the equation. Just be open to what you are experiencing. Dont try to control it or the outcome. It is not a race, but a journey and believe me when I tell you.. The Camino will give you what you need... Not what you THINK but what it IS that you need. let me know.. best wishes

 

[JabbaPapa]

My conversion story is a bit too complicated for this type of forum, and it did happen on the Camino.

So a different story.

In about 2009 I became very ill with three successive serious flus, being mostly bed-bound over a period of about six months.

I lost a great deal of muscle mass, and then after it finally ended, I tried to start walking again, but then first my right knee gave in ; and then my second.

It became almost impossible to walk, not even to the bus stop, but just to the toilet. Up to 15 minutes sometimes just to get out of bed.

I could force myself out every few days using my hiking staff as a crutch to get the bus, get some shopping done, bus home, then collapse for eight hours just to recover.

Then I switched to a carnivore diet for four months, slowly got better, started walking first 100 metres ; then 300 ; then a kilometre +, slowly began forcing myself back into it, and eventually got two articulated knee braces and started walking a bit further, then got it into my head -- let's see if I can't force myself into being able to do a Camino ...

I trained for a whole year, which was only possible thanks to the knee braces, and in-between I made a vow that if I became capable of it, I would walk from Lourdes with my knee braces to Santiago.

Finally, in 2014 I set out, and I made my prayers and devotions at Lourdes, then off I went, with my knee braces. I prayed for enough strength to finish that Camino.

---

Well, my knees felt a bit strange immediately upon setting out, and I realised I was walking better.

On the third day, I tried walking without the braces.

---

I have never used them since.

 

[Aussiewanderer]

Sophie, you are a true Camino Samaritan (Luke 10:37 "Then go, Ye, and do likewise") .. thank you for sharing your experiences, your heart .. yes, it is odd (but not odd) how those who need to unload find us, sit next to us, or we them, or we are placed next to them for that exact purpose.

Here's a thing. A few years ago I was on my first aid mission on Camino with my little Berlingo, driving from Pamplona to Roncesvalles to meet exhausted pilgrims arriving. For no reason whatsoever as I passed the viewpoint stop at Alto de Mezquiriz I suddenly knew I had to stop there and as I passed suddenly braked and swept in, almost too late. I remember shouting "Christ! Give me some warning!" ..

I had a coffee at the new caravan cafe and put my kit on a table. I helped two Germans with minor blisters and then nothing else and wondered if I had been mistaken, made up the need to stop in my head? ... I was leaving and a pilgrim called me back, said an Italian woman had just arrived with a bad knee, so I walked back.

Her knee (descents are so bad for knees!) was bad .. I massaged, added Ibuprofen gel, put a good compression knee sleeve on and told her I would take her down to Zubiri where she needed to rest a couple of days (oh, she had perfect English) - you know how when you touch someone you can feel their blocks? She was blocked and really holding a strong fence around her.
She said that she needed to walk down to Zubiri and onwards so I told her to be careful and slow and started to leave again ... another pilgrim then ran up to me at my Berlingo and told me that she was a diabetic and had realised she had left her kit on her bunk at Roncesvalles. I went back, offered her a lift back to go and collect.

On the journey up she told me why she was on Camino. Her mother had died but whenever she tried to grieve her husband or one of her adult children would interfere, get her out of her room, try and get her involved in something, for some reason they were afraid of death and therefore afraid of her grieving - so she decided to go on Camino, to get away and grieve and to Santiago and light a candle and pay for a Mass for her mother ... and here she was, disabled, in terrible pain on day three and she told me that she felt that God had abandoned her.

We arrived Roncesvalles and it only took a short while to get her diabetes kit and we started back down the mountain. I persuaded her to let me take her all the way to Zubiri so she could rest. Now ...
now ... I did not say this ... this 'me' said this but I swear, on oath, it was not me speaking, it wasn't even my normal voice .. we sat in silence the first few minutes and then "I" said .. "Your mother, I grieve with you, for you, but what happened was that she fell out of her broken body and up into the arms of waiting angels, and now she is well".

Then I went silent, rather shocked really. She looked at me, stared at me, then turned away and burst into tears, and all the way down the mountain from Roncesvalles to the refugio in Zubiri she wailed and wailed fountains of tears ... complete release, healing. The whole 17 miles and over 30 minutes.

We sat outside the refugio in silence and then she said "When my knee gave out and I thought I could go no further I thought that God had abandoned me and I sat there in the deepest sadness I have ever felt, and then you arrived, and now I know that I had to stop there as I had to wait for you as you were sent by God, sent for me, and God has not abandoned me" .... then we got out of the car and hugged, she took her pack and walked away (well, limped away), and I never saw her again - and I am crying as I write this, even though some years ago - there are miracles, small though they may be, and God uses us for his purposes - if we let him.

So my opinion on this. So just one of my experiences

I. Love . This.... super big hugs to you ... how incredible you are..

 

[DeansFamily]

We have had many "amazing coincidences" walking the Camino. Moments when problems are fixed by others that really make me believe that something is watching out for us. But the first and most profound Camino miracle was on our first, the Frances, walking past the "soul garden" on the way to the Cruz de Ferro. Our 13 year old daughter loves to forage, especially when walking. She was off the path looking for anything when she found a necklace of black pearls. She brought it over to us and my husband told her to put it back as it wasn't hers and someone must have left it there. She did, but noted where and the distance on her running watch. After passing the Cruz de Ferro she saw an American gentleman frantically going through his backpack, and she asked him about it. In tears, he told her he had lost his black pearl necklace that belonged to his deceased wife. Our daughter told him she had found it, and if he backtracked the exact distance she gave him, he would find it placed in the spot under a pine tree where she had left it. The grateful man hurried back and we continued on to El Acebo for the night. Later that night the gentleman arrived and seeing our daughter, profusely thanked her for enabling him to get his precious pearl necklace back. The gentleman had sat in the area near the soul garden and has been stung on the neck by a bee. He removed the necklace and thought it was in his bag. If our daughter hadn't walked that area, hadn't remembered the location or distance, had passed the man too early or too late to see him searching his bag............ The discussion that night was definitely around Camino miracles and having heard other people's accounts I believe it is more than happy coincidences and plain old luck. I'm a firm believer in Karma and time and time again I get affirmation that doing good deeds gives back good rewards. There are some things that just can't be explained away casually.

 

[SEB2]

No miracles! Preprare, work hard, take responsibility!

If that is your approach who am I to challenge your right to express this as an opinion although it does come across as a wee bit authoritarian. Respect is usually reciprocal especially when we disagree. I won't use exclamation marks, but others may have a different perspective and a gentler form of expression might be appropriate.

In the context of walking to Santiago, sometimes taking responsibility can also mean trusting in God (of whatever faith) if one is religious, or in Providence, or having an expectation that there are more good people than bad in the world and that if a problem is encountered (which can happen despite the most rigorous preparation) it is likely that help, advice assistance will not be far away, and that those of us used to being autonomous learn how to accept kind acts from others, and to do so without feeling indebted, remembering if possible to pay good deeds forward by helping others when we are able.

If forum members want to refer to 'miracles', or 'grace', good fortune, serendipity, Camino angels or 'trail magic' why shouldn't they. A lot of unlearning, unburdening, letting go of fears and opening up to the unplanned can happen on the Camino - I don't see any of that as hard work, although I do confess to having been almost in tears because of physical tiredness when a church in the distance seemed no nearer after 90 minutes of walking.

 

[Aussiewanderer]

My conversion story is a bit too complicated for this type of forum, and it did happen on the Camino.

So a different story.

In about 2009 I became very ill with three successive serious flus, being mostly bed-bound over a period of about six months.

I lost a great deal of muscle mass, and then after it finally ended, I tried to start walking again, but then first my right knee gave in ; and then my second.

It became almost impossible to walk, not even to the bus stop, but just to the toilet. Up to 15 minutes sometimes just to get out of bed.

I could force myself out every few days using my hiking staff as a crutch to get the bus, get some shopping done, bus home, then collapse for eight hours just to recover.

Then I switched to a carnivore diet for four months, slowly got better, started walking first 100 metres ; then 300 ; then a kilometre +, slowly began forcing myself back into it, and eventually got two articulated knee braces and started walking a bit further, then got it into my head -- let's see if I can't force myself into being able to do a Camino ...

I trained for a whole year, which was only possible thanks to the knee braces, and in-between I made a vow that if I became capable of it, I would walk from Lourdes with my knee braces to Santiago.

Finally, in 2014 I set out, and I made my prayers and devotions at Lourdes, then off I went, with my knee braces. I prayed for enough strength to finish that Camino.

---

Well, my knees felt a bit strange immediately upon setting out, and I realised I was walking better.

On the third day, I tried walking without the braces.

---

I have never used them since.

We, my husband and I did 2 legs of the Le Puy way and before we started we visited Lourdes. I have loved Mother Mary all my life.... but the overwhelming wave of emotion that erupted from my heart and reduced me to tears at her grotto , was something even I could not anticipate.. I rejoice with you on your healing. My daughter is having her right knee reconstruction surgery on July 8th.. It is my fervent prayer that she will one day walk the Camino. Visit Lourdes and find her own journey of Faith and love and healing.. but I am truly so happy you have found yours. God Bless

 

[mattythedog]

My conversion story is a bit too complicated for this type of forum, and it did happen on the Camino.

So a different story.

In about 2009 I became very ill with three successive serious flus, being mostly bed-bound over a period of about six months.

I lost a great deal of muscle mass, and then after it finally ended, I tried to start walking again, but then first my right knee gave in ; and then my second.

It became almost impossible to walk, not even to the bus stop, but just to the toilet. Up to 15 minutes sometimes just to get out of bed.

I could force myself out every few days using my hiking staff as a crutch to get the bus, get some shopping done, bus home, then collapse for eight hours just to recover.

Then I switched to a carnivore diet for four months, slowly got better, started walking first 100 metres ; then 300 ; then a kilometre +, slowly began forcing myself back into it, and eventually got two articulated knee braces and started walking a bit further, then got it into my head -- let's see if I can't force myself into being able to do a Camino ...

I trained for a whole year, which was only possible thanks to the knee braces, and in-between I made a vow that if I became capable of it, I would walk from Lourdes with my knee braces to Santiago.

Finally, in 2014 I set out, and I made my prayers and devotions at Lourdes, then off I went, with my knee braces. I prayed for enough strength to finish that Camino.

---

Well, my knees felt a bit strange immediately upon setting out, and I realised I was walking better.

On the third day, I tried walking without the braces.

---

I have never used them since.

So glad you shared this amazing miracle with us.

 

[Deenise]

Thank you for posting that Deenise, I look forward to reading the replies .. for me it is more the 'way beyond coincidence' experiences rather than miracles in the strict sense.
Following.

Hey David When are you walking again? I might go in September if I can plan it that fast.

 

[lvf]

I can tell you of something amazing that happened to me as my husband and I were walking the Camino this last spring in April. My daughter in law was diagnosed with cancer before we were to leave on our trip and I wanted to cancel our plans, but she and my son insisted that we go. Every day my husband and I would pray out loud while we walked, and every day we prayed for our daughter in law, Katy. She was to have her first day of the toughest chemo treatment there is, nicknamed the Red Devil because of its side effects. I was so worried ( almost to tears) about how her weakened body would handle it. We were walking early in the morning and I saw a small church and I immediately felt a huge pull to go inside, and when I did, I saw the name of the church as I was walking in was Iglesia de St Lucia ( my name is Lucia). I felt like God literally reached out and gave me the biggest hug to comfort me and tell me it's going to be ok. So far, Katy is responding well to treatment and her tumor has shrunk from 8.5 cm to 1 cm. This was a miracle to me.

 

[Deenise]

Thank you to all who took the time to share so far. I look forward to reading more posts. The response was as I had hoped for; inspiring, diverse, and human. I think the Camino is just that. We can be intrinsic beings in a place where others are, at least for the walk, like-minded. Survival, itself, brings this quality forward. I am certainly not a Camino expert. I am walking for the first time on the Fall Equinox, a time of release— my miracles or shall we also say, a revelation for those sensitive to language, began before the trip was a twinkle in my eye
On Mother's Day, I joined an online Neurodynamic Breathwork session. (Neurodynamicbreathworkonline.com) From decades as an online and in-person psychic, I fall into trance easily. I saw a path with a wooden sign bearing an arrow on a post. I went there and walked it with each of my five children. It was symbolic of our life walk together. When finished, I started to leave the trail but was compelled to stop and take a good look. It was the Camino de Santiago. A voice whispered, "You need to go there. Go and walk." I said ok. I didn't know much about it. I had a friend who walked it alone when she was 65 and I felt compelled to get hold of her, We had lost touch for about 10 years. I could not find her on any social platform and she has since retired. Every day I woke up with Lynne on my mind. Last Friday I took my dog around a local lake that I occasionally go to. About mid way two women passed me and I was shocked that it was Lynne! Come on, now, what are the odds??? I said, "Lynne?" You know the rest. We have been getting together and Lynne is helping me plan my trip. She has since walked a second time and going again at 76 years old! So, to me, this whole trip feels like a miracle. At 70 years old, it will be a spiritual pilgrimage for sure and a crone's rite of passage. Please keep posting and I plan to post many more "revelations" or sometimes I say Kismets. Love you all. Deenise (started this thread.)

 

[lt56ny]

While I disagree that everyone’s experience walking is going to be hard, the thought about expectations reminds me of a Camino I walked where another pilgrim was talking about their intense spiritual feelings when visiting a particular tomb. Someone in my party was inspired by this and was very much looking forward to visiting the same tomb so they could have a similar spiritual epiphany. When we arrived, they were disappointed when they didn’t feel anything like that while visiting the very plain and humble tomb. I enjoy hearing about other’s experiences, but I try to remember that my experience might be vastly different. I also enjoy the discovery, and I do find that even after hearing other’s experiences, it’s always a unique experience for me when I live it myself.

Your story is an excellent illustration of my point that many of us share.

 

[AndrewP]

Just posted a remark on another link about rest days. First time walk on a Camino. I walked the Camino Francis SJPDP to Santiago Wednesday April 10 until Saturday May 18.

Met L, he is from Australia. He had a problem with his knee. On the road just out of Puente La Reina prayed together with his agreement. Psalm 23, he makes me walk in green pastures, thy road and staff will comfort thee (literally the walking sticks). Two days later, on the road into Los Arcos he was walking freely. Had advised that he seek medical assistance, which he did do so.

Met J from the USA. Same, little further on, on the road just out of Puente La Reina prayed together with his agreement. Psalm 23, he makes me walk in green pastures, thy road and staff will comfort thee (literally the walking sticks).

Met J from Denmark. She had learned from L that we had prayed and he had recovered. She learned this earlier on the road into Los Arcos. She declared, prayer helps. She arrived at Grandmas house in Los Arcos injured. She accepted that prayer helps. Met throughout including in the square at Santiago. She wondered what was happening but declared she was well.

Met L from Germany in the café beside the church in Navarrete. She had a problem with her leg. Could not put any weight on it, especially on steps. Repeated the above. Met days later in the albergue at Belorado. She declared she was completely well

Met A from Spain. He and I met many times. Sitting at a café at Ventosa. His left leg from the knee to the ankle was swollen and looked much larger that his right leg. L from Australia was sitting just out of eye sight. I summed up what happened to L. A and I prayed. Days later at Grandpas house at Hornillos del Camino we met again. He was well and walking freely. He had also sort medical attention.

Numerous people saw each of these ones before and after.

Others included s A she is from Ireland. R she is from the USA.........

Praise God
Regards
Andrew Phillips

 

[CWBuff]

Its a miracle my boss gave me a month off .

I actually got 6 weeks

 

[chinacat]

OK, I’m a cynic, but 4 people pray that a lost phone be found and two people go and look for the phone, and find it! And the 4 who prayed claim it was their efforts that led to the phone being found rather than the 2 who had the common sense and gumption to go and look for it?

The angels help those who help themselves
(but not exclusively )

 

[CWBuff]

It was a collective effort.
As AL Capone would say TEAMWORK!!!!

 

[AshtabulaJed]

Miracles are all around us, all the time, if we have the eyes to see them. They aren't necessarily what we want or what we expect. And that doesn't mean that we should not work hard, prepare and take responsibility. In fact, that we are able to do so is, perhaps, a miracle in and of itself. I think it is all a matter of perspective--what we are willing to see from where we are standing in any given moment.
That I am able to go on this pilgrimage at the end of August after all that I have been through (and I am in no way suggesting that what I have been through out-does what anyone else has been through), that I have been given the time off to do it in the first place, that I have been resolved to prepare myself physically and mentally (and yes, spiritually), that I even feel called to do this in the first place, is for me, at least, miracle enough.
Cynicism is a choice. And it is a choice which I, to my regret, often make. It is borne of our difficulties, disappointments (with ourselves and with the realities of life itself) and the hardness of life itself. But it is still a choice--something of which I need to remind myself each and every day. That doesn't mean that I easily see miracles, either. But I recognize my own need to choose to see them where they are and to accept them with gratitude. I hope that doesn't make me naive or foolish.
Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories, even for your disagreement and cynicism, as they remind me that I am not alone!
Peace to all of you.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Cynicism is a choice. And it is a choice which I, to my regret, often make. It is borne of our difficulties, disappointments (with ourselves and with the realities of life itself) and the hardness of life itself. But it is still a choice--something of which I need to remind myself each and every day. That doesn't mean that I easily see miracles, either. But I recognize my own need to choose to see them where they are and to accept them with gratitude. I hope that doesn't make me naive or foolish.
Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories, even for your disagreement and cynicism, as they remind me that I am not alone!
Peace to all of you.

I really like what you say here about cynicism and mentioning it in your post. It can be very destructive and many of us fall prey to it at one time or another during our lives. I have a brother who is very cynical and negative about almost everything. No words of encouragement lift him up and his clouds never have a silver lining.

 

[davejsy]

I really hate to be one to debunk any miracle, but, surely we all know what happened here. . .

and a glass of wine at day's end

and to everyone's disbelief, it was gone!

Further evidence of the healing properties of wine (or so I will continue telling myself).

 

[BRSmith13]

Please share your stories of Camino miracles that you experienced. I’ll be there this Fall and those stories get me motivated! Thank you Deenise

I had two things happen… 1) when we began planning 9mo prior to our Camino, I was having left knee issues. Already had both hips replaced- a godsend. Had a hyleronic injection a week before we left.
Our first 3 days we played tourist in the Porto area. Our first day walked up and down 28k steps - oh, I live and trained in flat FL. What a wake up call! Iced every night and was worried. Got my tracking poles in Vigo (we started there) and the first 2 km my knee felt better with every step. Then every day was great. Even the spiritual variant climb! In the rain! Maybe the training finally kicked in.
My miracle occurred while we were walking the path of stone and water. After 5 days of nonstop rain, we finally saw a break in the rain - then sunshine. It was a glorious walk - and I turned to my right and my dad (who died over 45 years ago) was walking with me. Smiling. It only lasted for about 2 minutes but I was just in paradise.

 

[Deenise]

I had two things happen… 1) when we began planning 9mo prior to our Camino, I was having left knee issues. Already had both hips replaced- a godsend. Had a hyleronic injection a week before we left.
Our first 3 days we played tourist in the Porto area. Our first day walked up and down 28k steps - oh, I live and trained in flat FL. What a wake up call! Iced every night and was worried. Got my tracking poles in Vigo (we started there) and the first 2 km my knee felt better with every step. Then every day was great. Even the spiritual variant climb! In the rain! Maybe the training finally kicked in.
My miracle occurred while we were walking the path of stone and water. After 5 days of nonstop rain, we finally saw a break in the rain - then sunshine. It was a glorious walk - and I turned to my right and my dad (who died over 45 years ago) was walking with me. Smiling. It only lasted for about 2 minutes but I was just in paradise.

Oh yes!

 

[William Garza]

The universe is an interventional universe … whatever this reality we are a part of is it is not just random, mechanical, it is not as it seems, not at all as it seems … interventions happen all the time, way beyond coincidence, but those who are running on ego, or are closed, or are cynics (or all of of those) never notice and if something is told to them about one they dismiss with “just a coincidence” ..

Carl Yung understood that what are commonly labelled coincidences are in fact proof of synchonricity and is quoted as defining synchronicity as “meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.”

I think that these become more apparent on Camino as everything else is stripped away, that other home life is gone and it is a backpack and openness so that what is always around us, those odd things, become more easily noticed (let alone that it is a deep religious path whether a person considers themselves religious or not – they were still called to go for ‘some reason’).

Now, miracles do happen but Santiago isn’t Lourdes and there are no racks of discarded crutches in the cathedral (would be ironic if there were!) - but ‘lesser’ miracles? Oh yes.

Being a Unitarian (non-Trinitarian, not universalist) Christian makes me very much a heretic on the Catholic Camino but when out doing my first aid I start each day by praying that I be ‘used’ .. not my will or decisions but something else acting through me .. and often this happens. I get the feeling when about to leave a cafe that I must wait, even though I want to get on, so I wait and in comes the pilgrim in tears, or in a village I ‘have’ to turn off Camino down a side street and then find a distraught pilgrim who needs help sitting by a fountain .. this has been happening for 18 years, each year, every year – way beyond coincidence .. I know who it is that does this but this forum is not the place to discuss it. The one time (to my knowledge) that I have saved a life came about through an irrational few route changes to meet that person.

So miracles in the big sense, I’m sure they do happen but most visible on Camino are those smaller ‘coincidences’, that synchronicity … oh yes, all the time.

There are no heretics out in the big empty, there are only people naked to the world. You cant hide what is plain to see in that all illuminating place.

 

[timinOK]

My wife and I walked the Portugues Coastal this past April. We had planned to take the bus from Caminha to Valenca to have a shorter walking day as the wife had earlier broken her pinkie toe. The problem was we could not find where to pick up the bus, locals and even the bus company were giving us conflicting directions. We zigzaged across Caminha following one instruction after another. So now, it's 10 minutes after the bus was supposed to depart, we're standing on a corner, I tell my wife we're not going to make this bus and suggest we go to the town square, have lunch and call an Uber. My wife says no, let's walk to the river and call an Uber from there. So we turn left toward the river, walk one block and the bus pulls up right in front of us. My wife flags the driver down, shows him our tickets and after a moment of hesitation, he lets us on the bus. Someone was looking out for us.

Another minor miracle (in a sense). In Portugal, it rained consistently and heavily the two weeks prior to commencing our walk. Except for a light sprinkle for an hour or so on day 2, we had beautiful, sunny weather the whole 18 days we were on the Camino. It didn't start to rain again until we left the pilgrim office after arriving at the cathedral square then getting our Compostela, and rained consistently the following several weeks, according to reports. The man upstairs gave us perfect weather for walking.

 

[davejsy]

Camino Serendipity

I walked the Camino for Flora my dog who I'd lost 6 months previously. I had many amazing things happen on my walk, but one was just so amazing, too amazing to just be what some might refer to as coincidence.

And so I'll try and explain so it makes any sense without anyone falling asleep reading it. . .(will probably fail)

I love NW Spain and me and Flora had spent over 8 years exploring what became our second home, and hence how I now came to the Camino having criss crossed it's paths on many occasions. I'd already been to Santiago twice, but the only other place on the CF that I'd spent time was an overnight stop at Molinaseca a couple of years previously with Flora and my then long-term but now ex-girlfriend. And so Molinaseca became an increasing bogeyman on my walk which I was worried about the emotions and the memories it might invoke of happier times and souls no longer near for differing reasons.

So, as Camino serendipity would dictate I'd met a girl (J) walking the Camino with her dog Sepia (had to happen right?) and we'd walked on and off together for about 10 days before Molinaseca. I'd become very fond of both of them, and especially Sepia for obvious reasons. J was camping so we'd often end up in different places at the end of the day, but would generally meet each other the next day. The day before Molinaseca I'd ended up in the Albergue in Riego de Ambros (the hospitelero is the spitting image of Stanley Tucci), and I hadn't seen J at all that day, and I'd also got a really bad shin splint coming down from Cruz de Ferro and my shin was red and swollen - I didn't even know if I'd be able to continue and went to sleep depressed and rather dreading the next day.

So the next day dawned (actually it was still pitch black), I decided I'd try walking with the shin splint and set off in the murky grey dark at a snails pace trying not to aggravate my shin. I arrived at the edge of Molinaseca just where the track joins the road as the morning started to dawn. Last time I was there with Flora and my ex we'd done the usual walk around, ate dinner had a beer etc, and we'd walked as far as the church that is just on the right as you walk down the road towards the bridge. So as I approached the church everything was coming flooding back, amplified by my depressed mood - it felt like I was about to be swallowed up by the past. As I drew level with the church I heard distant shouting far back up the track and I looked around to see Sepia the dog running towards me. It seemed she was walking off the lead when she had picked up my scent (not difficult when you're a pilgrim in the same clothes for the last 3 weeks) and ran off from J to find me. It seemed Sepia had decided she wouldn't let me walk through this maze of memories alone.

So that was the first Camino serendipity, the second was J eventually caught up and decided she needed coffee. The place she randomly chose was the same place me, Flora, and my ex had stopped for dinner.

Then post Camino the third bit of Camino serendipity transpired. On my way home from the Camino whilst on the train I was thinking about this day in particular, and it made me look back up my photos on Google photos of when we'd been in Molinaseca that first time - it was two years to the day that I'd walked in on my Camino.

I'm not religious in any way, but things like this for me prove that there's much more to life than we will ever know, or ever need to know - we just need to be present for it and embrace it without questions.

Congratulations if you made it this far.

We walked the rest of the way together to Santiago. So two years since I was last sat in that square with Flora watching the pilgrims arrive, thinking one day I'd love to do that - there I was with Sepia without whom my Camino would have been very different. And I know that my Flora had a hand/paw in that.

Me and Sepia at the end of our Camino


Me and Flora two years previously

 

[Bristle Boy]

Camino Serendipity

I walked the Camino for Flora my dog who I'd lost 6 months previously. I had many amazing things happen on my walk, but one was just so amazing, too amazing to just be what some might refer to as coincidence.

And so I'll try and explain so it makes any sense without anyone falling asleep reading it. . .(will probably fail)

I love NW Spain and me and Flora had spent over 8 years exploring what became our second home, and hence how I now came to the Camino having criss crossed it's paths on many occasions. I'd already been to Santiago twice, but the only other place on the CF that I'd spent time was an overnight stop at Molinaseca a couple of years previously with Flora and my then long-term but now ex-girlfriend. And so Molinaseca became an increasing bogeyman on my walk which I was worried about the emotions and the memories it might invoke of happier times and souls no longer near for differing reasons.

So, as Camino serendipity would dictate I'd met a girl (J) walking the Camino with her dog Sepia (had to happen right?) and we'd walked on and off together for about 10 days before Molinaseca. I'd become very fond of both of them, and especially Sepia for obvious reasons. J was camping so we'd often end up in different places at the end of the day, but would generally meet each other the next day. The day before Molinaseca I'd ended up in the Albergue in Riego de Ambros (the hospitelero is the spitting image of Stanley Tucci), and I hadn't seen J at all that day, and I'd also got a really bad shin splint coming down from Cruz de Ferro and my shin was red and swollen - I didn't even know if I'd be able to continue and went to sleep depressed and rather dreading the next day.

So the next day dawned (actually it was still pitch black), I decided I'd try walking with the shin splint and set off in the murky grey dark at a snails pace trying not to aggravate my shin. I arrived at the edge of Molinaseca just where the track joins the road as the morning started to dawn. Last time I was there with Flora and my ex we'd done the usual walk around, ate dinner had a beer etc, and we'd walked as far as the church that is just on the right as you walk down the road towards the bridge. So as I approached the church everything was coming flooding back, amplified by my depressed mood - it felt like I was about to be swallowed up by the past. As I drew level with the church I heard distant shouting far back up the track and I looked around to see Sepia the dog running towards me. It seemed she was walking off the lead when she had picked up my scent (not difficult when you're a pilgrim in the same clothes for the last 3 weeks) and ran off from J to find me. It seemed Sepia had decided she wouldn't let me walk through this maze of memories alone.

So that was the first Camino serendipity, the second was J eventually caught up and decided she needed coffee. The place she randomly chose was the same place me, Flora, and my ex had stopped for dinner.

Then post Camino the third bit of Camino serendipity transpired. On my way home from the Camino whilst on the train I was thinking about this day in particular, and it made me look back up my photos on Google photos of when we'd been in Molinaseca that first time - it was two years to the day that I'd walked in on my Camino.

I'm not religious in any way, but things like this for me prove that there's much more to life than we will ever know, or ever need to know - we just need to be present for it and embrace it without questions.

Congratulations if you made it this far.

We walked the rest of the way together to Santiago. So two years since I was last sat in that square with Flora watching the pilgrims arrive, thinking one day I'd love to do that - there I was with Sepia without whom my Camino would have been very different. And I know that my Flora had a hand/paw in that.

Me and Sepia at the end of our Camino
View attachment 172735

Me and Flora two years previously
View attachment 172736

A lovely post.
I have just lost my furry soulmate Oscar a few days ago so can empathise and understand your reason to walk...I am still at the heartbreak stage and the emptiness it brings. To have another as company is a great comfort and companionship that only a dog owner understands....obviously Sepia understood.
Keep walking David...from one to another.

 

[Deenise]

That gave me a wave of emotion. I felt like Flora was reading your post with me. Love to you. Deenise

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Camino Serendipity

I walked the Camino for Flora my dog who I'd lost 6 months previously. I had many amazing things happen on my walk, but one was just so amazing, too amazing to just be what some might refer to as coincidence.

And so I'll try and explain so it makes any sense without anyone falling asleep reading it. . .(will probably fail)

I enjoyed reading your story, @davejsy; part sad, part upbeat, and also @Bristle Boy's response to your post of his recent loss.
No, I did not fall asleep and your words did not fail. Thank you for sharing.

 

[davejsy]

A lovely post.
I have just lost my furry soulmate Oscar a few days ago so can empathise and understand your reason to walk...I am still at the heartbreak stage and the emptiness it brings. To have another as company is a great comfort and companionship that only a dog owner understands....obviously Sepia understood.
Keep walking David...from one to another.

So sorry to hear about your Oscar @Bristle Boy . I know fully where you are coming from. Losing Flora hit me harder than any other loss I've had, animal or human, and I've had too many. I don't know why it hit me so hard, but the Camino was basically my last throw of the dice.

What I can say though, unequivocally, is that they never ever really leave you - nothing you love does. They reside in your heart and soul, and you theirs, and while our hearts one day stop our souls never do. We become mosaics of everything we have ever loved through many different lifetimes.

One of my favourite days on the Camino was the day of Monte Alto del Perdon, and I walked down the other side of that big old hill with my Flora dancing around my legs - I couldn't see her, I couldn't touch her, but there was absolutely no doubt she was there

 

[David Tallan]

What I can say though, unequivocally, is that they never ever really leave you - nothing you love does. They reside in your heart and soul, and you theirs, and while our hearts one day stop our souls never do. We become mosaics of everything we have ever loved through many different lifetimes.

There's a quote from a book that I just finished reading that struck me as helpful. Perhaps others may find it so:
“No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away, until the clock wound up winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life is only the core of their actual existence.”

Of course, this applies to animals as much as humans. And we must recognize that ripples create their own ripples, the effects continuing to spread far beyond what is immediately apparent. Each carrying the individual into the future.

 

[KariannNor]

Perhaps not a miracle, but after 2 weeks my mother called, almost 90 and with many serious health problems. While she was on the phone, a very small church was there unexpectedly. There someone was selling the fridge magnets, one was of a saint and a text dedicated to gratitude for mums. Of course I bought it and gave it to her after returning home.

 

[Wooz]

I believe in God’s perfect timing and there were so many instances along the Camino that were all due to His timing/nudges.

I made my friend impatient in Santiago because we were on the way to the train station to get tickets but I saw a Mom who was solo walking with her four year old so I stopped to chat. I had seen her days before and vowed to tell her how amazing she was and share a pic I took if I saw her again. She was with someone whom my friend had met along the trail so she came over to chat and that person told us how to get tickets online! Saved us over an hour which allowed us to enjoy more of Santiago!

Came to a fork in the road - stay on the Camino or follow maps to the shortest way to our place for the night. Shortcut looked like a busy road so my gut said the little longer Camino path even though we were tired and hungry. Saw two guys drinking at a cafe and we tried to get food but it had just closed. Guys told us about a great place at the top of the road which was way closer than where we were going. Our original place was fully refundable so cancelled it and stayed at the lovely Pazo Pias. Would have missed it if we’d gone the other way.

Really wanted to make it to Santiago in time for the afternoon Pilgrims’ Mass but just missed it. Hung out and watched others come in and checked in to our place then went to the 7:30 pm Mass. It was the Mass that the Botafumeiro was swung! Magical!!

And the timing of meeting perigrinos whom we hadn’t seen in days along the trail - simply magical.

Here’s hoping my eyes are as open now that I’m back to reality.

 

[David]

Well, I wasn’t going to add this as the story is very long, so please bear with me .. now, you could say this was just a coincidence or say it was a miracle, or anywhere along that line that makes you happy but, for me it was extraordinarily outstanding and I felt I had been placed, manoeuvred, to exactly where and when someone wanted me to be. Though it didn’t surprise me, I have had these things happen for the last 70 or so years.

So – for those who don’t know, I have been going to Camino on a first aid mission since 2006 and because of the first aid supplies take a home-made trailer with me – no backpack. Some of you may know that I also have an ancient injury from a motorcycle accident when I was young that has given me a bent arm and poor right knee. Well, at the end of winter my knee really played up, worse than it had ever been. I wore my metal hinged brace, tried all sorts of topical medications, etc, but to no avail though by May it had gentled down to a mere sometimes painful hindrance.

So I decided to go to Camino .. my choice, arriving Santander from the UK was Pamplona or Fromista on the Meseta. Although I felt I needed to go to Pamplona, that section having the most casualties, I chose the Meseta.
Much more level so easier walking .. but fewer people to help. Within two days I was feeling really guilty that I was not helping anyone (only one by then).

Some of you may know that on rising I pray to “be used, not from me but through me”? - and I felt that my self interest had taken over and I had made a mistake, I should have gone to Pamplona.

My knee was just not up to it .. even walking only 15 miles a day it was getting worse and worse really quickly .. I thought I could maybe get to Leon and then give up and go home – but I never got there.

The fourth day, after only some 60 miles I knew I had to stop.

The refugio that night was some miles before El Burgo Ranero where there was a train station but afterwards were miles and miles with no break so I decided that if I was ok at El Burgo I would carry on but if not ok would stop there, walk the mile to the station and start my journey home.

That night this became my resolve. The next day I started out and as long as I kept on the smooth road (the camino was alongside but a bit rough on my knee) I sort of did ok – I make light of this but I was in pain, I am 76 now and knew that my knee was a worsening problem from now on (I'm wearing my brace right now, over a month later, and have a hospital visit next week) – so I pondered and I was thinking, meditating on this. So this would be my last Camino walking, future ones for my mission would have to be with my little car, visiting refugios and so on.

But what would I do with my trailer? My beautiful Mk5. I decided that maybe I could set up a loan thing on the forum .. loan it out, get it back, loan it out – free except for delivery charges.

So – the Camino veered off to the right but I carried on along the road as smoother, expecting it to meet up later .. after twenty minutes I could see it was going southerly, so stopped, turned round, walked back. I remember not being irritated, more of “this is far enough, time to turn back now” at the time.

I walked into El Burgo, passed a dismal looking tienda with two tables, then a cafe bar with tables but carried on, my plan being to go to the centre, past the church, and stop at a cafe in the centre … but for no reason at all a few hundred yards along I stopped, turned around and walked back to the cafe bar. Parked my trailer to the left of the door and went in. It was lovely, really friendly, was also a refugio and on the huge chalkboard wall was advertised “bacon and eggs” – this was before noon and I don’t eat until after 2pm (my intermittent fasting thing) but in the hope it might be like British bacon I ordered and it was, a great breakfast!

I am going on a lot as to me this is about timing and what delayed me …. I decided to have another pot of tea and make that final decision – yes, going home, last time walking .. no way could I get to the next town.

Eventually decided it was time to go and went outside .. by then there were three pilgrims sitting at the tables but I saw a woman was making a ‘nest’, more a barricade, next to my trailer for her dog, using her two backpacks to give protection. The dog was completely flat out, didn’t look good at all.

I said hello and chatted with her (and then her dog). She was a French Canadian who had flown over with her dog (I think Marcia?) and had started in St Jean. Although she was slight and slim she was strong and fit and life positive and carried two rucksacks, so that she could camp when needed and also for the dog extras (one front, one back).

They had no problems whatsoever all the way until two days before when her dog started to become ill, weak … she was hoping to get to Leon to a vet and a rest but, so she told me, as they passed the cafe the dog just collapsed outside by my trailer and refused to go further and as I came out, thirty seconds later, she was making it a nice safe space.

I asked her what she would do next but she had no idea, she couldn’t wear two backpacks and carry the dog … so, well, you already know!

I explained my position and asked her if she would be kind enough to take my trailer – we then had to sort of haggle as she refused, I insisted - a good person that she was. Eventually she accepted and then I showed her how it folded down, went back together, the tools and spares in the little box – and she turned out to be a knowledgeable and practical person, she understood it all immediately and completely (and she really liked it too!).

I wanted to walk away then – these things are better done “quickly and gone” I think, but she wanted to buy me a meal, I declined, but accepted a drink and we sat and chatted with the other pilgrims. She decided she would wear one backpack, put the other in the trailer upright and then make a bed for the dog with her sleeping bag – sweet.

And then I walked away – and will probably never see her or her dog again – I do wonder how she tells the story – but, to me, look at the timing!

Before I left home I had chatted with my daughter about my mission and where I should start and she said that it didn’t matter, that if I wanted to go to the Meseta for the easy terrain I should go there because if my God wanted to put me where I was needed then he would, as that is at the core of my belief and mission isn’t it? (good daughter).

And I believe that is exactly what happened .. I went to Fromista, I ‘complained’ to God that no one needed my help (ended up being only five in all, all minor) and I should have ignored 'me' and gone to Pamplona, etc, etc … but, I went through the mental "end of an era" process over those few days and on the last day it had become clear that this was my last walking Camino with my trailer.

I had been delayed leaving the refugio, had gone off Camino for forty minutes, I had walked past the cafe but 400 metres later for absolutely no reason turned around and walked back. I had a big breakfast which took time, that I never do, never have done before on Camino …. she had walked from St Jean without a problem – her dog stopped and collapsed outside the cafe right next to my trailer and literally thirty seconds later I stepped out and we met.

Now – I am still astounded, thankful, deeply thankful and, to me? I go towards miracle rather than coincidence … I mean, what are the odds? No, really, what are the odds that this was chance and not organised by the one I am surrendered to?

and if I may say, within the forum rules? Surrender out there – the ‘bad’ things that may happen could be just to put you where and when you are supposed to be – trust, surrender – All is Well, all is always well. Bless you all xx

On a future note. I have a little Toyota Yaris and have measured it - with the rear seats taken out it is just long enough for me to sleep in at the diagonal – so look out for me on the Roncesvalles to Logrono sections from early September. Xx

 

[Camino Chrissy]

A lovely story, David. Thanks for taking the time to share it.

 

[JabbaPapa]

My conversion story is a bit too complicated for this type of forum, and it did happen on the Camino.

So a different story.

In about 2009 I became very ill with three successive serious flus, being mostly bed-bound over a period of about six months.

I lost a great deal of muscle mass, and then after it finally ended, I tried to start walking again, but then first my right knee gave in ; and then my second.

It became almost impossible to walk, not even to the bus stop, but just to the toilet. Up to 15 minutes sometimes just to get out of bed.

I could force myself out every few days using my hiking staff as a crutch to get the bus, get some shopping done, bus home, then collapse for eight hours just to recover.

Then I switched to a carnivore diet for four months, slowly got better, started walking first 100 metres ; then 300 ; then a kilometre +, slowly began forcing myself back into it, and eventually got two articulated knee braces and started walking a bit further, then got it into my head -- let's see if I can't force myself into being able to do a Camino ...

I trained for a whole year, which was only possible thanks to the knee braces, and in-between I made a vow that if I became capable of it, I would walk from Lourdes with my knee braces to Santiago.

Finally, in 2014 I set out, and I made my prayers and devotions at Lourdes, then off I went, with my knee braces. I prayed for enough strength to finish that Camino.

---

Well, my knees felt a bit strange immediately upon setting out, and I realised I was walking better.

On the third day, I tried walking without the braces.

---

I have never used them since.

OK - - time to share this in here.

It's happened again.

I have spent nearly three weeks making my way towards what will be my "proper" starting point in Ponferrada, and during that mostly hitch-hiking journey I decided to let the Way take me where it would.

That turned out to be Lourdes.

Despite the fact that I have no longer needed knee braces for ten years, my knees were still in constant pain that could only be alleviated with not just the anti-inflammatory, but also a certain amount of beer every day.

Well, I went to the Grotto, and poured the water on my knees and ankles, and I drank some of the water, passed through the Grotto itself, crossed myself with the water coating its surface, and ate a scrap of the "herbe" growing nearby, as Saint Bernadette said.

Prayed 12 Ave Marias. Asking for intercession from the Father BTW in case anyone's wondering.

And now that pain in the knees is basically gone. This was about ten days ago.

I need no beer to get rid of it as it's just gone, indeed I can simply drink far far less than I have needed to in the past 15 years or so.

One of these is extraordinary. Two ? Absolutely wonderful.

 

[Deenise]

OK - - time to share this in here.

It's happened again.

I have spent nearly three weeks making my way towards what will be my "proper" starting point in Ponferrada, and during that mostly hitch-hiking journey I decided to let the Way take me where it would.

That turned out to be Lourdes.

Despite the fact that I have no longer needed knee braces for ten years, my knees were still in constant pain that could only be alleviated with not just the anti-inflammatory, but also a certain amount of beer every day.

Well, I went to the Grotto, and poured the water on my knees and ankles, and I drank some of the water, passed through the Grotto itself, crossed myself with the water coating its surface, and ate a scrap of the "herbe" growing nearby, as Saint Bernadette said.

Prayed 12 Ave Marias. Asking for intercession from the Father BTW in case anyone's wondering.

And now that pain in the knees is basically gone. This was about ten days ago.

I need no beer to get rid of it as it's just gone, indeed I can simply drink far far less than I have needed to in the past 15 years or so.

One of these is extraordinary. Two ? Absolutely wonderful.

Wow. May God bless