Hi this is Ange, I have just got back from doing the Camino Primitivo and I travelled with a group of French friends, from Villeneuve sur Lot. Alain is deeply religious and we started our Camino with a service at the Convent in Villeneuve with the lovely voices of the Nuns. Every day Alain did a short service followed up by the following prayer. Not the Irish one, but this was given to us by the priest at the Basilique of Notre Dame de Peyragude, in Penne d'Agenais, which holds Pilgrims services at 4pm each afternoon. Penne is on the route Puy en Velay and this passes right near where I live. The second prayer is one I found on a French site. If anyone needs anything further in French, (and translated) let me know. I propose to start the Camino from Puy en Velay next year with an Italian couple that we met this year. Ange from Agen
La prière du pèlerin à Saint-Jacques
Ô Saint-Jacques...
Soutenez-nous dans les dangers, et allégez nos marches;
Soyez pour nous une ombre contre le soleil, un manteau contre la pluie et le froid;
Soyez le bâton qui évite les chutes et le port qui accueille les naufragés;
Afin que, guidés par Vous, nous atteignions avec certitude notre but,
et revenions sains et saufs à la maison.
O Saint Jacques...
Protect us from danger, and lighten our load,
Be for us the shade against the sun, a protection against the rain and the cold,
Be a support that avoids falls, and the port that welcomes the shipwrecked
Finally, guided by You, we are sure to reach our goal,
And return sane and safe to our home.
Je marcherai.
Je marcherai sous le soleil trop lourd,
sous la pluie à verse ou dans la tourmente.
En marchant, le soleil réchauffera mon cœur de pierre ;
la pluie fera de mes déserts un jardin.
A force d’user mes chaussures, j’userai mes habitudes.
Je marcherai et ma marche sera démarche.
J’irai moins au bout de la route qu’au bout de moi-même.
Je serai pèlerin.
Je ne partirai pas seulement en voyage.
Je deviendrai moi-même un voyage, un pèlerinage.
Jean Debruy
I will walk in the sun too heavy,
in the pouring rain or in turmoil.
When walking, the sun will warm my heart of stone;
rain will make my desert a garden.
By dint of wearing out my shoes, I will change my habits.
I will walk and my walk will be started.
I'll go less to the end of the road than to the end of myself.
I will be a pilgrim.
I am not only parting on my travels.
I will be discovering myself, a pilgrimage.
