Camino: Journey of the Heart

Before she retired, Pauline Rosseau, principal of Maris Stella school in Durban, took a group of girls on pilgrimage in Spain—a trip that would be a pinnacle in the girls’ Catholic education.

Having walked the Camino with her husband a few years ago, Pauline Rosseau, principal of Maris Stella school in Durban, asked a group of Grade 11 girls if they would be interested in walking a section of the Camino Frances—the “French Way”, the most popular of the routes of the Way of St James, the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.

Nine months of planning, preparation and training later, 11 pilgrims set off from the Durban school on pilgrimage. Mrs Rosseau said the parents and pilgrims had listed some parameters for the trip: the Camino was to be a spiritual journey—a pilgrimage; that the pilgrims would practise simplicity of lifestyle and shopping was not on the itinerary; and that the first hour of each day would be walked in silence—a time for prayer.

The girls would return tired but spiritually renewed and enthusiastic for their faith, and in no doubt that their experience had offered them something unique.

“As you walk, you cannot help but think of all the people, living and dead, some from hundreds of years ago, who have walked the same path as you are walking. It is a humbling thought. And yet it fills you with a sense of purpose. You, too, are a pilgrim. You have joined the brotherhood that spans place and time,” said Dominique Ducray.

“Pilgrims, on the whole, do not have much. Yet most people share it anyway. If ever our group made a meal, our teachers would be sure to invite whoever was with us to join in. Most of the friends we made on the Camino were made this way.” The learner said she would have a baguette for breakfast every day so she could share it. “I enjoyed the symbolism of us tearing off a piece and then passing it on.”

The girls attended Mass daily, a very different experience as it was celebrated in Spanish. “You can always tell where you are in the liturgy, and can respond in English. You have the most amazing sense of the vastness of the Catholic Church.”

Similarly for Jessica Donachie, the language was a barrier, but “the language of the heart took over”.

Judy Hartin said the group made friends with people from all over the world. “One thing I learnt from meeting such different people is that, even though we all have different cultures, languages and ways of life, we are all the same in the sense that we are all pilgrims journeying with a similar purpose and this gave us a sense of unity. On the Camino, you forget your differences and become family. You never walk alone.”

Dominique said the scenery was a character in their journey, never staying the same for more than a couple of days at a time. “There’s no way you can miss the beauty that surrounds you. Sometimes, as a group, we would sit down for a while. Not because anyone was particularly tired, but because it was beautiful.”

For fellow pilgrim Cassandra Pinheiro, the Camino de Santiago felt like a “surreal experience that one could only read about in books”.

She admitted that the walk was tougher than she expected, but nothing more than the girls could handle. “We all had our fair share of blisters or injuries, but as we walked forward, we all grew from it, whether physically, emotionally or spiritually, because what else can you do on a 350 kilometre walk but persevere?”

Dominique added: “As I got further on the journey, I began to expect something good to happen. I would look at the road ahead of me in the morning, knowing that my feet would hurt by the time I got to stop that night. Then I would look up at the sky, and wonder what God had in store for me. There was always something good. No matter how hard, or long, or hot, or wet the day was, there was something good in it.”

And the accommodation? “We were pleasantly surprised by the albergues (pilgrim hostels) each evening. Perhaps, after walking 20 to 30 kilometres each day, we would have slept well on any surface, but the bunk beds were always clean and comfortable, and sleep for us was never a problem, “ she said.

Lerarner Katharine Bebington. said: “At each albergue, because we were a group of 11 pilgrims, we were given our own dormitory, and so, at the monastery in Samos, it was, with a little shock, that we realised we would be sleeping next to young and old men! But that night made us grateful for each other and added to the magic of the Camino.”

But, as with all journeys, the Camino came to an end. “Saying goodbye to friends you meet on the pilgrimage is odd. You feel slightly sad, and yet you know that this is what was always going to happen. As you walked into each other’s lives, so you walk out,” said Dominique.

“This, for me, is the real call of pilgrims: having grown in our relationship with God, to be strengthened in our walk with and towards him; and with this renewed strength, to help others on their walk, and as a pilgrim constantly strives to do, to give thanks to God for all his goodness to us.”

With Joan Schmidt as the school’s new principal, Maris Stella celebrates 115 years as well as the 150th anniversary of the Holy Family Sisters arrival in KwaZulu-Natal.