Santiago de Compostela – Day 15
Today I write from Santiago de Compostela, not having walked the complete path as planned, but arriving nonetheless with a heart full of wonder. The pilgrimage called me back to Poland with urgent matters, yet here I am, and I feel Saint James himself has been smiling upon this journey.
This pilgrimage has been profoundly different from my 2019 walk along the entire Camino Francés. Back then, I barely noticed whose footsteps I was following. Compostela wasn’t the goal—the way itself was everything, and I walked almost oblivious to the saint whose path I traced. But these fourteen days have been marked by a deep pondering about Santiago, about walking in the footsteps of the apostle, about the sacred nature of this ancient route.
When Plans Become Blessings
Yesterday in Burgos, waiting seven long hours for my train to Compostela, I received an unexpected phone call. My hotel booking had fallen through—an elderly, sick couple couldn’t vacate my reserved room. Instead, the hotel moved me to their other facility, and what seemed like an inconvenience became pure grace. I found myself in a magnificent room with a balcony overlooking the cathedral itself.
Standing there, gazing at those ancient stones catching the evening light, I couldn’t help but smile back. After all the struggles of this pilgrimage—three feverish nights in Logroño, the urgent calls pulling me back to Poland, the constant wrestling with obstacles—here was Saint James, offering me this perfect view, this moment of peace. It felt like a gentle reminder that even our detours and difficulties can lead us exactly where we need to be.
The Cathedral and the Carousel
This morning, Santiago buzzed with life in all its chaotic beauty. I set out for the noon Mass at the cathedral, but the queue stretched through so many streets I knew I wouldn’t make it inside. Around the cathedral, life unfolded in all its magnificent complexity: a sports event, a protest, pilgrims arriving in tears of joy at their completion, tourists rushing past with cameras raised.
Through it all, I felt the profound truth that the entire life is a pilgrimage. Even though I didn’t walk every step to reach Santiago, even though my path took unexpected turns, the journey continues. The sacred doesn’t stop at the cathedral doors—it flows through every street, every moment, every breath.
Different Space, Different Time
Today I walked through Santiago with a sensation I can barely describe—as if I were moving through a different dimension of space and time. There was such serenity blooming under every step, such peace in simply being present to this ancient city that has welcomed pilgrims for over a thousand years.
I wandered to a park near the city center where a small fair was taking place. Children’s laughter rang out from a carousel, their joyful screams of delight piercing the air like prayers of pure happiness. I stood there watching, drinking in the simple miracle of being alive, of being able to witness this beautiful ordinariness of human joy.
Gratitude for the Gift of Being
Yesterday we reflected on respecting time—not feeding it or killing it, but inhabiting it fully. Today, that reflection deepened into overwhelming gratitude for the sheer gift of existence. What a miracle it is to be here, to breathe, to see, to feel the ancient stones beneath our feet and hear children’s laughter carried on the wind.
My husband is far away, working the night shift and dealing with unexploded ordnance from the Second World War—a reminder of how fragile and precious our peaceful moments truly are. This day would have been infinitely sweeter with him beside me, yet even across the distance, I could sense his closeness, his love traveling the space between us.
A Faith-Driven Lifestyle
As I write this, I’m filled with the understanding that faith isn’t just about the dramatic moments—the completion of long pilgrimages or the arrival at sacred destinations. Faith lives in the everyday miracle of choosing gratitude, of finding the sacred in a child’s laughter, of trusting that even our interrupted plans can lead us to exactly where our souls need to be.
Saint James continues to smile, I believe, not just on those who complete every kilometer of his path, but on all of us who keep walking, keep seeking, keep opening our hearts to the extraordinary gift of this ordinary, beautiful, difficult, blessed life.
The pilgrimage continues—not just to Santiago, but through every day we’re given, every breath we take, every moment we choose to see the sacred in the simple act of being alive.
So let us walk beyond in gratitude.
Ultreia
