Urban Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey of purpose. It can be interior or exterior, metaphorical, or literal. It is a movement towards holiness, healing, or growth. It’s a journey in search of meaning, expanded consciousness, or higher good. It’s a journey of transformation, a journey towards a larger life. In the Pilgrim Museum in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain, there is a piece of art that describes the purpose of pilgrimage:

“to reach the highest level of knowledge, spiritual renewal, glory, paradise, or eternal salvation.”

Pilgrim

Pilgrimage is the journey; pilgrim is the traveler on the holy journey.  The Hebrew to Jerusalem. The Hindu to the Ganges. The Buddhist to Bodh Gaya or Kailash. The Muslim to Mecca. The Christian to Jerusalem, Rome, or Santiago de Compostela.

The most satisfying definition of a pilgrim comes from Pope Francis, he describes it like this:

“…to be a pilgrim means primarily to be in movement, to be uninstalled, to go out from stillness, which becomes a comfort that paralyzes and waits – inactive, routine, formalistic – and to advance free of conditions, to read with realism the events of existence.”[1]

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[1] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/36426/bishops-stress-hospitality-for-camino-de-santiago-hosts

Pilgrimage in San Antonio, Texas

I’m sure you’ve heard of pilgrim journeys to Jerusalem, Rome, Mecca, and maybe even Santiago de Compostela, but a pilgrimage in San Antonio, Texas?? Yup, turns out San Antonio has quite a history, especially with Spain.

The Camino de San Antonio Missions organized what was already a good walk along the San Antonio River into a 14-mile mini-pilgrimage trek. It starts at the remote Mission San Francisco de la Espada and ends at the San Fernando Cathedral in bustling downtown San Antonio. Though the main route is along the river, there are sidetracks to the other missions along the way.

After completing the Camino de San Antonio Missions, you will have earned 30-kilometers (around 20 miles) of credit for the Camino Inglés route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. You can read more about this here.

The Walking Logistics

There’s no right way or wrong way to walk the Camino de San Antonio Missions, the only requirement is that you visit each of the missions along the way and the San Fernando Cathedral. I am accustomed to long walks and the OCD side of me likes to do things in a nice, orderly fashion, so we walked the whole distance in one day (14 miles approximately), starting at Mission San Francisco de la Espada (the southernmost mission) and ending at the San Fernando Cathedral in downtown SA.

Weather

We walked on a beautiful day in February. San Antonio weather in February is often perfect, October through April usually has good weather, too. If you haven’t heard, Texas is hot in the summertime, summer being defined as about the middle of May to the end of September in a good year. It would be a tough walk in this timeframe. If you do it – start early, drinks loads of water, use sunscreen, take advantage of the shade, and listen to your body. Maybe a good summer walking schedule would be to walk from 7:00 am to 10:30 am, take a looonnnnggg lunch break, and resume walking around 6:00 pm when much of the path will be in the shade, especially in the northern part.

Resources (i.e. food, water, and other necessities)

There aren’t many resources along the River Trail, so be sure to carry at least 2 liters of water and some snacks. About 3 miles from the starting point of Mission Espada, there is a coffee shop near the intersection of the River and Roosevelt Avenue. To get there, go up from the river and cross the Roosevelt Avenue bridge, Tandem is just across and on the right. It’s a cool place and good for coffee (or beer), snacks, and a restroom break. About 10 miles into the trip, you’ll arrive in the Southtown area. Here there are a bunch of restaurants, brew pubs, coffee shops, rest stops right on, or very near the river. By the time you make it to San Fernando Cathedral, you’ll be in the heart of San Antonio and surrounded by places to eat and stay.

In Conclusion

The Camino de San Antonio Missions is a great way to spend a day (or two, or more) enjoying the outdoors, getting in a good walk, and learning history of our good city! It’s also a good training walk if you’re planning on doing one of the longer walks to Santiago de Compostela (or other pilgrimage paths).

Get out there and walk!