Chronicle of Wednesday 13 August

Dear parents, grandparents, friends and the rest of the pilgrims,

Today was full of surprises. How clear it is that God is with us on our way to Rome and that his providence is at work in it.

In the morning, our route began with a meditation on the universal call to holiness. We are all called to be saints and we must strive to achieve it. Sometimes it seems that our efforts are in vain and we don’t see their fruits. It is precisely there that we can sanctify them most and where our intentions are closest to God.

The first part of today’s stage was a long climb along the road. We went at a very good pace since, despite the accumulated tiredness, we beat our record by covering 19 kilometres in just 4 hours. When we least expected it, the van was already waiting for us with a fantastic breakfast. In the end we did 36 km in total (the longest stage so far) and arrived at a village called Pieve Santo Stefano.

At one point during the stage, Beto started chasing a sort of big lizard along the road, while Laura Perreau urged him to catch it because, according to her, the little creature was “so cute”. Just as Beto was about to catch the animal, a “carabinieri” car ran over it and squashed it flat, and our pilgrims were left with an image they won’t forget in a hurry. Some say the tail kept jumping about on the tarmac, already separated from the body.

Isa and Laura surprised us once again with their splendid cooking. Today they made us chickpeas with peas and tomato sauce that were finger-licking good. Another day without Bimbo bread! How easy it is to see Jesus in the people who love us. After lunch we were able to enjoy a long siesta.

In the afternoon we had a short time of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, we read In Conversation with God together and we took part in Holy Mass with the local people. In the homily, Father Juan Carlos, a Colombian priest who looks after this parish and several more in the area, preached to us about the importance of community and how beautiful it is to share our faith. When the Eucharistic celebration ended, a very friendly little old lady from the village handed out sweets to some of the pilgrims and told them about the church, which was once again decorated with impressive frescoes on the walls and ceiling. Others, using up what little energy they must have had left, decided it was a good idea to play some basketball on the court next to the sports hall where we are sleeping today. These lads’ batteries never run out.

For dinner, we shared some pizzas and drinks, and Father Juan Carlos joined us for this evening’s get-together. During it, Laura Perreau sang us some really cool songs and we rediscovered the hit that made Antonio famous on the pilgrimage to Lisbon: “Para barrer la bamba”. We give great thanks to God for today, which had a bit of everything, and we are getting ready to rest and keep walking tomorrow towards Rome, which gets closer with every step we take.