29. Oct 2025

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Video: It was my hope to see the famous botafumeiro of the Cathedral Santiago de Compostela being swayed across the length of the naves of the church. The botafumeiro is an enormous incense burner for liturgical use. The Galician word, used to name it since the 19th century, literally means smoke expeller. The botafumeiro does not sway at every pilgrim mass, but only on special occassions or days or when a group of pilgrims will special order it at a cost. When I went to the pilgrim office yesterday to get my official pilgrim certificate (La Compostela) that I had completed the pilgrimage, the clerk who was processing my pilgrim passport (Credential) was so impressed that I had walked all the way from my home in Germany to Santiago that he got up from behind the counter, gave me a hug and hinted that the botafumeiro might be burning in the early pilgrim's mass on Sunday morning. It was and I was sitting almost right under it! It was very impressive, but not the highlight of my coming to Santiago. In the middle of the church was a large alter with the glitter of gold and silver. The alter was actually a throne and on the throne was a statue of St. James. Under the throne and under the ground was the supposed tomb of St. James. People would stand in line for hours to go down the steps to see it and then come up on the other side, go up another set of steps that led behind the throne so that people could hug the statue of St. James from behind. For many people this was the highlight of their visit to the Cathedral. I felt sadness in my spirit as I watched hands appear from behind to hug a lifeless statue. I wondered how many hearts that were searching for an encounter with the living God, went away empty that day.
For me the highlight of coming to Santiago occurred as I was approaching the city and came up to the top of the last hill before entering the city limits. At that moment a gust of a head wind blew against me. I raised my arms and my poncho begann to flutter in the wind. I felt like an eagle soaring through the air and thought of the eagles that I had seen with wings spread out as they soared from the peaks of the Pyrenee Mountains. In my spirit came the verse from Isaiah 40:31...

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Tears came to my eyes. God had kept his promise!

Photo 1: Day and Night, the Beginning and the End... Cross emblem in the Santiago Cathedral

Photo 2: The sun trying to come through the clouds over the Santiago Cathedral

Photo 3: During the early morning pilgrim's mass a marathon was taking place on the streets of Santiago.

Photo 4: Loren (USA), Lu (France), me, Nikolai (Germany)... people I met, talked and prayed with on the path. We all ended up staying in the same shared room our final night in Santiago. Nikolai would leave in the night at 1.00am in an attemp to walk 100 kilometers from Santiago to Finisterre in one day. He asked me to pray for him before he tried to get some sleep. At 1.00am he got up to go. I gave him a hug and wished him God's help and blessings. Nikolai made it!

Photo 5: The hostel where we stayed is called KM.0 in reference to the kilometer stones showing how far still to go to reach the Cathedral. The hostel was about 150 meters away from the church.