Chris Lowney, a one-time Jesuit seminarian and co-author of the Guide to the Camino Ignaciano, shares with Aleteia his thoughts on pilgrimage and Ignatian spirituality.

Christian traditions have read the biblical Fall of Adam and Eve as portraying human beings as exiles, in an often-inhospitable world, estranged from God and from one another. Later biblical narratives and Christian commentaries highlight this being exiled as a constitutive attribute of human existence.

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On June 15, the documentary film by Jordi Roigé El Camino Ignaciano (86 min) was presented at La Casa del Cinema, in Vila Borghese, Rome. In this emblematic place of Italian cinema, a meeting point for the specialized press, the documentary was presented as part of the Ignatian Year events, as highlighted by Fr. Arturo Sosa sj at the premiere in the Vatican the day before.

The documentary will be in Spain on July 22 commercially and will be available to the Society of Jesus once the distribution rights have expired. Two versions will be presented to the public, one complete and the other reduced to 50 minutes, so that it can also be viewed on television.

It is a film that allows you to experience, like any other pilgrim, the visual and spiritual beauty of the itinerary that Ignacio de Loyola traveled from Azpeitia to Manresa in 1522.

Through the experiences of four pilgrims and a guide, the images of the documentary invite you to enjoy the architecture, the monuments, the landscapes, the fauna and flora, the gastronomy, the culture and the people of the worlds that make up the Ignatian Camino.

Mbassa Niang, Iñigo Medinilla, Iñaki Sánchez and Marta Burguet are the protagonists of the documentary, people from diverse cultures, regions and religions. The group’s guide is the Jesuit Josep Lluís Iriberri, director of the Ignatian Way Pilgrim’s Office, who for 10 years has accompanied pilgrims from all over the world. a

Watch the teaser of the movie here

Helen Novaes, a Brazilian woman, shares her experience in an article written in 2018 and published in a Jesuit magazine in Brazil. Her personal experience can help other potential future pilgrims understand the values ​​and depth of the Ignatian Way, especially in its second Jubilee Year, 2022. A solitary walker, she delves deeply into the moments of the Way and also its Ignatian meaning.

Read the article here.

The guide of a pilgrimage, if done in a group, must know how to “herd cats”, as they say in the USA: difficult to have them all together in the same place and time, difficult for them to follow the same direction and for us all to be on time. This is quite common, but it must be said that the Regis High School Denver group did not meet this expectation and not only behaved with conscience and order, but they were also one of the fastest groups to complete the Ignatian Way, reaching Manresa “fresh as a rose” as they say in Spain. Youth helps, but also the determination to reach the end fulfilling their dream of being the best group of pilgrims in history. Hard to say, but maybe they did. June 2022 was hot and demanded a lot from the pilgrims. You had to see Annika’s flushed face, or Sophia’s comment “I felt so miserable in that sun!”. The group cohered well, although the tendency of girls with girls and boys by their side was also noticeable. The team of accompanying teachers introduced the meditations and reflections that helped the students to keep their personal diary and mature throughout the pilgrimage. When the blisters appeared, it was necessary to think of auxiliary aids such as the taxi that could lighten the suffering a little, both on the feet and on the knees. Once again, the gastronomy, the local history linked to Saint Ignatius and the visits to the Ignatian sanctuaries offered an incomparable framework for personal transformation. Again, the Way showed its stimulating force for personal growth in high school students. AMDG! 

Santa Clara University, Master in Ignatian Spirituality. Nothing better to finish a training on Saint Ignatius than to live the experience of this pilgrimage. Santa Clara organizes an Ignatian pilgrimage every two years, since 2014. The students, men and women, religious and laity, live the experience with great interior consolation, also overcoming the penances that the Way offers us. This 2022 could not be less than the other years, so there was a pilgrim who finished the pilgrimage by bicycle, because his feet could no longer continue. A company near Igualada, VillorvinAdventure, solves the problems of pilgrims who need bicycles to keep moving forward… and they are electric! Going up to Arantzazu, they met students from other Jesuit universities in the USA, so they shared the experience for a few hours. The experience of spending a night at Posada Ignatius in Navarrete was very rewarding, after a long day of walking. In addition, to enjoy the Ignatian history of Navarrete is to take root in the experience of that Íñigo de Loyola who lived three years in that place. The joy of the group came from one of the guides, Katie, and the depth from Julia. The group quickly consolidated, having also shared spirituality classes in Santa Clara. In Manresa, the visit to the place of illumination of Saint Ignatius was a strong moment of prayer and closure of the experience.

The group’s final comment was summarized as follows: “Wow-what a journey! We are now stark-side again at the University after a sometimes challenging and intense but ultimately grace-filled pilgrimage infused with art, natural beauty, and, most importantly, a story sense of communitas. We are sure that the gifts we received will continue to reveal themselves. Really grateful to the Jesuits for making it all possible.”

An invitation came from their formators: if they wanted to join to live the experience of their vow’s renewal retreat, doing the Ignatian Way in June 2022, following the Jubilee Year of 500 years, it would be an open possibility for them. They were the young Jesuit priests of the South-Central province of the USA. Some of them scattered in other countries, finishing doctoral studies, accepted the call. A total of 10 of them met at Loyola at the end of June to begin a pilgrimage that would end in Rome in July. Jesuits who know the life of Saint Ignatius well, but for some of them it was the first time that they were in the Ignatian places in Spain. They were days of discovery and personal growth. Daily Eucharist, celebrated in very significant places for them, such as the Chapel of the Conversion of Ignacio, where they renewed their commitments as Jesuits, or the sanctuaries of Javier (not on the route of the Ignatian Way, but within the possibilities of approaching if you have a private means of transport) and San Pedro Claver (this one is inside the Camino, in Verdú). Of course, the visit and celebration of the Eucharist in the chapel of the Virgin of Montserrat and in La Cueva de San Ignacio, Manresa, were the finishing touches to the whole experience. Once again, the heat of this summer forced them to get up extremely early, like leaving Montserrat at 5:30 a.m. On the other hand, it was also necessary to accept walking under the sun in the long stages or in those in which arriving too early in a town prevented them from entering the church to visit it, such as that of Tárrega, which is well worth it with its beautiful fresco paintings. The landscape, the meals, the shared walk, the meditations… everything led to a profound experience of the grace of the Camino: to start one’s own life over again. Although they already knew everything about Ignacio, living the path calmly helped to reformulate many things, to the point of confessing one of them “I needed this experience: I feel like a new man. I start again” Another confessed that the pilgrimage had helped him return to his Ignatian roots after a period of spiritual dryness. Along the Way, words of wisdom and encouragement to move forward were collected, which are applied to everyday life once at home. Accompanied by Fr. Iriberri sj. the pilgrims experienced the grace of being “Friends in the Lord” as Saint Ignatius wished.

After the experience, the dispersion of destinations materializes again and the group separates, but the commitment remains to continue walking interiorly and to remain united in prayer, until the Lord reunites them, perhaps once more on the Ignatian Way! 

One of the groups of Christian Life Communities (CLC) from USA, guided by Fr. Hung Pham sj. dared to walk the Ignatian Way last May-June. 15 Vietnamese pilgrims were ready to follow the Jubilee 500 years although the temperature was announced very high. Waking up as early as possible and not walking too long distances was the secret formula in order not to get toasted by the Spanish Sun. History and Ignatian Spirituality were the spinal cord of this pilgrimage. As a true seekers of the inner world, they combined the silent walk with the liturgies presided by Fr. Hung sj with moving songs singed in Vietnamese language. Starting in Loyola, as it is always recommended, and ending in Manresa with two days of meditation, the 12 days of pilgrimage just flowed without notice and they found themselves asking for a longer experience next time. One interesting thing: they tried the more difficult way in Montserrat, which added some excitement to that step approaching the monastery. Going to Arantzazu and Montserrat, to see the same images that Ignatius saw 500 years ago was exciting, feeling connected with the Pilgrim that started this new Way in 1522. And the dinner at Jorba pilgrims’ hostel was, as always, most celebrated. We have to confess the hardest moment only two km before arriving to Manresa, under the extreme heat: some pilgrims they thought they couldn’t make it!! But everyone did it! God is great!

“This Camino Ignaciano is our dream come true! To know Ignatius of Loyola!”

Three Universities from USA came together to walk the Ignatian Way last month of May 2022. 26 pilgrims, boys and girls from Creighton, St Xavier and John Carroll walked the Camino, starting in Loyola and ending their pilgrimage in Manresa. 12 days of spiritual experience, walking and enjoying the landscapes as much as the gastronomy of Euskadi or Catalonia. Points of prayer were given every day for the meditation and mixed groups of sharing helped to go deep in the experience. Very well-prepared liturgies celebrated every day by the Jesuit from Creighton (Jeff Sullivan sj.) guiding the pilgrimage, helped to keep the presence of Jesus very alive all along the experience. A bus helped to shorten the distance and to keep inside the schedule. Long days of 32 km put the pilgrims to the limit, and some felt deeply the penance of walking under the unmerciful Sun. May was hot in Spain, with the first wave of African wind coming just in the middle of the pilgrimage. But with lots of water, everything went right.

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When you commit to a journey of faith, you are on a lifelong pilgrimage, persevering through the ups and downs of life step-by-step. You are forever a pilgrim walking into the light. That is what “Retreat, Reflect, Renew” facilitator Darlene Carlson and Christine Jurisich learned last May 2022 as they embarked on an Ignatian pilgrimage in Spain. 

Read the full experience here.

Spiritual Directors International (SDI) has programed for this 2022 nothing less than 3 pilgrimages of 10 days each, with 19 to 24 pilgrims each experience. Young and not “that young” pilgrims gather on the Way of Saint Ignatius, reviving their own knowledge of Ignatius, learned through multiple lectures, and rooted on his Autobiography. It has been a great experience to live on the steps of Ignatius, bringing together the flesh of the Ignatian Way to the bones of the read literature and theorical classes. For some of the pilgrims, after more than 30 years as a spiritual director following the Ignatian spirituality, this was their first time in Spain and in the Ignatian places. Although Covid gave us a very hard time, we could live fully the experience of the pilgrimage and the evaluation was most satisfactory. M Y M Y

J

On March 2022… “Experience Íñigo 500”
This pilgrimage was intended to be the replica of the one that Ignatius did in 1522, 500 years ago, arriving to Manresa on the very same day as he did: afternoon March 25^th. We were a group of pilgrims from many different places: Italy, Cuba, Colombia, USA, Britain, Spain, Singapore… Different people, different cultures but the understanding was perfect! The youngest in its 40s and the oldest in its 80s. Wonderful mixture!! In winter, trying not to walk in the difficult mountains, but trying to keep the sense of the pilgrimage for more than two weeks of experience. Prayer, sharing and liturgies, along with the Autobiography and the Spiritual Exercises, was a combination that brought to every pilgrim to the best experience as a walker’s, disciples du Christ. Pain and penance were with us at some moments, not just under the cold rain but in the long distances as well. Tendinitis was an obstacle difficult to overcome. But we did it, and we arrived with great joy to the end of our pilgrimage in Manresa at the day scheduled.
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I have wanted to walk the Camino for seven years and I was really hoping to make my dream come true during the Jubilee Year of the 500^th anniversary of St. Ignatius’ conversion. I was granted!

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