Many people divide the Camino into three or four sections. Ignatius Loyola divided his Spiritual Exercises into four phases – he called them “Weeks”.
This series of blog posts adapts the Spiritual Exercises for a pilgrimage (such as the Camino) and for other ways of growing spiritually following the insights of Ignatius.
Here are previous posts in this series – a good place to start:
How to Pray Like a Pilgrim – Camino Lessons from St Ignatius Loyola
Soul of my Saviour
Spiritual Exercises – 19th Annotation Pilgrimage
Pilgrim’s Purpose
A typical division is
Physical: from St Jean Pied de Port to Burgos – where you are physically challenged
Mental: across the Meseta from Burgos to Astorga (or León) – where you are mentally expanded
Psychological: across the mountains of Leon and Galicia from Astorga to Sarria (or León to O Cebreiro) where you are psychologically stretched
Spiritual: the home stretch from Sarria (or O Cebreiro) to Santiago de Compostela – where you are spiritually enlightened.
You can already see that different people divide the Camino into four at slightly different town boundaries. The pilgrimage in all these approaches, however, is understood from the perspective of the inner work of the Camino to be a journey of personal transformation.
Compare this to the four “Weeks” of the Spiritual Exercises:
Week 1: Sin and God’s mercy
Week 2: The life, the public ministry, and teaching of Jesus
Week 3: The suffering and death of Jesus
Week 4: The Resurrection and God’s love
The four “Weeks” of the Spiritual Exercises are not fixed lengths of time (certainly not 4×7 days). They are more phases or stages on a journey of transformation. And, as I will expand in future posts in this series, I found the four “Weeks” of the Spiritual Exercises fitted surprisingly well to the phases of the Camino.
The Pyrenees, Navarre, and La Rioja tested me physically, and matched prayerfully thinking about my purpose and what was impairing me (sin). The long, flat Meseta provided opportunity to reflect on Jesus life and teaching. In the hills and at the Cruz de Ferro, it was appropriate to focus on Jesus’ suffering and death. And the final stretch towards, and arrival at, the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela focused naturally on the Resurrection, God’s love, and how to bring the transformation back into my day-to-day life.
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The photo at the top is my own, taken while walking the Camino this year.
