Day 8: Logroño

Today we started walking from Viana around 7am, and we arrived in Navarrete around 1:30pm.  Today was a great day for lots of reasons:

It was our one week anniversary of beginning the Camino...

The weather was nice, no rain, and pretty cool...

But the best part (and the reason I danced the first two hours of walking) is that we walked through Logroño today...

What's so great about Logroño?  Why did I dance myself there?  Because of this guy:

St. Josemaria Escriva!!!  St. Josemaria is one of my favorite saints ("my man" as I refer to him).  He was born in Barbastro, Spain, in 1902.  His family moved to Logroño in 1915, when he was 13, almost exactly 100 years ago.  Logroño was a very special place for St. Josemaria, because it was here, at the age of 15, that he discovered his vocation and entered seminary.  What exactly does that mean?  Well, to discover your vocation means to discover God's will for your life.  For St. Josemaria, it happened like this: one cold winter night, he was walking Long the road and noticed footprints of bare feet in the snow.  Full of wonder, he followed these footprints and discovered that they belonged to a discalced Carmelite religious.  He thought, "if someone can walk barefoot in the snow for love of Jesus, what can I do?" 

(Marks the place where St. Josemaria saw the footprints in the snow)

And from that moment, he decided to give his life totally at the service of the will of God as a priest.  He entered the seminary in Logroño in 1918.  He was ordained to the priesthood in 1925.  Since he first saw those footprints in Logroño, St. Josemaria felt that God had a special mission for him to carry out.  In 1928, God made him see clearly what this mission was: to call all people, in all states of life to holiness, to be saints, to sanctify their ordinary work by offering everything to God and living in love with Him.  St. Josemaria preached, wrote, worked with the poor and the sick, set up residences for university students, all the while supporting his family.  He founded Opus Dei ("work of God") to carry out this mission.  His life, work, writings, and prayers have helped so many people to encounter God in the simplicity of their daily routine and to know the joy and excitement of offering every moment, every effort, for love of Jesus.  His writings are simple, short, and easy to read (which I love!) and you can find them all here: escrivaworks.org. I offer St. Josemaria to you as friend and heavenly help!  I can tell you he is certainly both for me :) 

And, his feast day is tomorrow!  Woohoo!

Tonight, in Navarrete, we went to Mass in what is my favorite church we have been in so far.  I'll attach a picture, but it will not do the beauty of the church, the wonderful priest, the beautiful Mass, and the truly glorious presence of Our Lord justice.  My heart could have exploded.  I want to come back here!

Ok, it's late, my phone is dying, and I have feast day coffee to make early in the morning!  I'll post this tomorrow because I am internetless now.  Until then...

+JMJ+