So I just wrote this whole thing, the app crashed, and I lost it, and Day 27 is floating around somewhere. Well, here we go again. Take two, Day 27 to follow sometime soon:
Another day, another mountain, another 12km...wait, only 12km?! Hellooooo Day 28, shortest day ever!! And one of the loveliest...
When we got to the top of the mountain:
Welcome to O Cebreira, out destination town for the day. This is the view off the back of our albergue:
But the beauty of the surrounding mountains isn't the only reason that O Cebreiro is a wonderful little town and the title of this post. In this itty bitty middle-of-nowhere mountain village, a Eucharistic miracle took place.
One terribly cold, snowy day in 1300, the parish priest in O Cebreira was sure that no one would brave the dangerous conditions to come to Mass. To his surprise, one lowly farmer, Juan Santìn, showed up at the church for Mass that evening. The priest was dismayed and angry; because he did not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, he considered Juan's decision to be foolish and dangerous. But, Our Lord knew better. When the doubting priest spoke the words of consecration, the bread changed into flesh, and the wine changed into blood and splattered out onto the corporal. At every Mass, the bread and wind become the true Body and Blood of Jesus, but usually they remain veiled under the forms of bread and wine. In this Eucharistic miracle, God chose to reveal Himself in an extra-extraordinary way, in the presence of both the faithful farmer and the doubting priest. Why? So that both of these men, all whose lives they would touch, and everyone who would one day hear of this miracle could come to know Him better and love Him more in the Eucharist.
As if a Eucharistic miracle weren't enough, the Lord also blessed us with a beautiful sunset over the mountains.
If you ever get the chance, come to O Cebreira. If not, just go to Mass and spend time in Eucharistic Adoration--our Eucharistic Lord and time spent with Him are far more beautiful anyway.
Oh, and we have 150km, 96mi, and ONE WEEK until the end of our pilgrimage!! Pray for us!
+JMJ+
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