A day of rain but it doesn’t bother us because we had three great days of sunshine in a very rainy climate. The rain helped us to stay close to home and rest, but we still managed to get out a fair bit. In the afternoon, I walked into Azpeitia to get some cheese, port, and single-malt scotch for the pilgrims.
We began the day by going to Our Lady of Arantzazu, high up in the mountains north of Loyola. Ignatius went there to pray and to offer himself to Our Lady. The place became a pilgrim site when a young shepherd boy discovered an apparition of Our Lady in a Hawthorne Tree. Aranzatzu is a phrase that asks, “Is that really you?” The boy asked Our Lady that when he saw the vision; she confirmed it. Pilgrims have sought out the place for her intercession.
Ignatius had to see the site as well and spent a good deal of time there to ask for her help. The area is mountainous and it would have been an arduous journey for Ignatius with his limp. It is possible that he approached the shrine on a mule. Even that would have taken a several day journey.
The architecture and artwork inside the shrine is quite striking. It is modern architecture that stuns a pilgrim because one expects the usual pious images. The vivid colors and jarring images show the brutality of the crucifixion, the social justice efforts of a global society, the sweeping hope of the resurrection – all set amid the steel, iron, and marble that was dug out of the mountainsides.
After an afternoon walk, I set out for Our Lady of Olatz nearby to Loyola. It is said that Ignatius would often turn his eyes towards Olatz to be in her memory. Olatz is a hermitage and monastery less than a kilometer from the basilica.
As I journeyed on foot to the shrine, I arrive a few minutes early. I had a chance to converse with a Basque who would often slip between Spanish and Basque language. He chatted with me by using his hands and we communicated for a whole 15 minutes. He spent time in Detroit and Chicago earlier this millennium. He told me of the effect the European Economic Union had on Spain – mostly positive, but the U.S. dollar didn’t fare so well. He was delighted to tell me about the nearby buildings.
We had Mass at Olatz and then we had dinner back at the Hotel Arrupe. Afterwards, I gave a slideshow of the photos I had taken to date.
Tomorrow onto Pamplona.
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