Campagnano di Roma — Oct 25

When we left this morning, we had occasional like drizzles. But we saw one tree after another that had been toppled by the storm the day before. The beautiful gravel paths were scarred by little rivets of water.

We spent 2 1/2 hours walking to Monteros, and will spend the rest of the day walking onto Campagna de Roma. I couldn’t help but notice, while passing over a freeway that the next offramp for the cars was going to take us 3 1/2 hours of walking. There’s a curious beauty to walking slowly through a place. You just can’t get it from a car.

We came to the little town of Monterosi, one of the churches we prayed at was the little chapel of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph) which had modern paintings of Joseph, the Carpenter, somewhat poorly done. But the heart was all there. We prayed for you, but I most especially prayed for the repose of the soul of my dad, Joseph, who was in fact, a carpenter for much of his life. May he have joy in the presence of the God he loved and served so well.

Matthew 1:19: Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man…

To the left of the altar, they had a Pilgrim staff, with a little note, inviting anyone who wanted to use it to take it with them on their Camino to Santiago. According to that notice, it has been used several times, last in 2015.

People ask me if we’re actually walking the authentic, ancient path. Often enough, the ancient path, as in the Via Cassia, which I have been on since Sarzana, became a Medieval road, and the road then became a highway, and is now a freeway. The people who chart our paths do everything they can to keep us on safe back roads so maybe not the ancient highway, but none of us would choose to walk a freeway. We did precisely that, briefly, just long enough to be grateful for their efforts to make the path more peaceful.

We were promised a lovely day, on rolling hills, making our way to Campagnano. It has been everything we were told it would be.

There was a higher percentage of asphalted road today than has been the case.

The little waterfall of Monte Gelato is sweet and small, and very close to the road, and worthy of a stop. The name promises SO much, but no gelato.

Unfortunately, for us, wind damage tossed trees, completely blocking our way just before rising up to our destination. But we were intrepid. Pants were stained if not ripped, small blessings.

Campano de Roma sneaks up on you, right out of the woods. After a very long day, it was a truly welcome sight. No city on this pilgrimage has worked as hard as this one, explaining its history with placards in Italian and English at places of interest.

Love from your priest,
Fr. Patrick