It’s 9 a.m. The day has risen for a few hours already at Pointe Saint-Mathieu in Plougonvelin, the view is clear. The schedule is not very early for the pilgrims of the Breton association of Friends of Santiago de Compostela accustomed to departures at dawn. As they say, the pilgrim leaves early in the morning,”
smiles Daniel Berder, member of the association.
There are nearly 40 pilgrims gathered at the foot of the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce chapel in Saint-Mathieu to celebrate the departure on the road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain and to bless the bumblebee, the famous pilgrim’s staff, for this trip.
The priest Stéphane Le Sonn blesses the staff, the pilgrim’s staff. © West-France
1,958 kilometers from one Finistère to the other
Eight departures at kilometer zero are organized in Brittany for this pilgrimage which, for the bravest, includes 1,958 kilometers of walking to Cap Finistère in Spain. Steps are planned throughout the course. A first big celebration is scheduled for July 24 in Blain (Loire-Atlantique) where the walkers, leaving from the various starting points, will meet for a party before heading back on the road. The arrival at Cap Finistère is scheduled for October 3 with a high mass at 9:30 a.m.
At Pointe Saint-Mathieu, the Sonerien Plougonven group provided musical entertainment for the departure of the pilgrims. © West-France
“These 87 days of walking are conducive to encounters”
This morning, the enthusiasm can be read on all the faces of the participants and the memories come back. I walked twice the way from Pointe Saint-Mathieu to Fisterra in Spain,
says Francis Halluard, member of the Friends of Compostela association since 2013. These 87 days of walking are conducive to meeting people from all over the world. I remember crossing Americans on my way.
This pilgrimage is an experience in its own right that can be experienced alone or in a group. Liliane Nédélec, also a member of the association, sees this march differently: Walking this long frees up time and opens the mind to meditation,”
she testifies.
The pilgrims symbolically placed shells at the foot of the kilometer zero marker at Pointe Saint-Mathieu in Plougonvelin. © West-France
A spiritual journey
For her friend Martine Lambart, this pilgrimage is also opportunity for self-reflection and for others. There is a spiritual dimension to this journey.
This spirituality is marked this morning by the blessing of the bumblebee – the pilgrim’s staff – by the priest Stéphane Le Sonn. It is time to bless the bumblebee and, through it, all the walkers who embark on the road to Santiago de Compostela.
These words spoken by the priest resonate in the chapel and are soon replaced by the songs intoned by the pilgrims like Hent Sant Jakez : “the road to Saint-Jacques” in Breton. The Sonerien Plougonvelen group accompanies the pilgrims singing in chorus with music before taking the road to another Finistère.
REPORTAGE. Compostelle: 40 pilgrims leave Plougonvelin to join another Finistère.