Santiago & "Pilar"; Templar's heirs

[Rosina Lila]

Hello you all,
A few days ago the feast of "Our Lady of the Pillar" was celebrated in
Santiago and record numbers of pilgrims and visitors made their way to the Pilar
bridge nearby.  As you may know, our Lady of the Pillar and Santiago are
intrinsically connected.
You may have also noted that possibly the most common name in Spain for
females is "Maria del Pilar"  (Mary of the Pillar). My own maternal grandmother,
who was from Granada, was so named, as well as my oldest sister.
Tradition holds that the Apostle St. James the Elder, which is to say
Santiago, had sought to travel to the ends of the earth (Finisterre)  in an attempt
to follow the directive given by Jesus to His apostles: that they carry the
Good News (Gospel) to 'the ends of the earth'.
St. James made his way to the northernmost coast of Spain, Finisterra, at the
time believed to be the end of the earth,  and was not very successful in
attracting followers to the Good News.  At one time, indeed, he was stoned by the
locals and painfully injured.  Discouraged, abased,  hurt and dejected, he
was musing about his failure as a "messenger" (apostle), believing himself to be
a total failure and unworthy to have walked besides Christ, and wishing to
disappear into obscurity, when Mary (who was his aunt, being a sister of his
mother Salome), appeared to him standing atop a small, abandoned, Roman pillar
(column) and gave him encouragement and belief in his endeavor. Thenceforth he
regained his inner strength and pursued his ministry so vigorously that because
of it he was beheaded by the king of the Jews, becoming the first apostle to
be martyred.
The Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to many people all over the
world throughout the centuries: famously in Fatima, Lourdes, Mexico (the Virgin of
Guadalupe) , Mudjoerge, etc.  Here in New York City, in the middle of the
block on 71st. street between First Avenue and York Avenue, on the north
sidewalk, there is a tree, now protected with a wrought iron gate, laden with rosaries
and surrounded by candles and roses, and, not infrequently, people praying,
at a spot where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared a few years ago to
some injured construction workers doing some work for the nearby Memorial
Hospital that treats cancer victims.
What is significant about the Virgin appearing to St. James atop the pillar
in Galicia almost two thousand years ago is that Mary, the flesh-and-blood
woman, the mother of Jesus, was still very much alive at the time of the pillar
apparition.  In fact, when St.James made his way back to Jerusalem, with the
four disciples from Spain who followed him, he went to see her before he saw
anyone else,  according to the writings of James the younger.

The Santiago newspapers also report that Prince Frey Andrew Bertie,  the
chief of state of Malta,  a Cardinal,  and the Grand Master of the Malta Order,
arrived in Santiago yesterday with 225 Knights and Dames of Malta, from several
countries, to pay homage to the Apostle  and to conduct a series of seminars
with the thesis that the Templars have perdured over a millennium through
various organizations worldwide.
It is gratifying that the Knights of Malta have also "Dames" and that they
come from several countries.  Personally, I have a very soft  spot in my heart
for the Templars. I'd like to know how one goes about joining a society that
remembers and honors them.

Well, I suppose that this is the last message that I shall post in the much
esteemed GOCAMINO list. Kudos to Linda.... and much admiration and gratitude.
The new Gocamino list is up and running, and, assuredly, will seek to
maintain as much as possible the lofty ideals and standards of Linda's list.  In
other words, it will seek not be a chatroom given to self-indulgence.  The new
list  also has the support and participation of the well, and formally,
established group "American Pilgrims on the Camino".
Those of you who have not yet done so,  may subscribe to the new GoCamino
list  by sending an e-mail to:
                                    Gocamino-subscribeaoakapple.net
Once subscrbed,you can post messages by addressing them to:
                                                 Gocaminoaoakapple.net
Warm regards to you all,
and to Linda, a very big hug..... Thanks, thanks, thanks. and, DO write a
book about the Via de la Plata.   Pleeeeeeeze?
Love ya!
Rosina



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