[Gocamino] "Translatio" (of Saint James)

[Johnnie Walker]

Feliz Año from Santiago. The  mass of the Traslación de Santiago Apóstol was indeed a splendid affair which began with the Botafumeiro and the great procession accompanied by the traditional instruments, the Chirimías.
Just to clarify a couple of things in the present discussion: For those interested in an historical account with cross references to the early literary tradition around St James I would commend this resource to you: 
http://www.csj.org.uk/apostle.htm 
As you will see there is also a rehearsal there of the legend that the body of St James was transport in a stone boat which sailed to Galicia assisted by the wind and angels. On arrival in Galicia at Iria Flavia the boat was tied to a stone pilar - a  pedrón which is Spanish for big stone. Hence the name Padrón which is of course also now famous for fried peppers - pimientos de Padrón. 
Padrón is directly on the Portuguese Route from and the route still passes through the parish of Iria Flavia which is now on the outskirts of the town.
Best wishes for 2012 to everyone.
John   
www.johnniewalker-santiago.blogspot.com
 


> To: blaroli at aol.com; GoCamino at oakapple.net; saintjames at yahoogroups.com
> From: hme347 at aol.com
> Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:34:42 -0500
> Subject: Re: [Gocamino] "Translatio" (of Saint James)
> 
> How necessary was it to ascribe "Jewish" to king Herod in Rosina's lengthy discourse on St. James?   Probably just as important as describing the boat as "ratty".   If she wants to enlighten her readers, the less editorializing the better. If she wants to get respect as a Camino scholar, she should be more circumspect in her writing.
> 
> 
> Howard Mendes, NYC (Waiting for the Rosina admirers to attack me for daring to criticize their icon)
> 
> 
> 
> In a nutshell, Santiago historical lore tells us that after St. James was 
> decapitated by the Jewish king Herod in the year 47 A.D.  James' disciples 
> Theodore and Atanasio got hold of his body and placing it in an old ratty boat 
> they set  asea to "wherever the waters would take them".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rosina <blaroli at aol.com>
> To: GoCamino <GoCamino at oakapple.net>; saintjames <saintjames at yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Fri, Dec 30, 2011 6:57 am
> Subject: [Gocamino] "Translatio" (of Saint James)
> 
> 
> 
> Hello you all,
> In a nutshell, Santiago historical lore tells us that after St. James was 
> decapitated by the Jewish king Herod in the year 47 A.D.  James' disciples 
> Theodore and Atanasio got hold of his body and placing it in an old ratty boat 
> they set  asea to "wherever the waters would take them". The boat landed in the 
> Galician coast close to the Celtic-Roman city of Iris Flavia, close to the 
> present day's Padron. The, erstwhile pagan. queen of the environs, Lupa, 
> transfixed by the surprising qualities of the cadaver, provided Theodore and 
> Atanasio with a cart and gave them the choice of two untamed and brave bulls to 
> pull the cart and take the cadaver inland. Miraculously the two bulls behaved 
> like the most tame of animals and, unbidden, followed a route to the spot where 
> St. James was buried and wherein the cadaver remained until nearly eight 
> centuries later a path of stars led Bishop Pelagio to it..... and the rest, we 
> all know.
> The carrying of the body in a cart led by the bulls is commemorated as the 
> "Translatio". (The etymological Latin origin of the word "Translate" was to move 
> from one land to another. In modern Spanish the word is "transladar", whereas 
> going from one language to another is "traducir").
> Today the festivity of "Translatio" is celebrated in Santiago in a big way. At 
> the Cathedral a solemn Mass, attended by Government and Royal representatives, 
> is celebrated at 11:00 a.m; before the Mass a symbolic procession "translating" 
> the body of Saint James takes place .At 6.00 p.m. there is a special  Mass for 
> families.  At 7:30 p.m. tere is a  Mass for pilgrims at the end of which new 
> members of the Archconfraternity receive their recognition medals.
> The times when I have been in Santiago for the Translatio celebration there was 
> much bag-pipe music playing around the Cathedral, and many Mass attendees were 
> dressed in regional Galician dress. Some had brought a cart pulled by oxen (not 
> brave bulls). The music was unforgettable.
> I have managed to scan a ceramic plaque of the "Traslatio", and a card showing 
> the body being taken from the boat first, and then pulled in the cart by the 
> bulls. These images come from  medieval paintings. 
> One cannot add attachments to list-servs messages, but I will be delighted to 
> send them to those of you who may want to get them. 
> Wishing you a Camino in the New Year,
> Hugs!
> Rosina 
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