In the first half of July thirty students of Secondary Education (sixteen-seventeen years old) from the College “Jesús María-El Salvador” of Zaragoza satisfied a pilgrimage from Astorga to Santiago de Compostela accompanied by two Jesuit priest- Francisco Cuartero & Jaime Tatay- beside three monitors.

35 pilgrims toured 260 Km during 15 intense days of way, in which shared many hours of conversation, silences, celebrations, prayer and rest.

The Camino de Santiago is for anyone who does it seriously, a pedagogy that leaves a trace in the body, memory and heart. A pedagogy that offers at least eight valuable lessons for life:

1. Simplifying the life. The road shows that a certain “voluntary simplicity” is not only possible, but enables a good life living austerely. Share the time, enjoy the nature and deepen relationships fill and suffice. A backpack of 7-8 kg is all that the pilgrim needs, this is his home and his belongings.

2. Feeling part of a community. Walking with others in a group creates community. A common goal directed us to journey to Santiago. We pray, cook, face the challenges and want to reach the goal side by side. Doing things together binds and creates a group identity.

3. Resolve Conflicts. Touching each other generates affection, but also frictions. The difference in the Way is that we cannot put away and avoid the problems. We walk together. In a 24 hours coexistence, the conflicts must be addressed. Learning to solve it walking makes us more flexible, more “resilient”.

4. Learn to listen. The way provides many opportunities to speaking and listening. The talking points slide slowly from the anecdotal to the personal. The “marginal stories” of each move to the center of the group.

5. Share and celebrate life. Along the way experiences are shared and life is celebrated. The matter of the group meetings, of the Eucharist and of the dialogues becomes eventually more “what we have inside” and less “what happens outside.”

6. Opening to the other. The Way invites you trust the companion and the advice of others. For example the partner with whom I went to school for years and I barely know each other. Another pilgrim goes with me or sleeps in the same hostel. The other, the foreigner, the stranger, appears closer and more familiar along the way. It is more natural to talk with him and begin to know. Walking defenses are lowered. The Way is an opportunity to experience and practice the friendliness and hospitality.

7. Recovering intimacy with nature. The intimacy with the natural world – lost in the city – recovers walking through the countryside during many days. The schedule is determined by the sun and the weather, not by the clock and electric light. The daily program is adjusted to the biological rhythm of nature and the body rest. Considering nature for hours, serene, invites to knowing and loving it more.

8. Rescuing corporality. You walk not only with the feet but the whole body. The unfinished business of our spirituality – the body – goes into the syllabus of the pilgrimage. You start walking to end speaking, listening, communicating and praying with the whole body.

260 km, 35 pilgrims, 15 intense days of road in the middle of nature, listening, celebrating the life, accepting the other, walking together towards Santiago. Ultreia.