On a mountainous, rural road in Spain, Thomas Wichmann swapped his miraculous medal for a kangaroo pin.
Wichmann, 30, was one of four seminarians from the Archdiocese of Louisville who hiked the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage route also known as the Way of St. James, in May.
“We all made it in one piece. I think St. James was a big part to play in that.”
— Ryan Rasmussen, seminarian
The Camino is an ancient network of trails that converge at the tomb of St. James the Great, located in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. The seminarians took a 71-mile route that began in Sarria, Spain.
On the first of their five-day journey, Wichmann met a man from Australia, he said in a recent interview. As they traversed the green landscape, he said, the man opened up to him about his life, his family and his mistakes.
“I think it’s just the nature of the Camino — you can kind of open up to people a little bit because, you know, he’s from Australia, I’m from the United States. We’re probably never gonna see each other again,” said Wichmann.
When they went their separate ways, “he gave me a little kangaroo pin, and I gave him a miraculous medal and explained what the miraculous medal was,” he said.
The trip, taken with 13 other seminarians studying at St. Meinrad Seminary, marked the conclusion of the seminarians’ propaedeutic year — or preparatory year — of seminary.
Twenty-two-year-old seminarian Nico Caicedo said that walking the Camino reminded the seminarians of “our walk towards holy orders and ultimately our heavenly homeland.”
The priesthood, like the Camino, “requires moving a lot from place to place” and “comes with suffering, but is glorious and abundant,” he said during an interview via email.
Walking 14 to 18 miles a day had its challenges — including blisters, hip soreness and foot pain, the seminarians said.
In the moments of suffering, 24-year-old seminarian Ryan Rasmussen said he asked “the Lord and Our Lady to give me the strength.”
Along the way, several of the seminarians carried particular intentions, and some even chose to carry a rock or stone to remember their particular intention for the day’s journey, said seminarian Peter Bifone.
Bifone, 27, said he carried the people at his home parish, St. Edward Church, in prayer. One of Caicedo’s intentions was for a woman he met along the Camino who had lost her son.
When the group reached Santiago de Compostela, each seminarian spent time at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where St. James the Great is buried.
When Rasmussen visited St. James’ tomb at the cathedral, he brought a wooden cross and a rock he found on the road — a symbol of the intentions he carried during the walk, he said.
“I dropped them down in front of his tomb and laid down my burdens and thanked St. James for helping me along the way. I felt like there was a weight lifted off of my shoulders there,” he said.
Rasmussen didn’t have a particular devotion to St. James before the trip, he said. But, “in retrospect, I could see how he was there helping us along our trip,” he said. “We all made it in one piece. I think St. James was a big part to play in that.”
They also enjoyed the “mini-pilgrimages inside of the pilgrimage” as they visited “the little churches in all the little towns” along the way, often stopping to pray when they found unlocked church doors, Rasmussen said.
With memories of the pilgrimage fresh on his mind, Wichmann said he’d love to walk the Camino again.
“It was the best trip I’ve ever done. There’s something very special about it. I want everyone I know to do it,” he said.
