I don't know if ya'll realized that yesterday was my final day of hiking. Such a sad thing and yet, I am ready to go back to the real world.
There is always a church at the end of any Camino. And this one on the outside was rather plain. At he end of WWII, Aulla was completely destroyed by bombs, so the beautiful old stone village that was once here is no longer. And yet, remains of the anciet and old are still here. You can never totally get rid of history, no matter how many great works of art you destroy! The church formerly known as the Abbey of San Caprasio was founded in 884. It was a former Benedictine monastery, established as a hostel on the pilgrimage route to Rome. It was originally dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Santa Maria), but in 1077 was re-dedicated to Saint Caprasius of Lérins (San Caprasio), the patron saint of the town and a patron saint of pilgrims.
A rather plain sanctuary that housed some ancient artifacts.
These bones were under the the the altar.
The abbey also holds relics—including the cranium—of one Saint Severo from the 4th century, which are kept in an ornate box. Not sure about the hippie headband? St. Severo was the twelfth bishop of Naples, between 363 and 409 AD. San Severo's episcopate unfolded in a period when Christianity was heavily threatened by paganism and arianism. Despite the situation, Severo managed to strengthen Christianity, becoming the spiritual father of Neapolitan Christians.
Rather an interesting baptismal.
When the site was excavated a stone coffin was locaated.
The original attire for the walk of Saint James.
Tonight I had Pasta Arriabiata which was delicious. My hotel had the best bread of the entire trip. I swear I ordered the salad so I had olive oil and balsamic to dip the bread into. I skipped the main course and dessert just to have move bread. And to go with that great big glass of excellent wine.
Another pair bites the dust. I think they are finito. What good friends they have been but it is time to part ways.
On this last hiking post, I usually reflect back on the things that I have learned. I learned not to mess with heat exhaustion! And I learned that an old dog can learn new tricks. I can't say I have mastered, but I can say that I am proficient in downloading trail maps, and following them. I do miss following the markers rather than looking down at my phone, but it is up to all of us to learn new things, and in today's tech world that seems to be a daily event. In all these old churches, I am reminded to look up because sometimes the most awesome sights are above us. It is easy to only look up to God in times of crisis and not in times of apprecition. Way too often we only look ahead and we miss so many beautiful things. How could we live with never looking back. Would we deny the joy and knowledge gained from our parents and grandparents. There is much to be learned from history. And if we never look side to side we forget stop and smell the roses. We miss the enjoyment of what is happening right now as we only focus on moving ahead. We plod forward as if we have blinders. Our children grow up, our friends grow old, we retire, and we realize, too late, that we missed it all with our focus on the future. And yet with out looking forward, we stumble and lose our way. We wander aimlessly in circles. Direction is important and if we look to God, he lead us down the ttail we are meant to take. When we have more memories than dreams, we become old. So here are to dreams!
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