El Camino - CL (Penn State Series in Lived Religious Experinece)
At the age of 65 in the spring of 1993, Hoinacki, an American, walked the same path that pilgrims have been following to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, since the Middle Ages. As a former Domincan priest, political science professor, and subsistence farmer, Hoinacki had been searching for spiritual satisfaction in many ways and wanted to find out what the pilgrims experienced in their travels to the burial place of St. James. His work is a day-by-day account of his solitary travels from St. Jean de Pied Port, France, to Santiago de Compostela, in 32 days and across 500 miles. Hoinacki set out with little preparation and equipment so he could be open to all that the walk offered. His reflections involve, among other things, what modern technology and integration into Europe have done to Spanish tradition and civilization and the value of pain in personal spiritual growth. He also felt the presence of pilgrims from long ago walking with him and helping him when times were hard. Recommended for larger travel, Spanish studies, and religion and philosophy collections.?William R. Smith, Johns Hopkins Univ. Lib., Baltimore, Md.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.