1.- María Luisa Ortiz de Landázuri, visited Pallerols accompanied by 4 friends from Barcelona, ​​San Sebastián and Vienna. She tells us herself:

“On July 17, 2024, a group of hikers from different origins and with different levels of prior knowledge of the place visited Pallerols. Once there, Ramón Camats showed us the rectory and the Church, and guided us to go up to the Cabaña de Sant Rafael.

The Church was built in the X Century and consecrated, according to the minutes, by Saint Ermengol, it preserves the apse and the primitive nave around which architectural extensions have been made. Currently, reconstruction and improvement work continues.

It is located at the beginning of a path that smugglers and those persecuted in different wars have followed for centuries, until crossing the border with Andorra. This was the case of Saint Josemaría Escrivá and 7 other young people who on November 19, 1937 arrived in Peramola by bus from Barcelona. From here, they went on foot to Andorra where they arrived on December 2.

On a side altar there is an image of the Virgen del Roser, a more or less close copy of the missing original, to which the locals were devoted and continue to celebrate. The original image held a wooden rose in her right hand, and it is a coincidence that Saint Josemaria found a similar flower on the floor of the Church, at dawn on November 22.

Saint Josemaria asked God to find an object that would make him see clearly that he should follow the path to Andorra. For him, finding the rose indicated that everything was going well and restored his peace.

Therefore, this trip to Pallerols has a spiritual meaning, as well as an artistic and sporting one. There are cards with a prayer to ask the Virgin for clarity in one’s own personal path.

The place is beautiful, with panoramic views of the Baronia de Rialb, especially from the nearby Ampurdanés farmhouse. In the rectory you can see the route of Saint Josemaria through a video, maps and a model. The welcome to travelers is extraordinary.

Our group learned a lot from the visit and we left very happy.

 

2.- A group from Burgos, Guadalajara and Seville, which today said:

“Thank you very much for the affection that is palpable and reaches you in this reconstruction of Pallerols and of the Pyrenees Trail.

In this very special visit they have made us remember and relive those moments that have meant so much in the history of Opus Dei.”