During the first week of September, just before the start of the new academic year, we decided to undertake the adventure of following in the footsteps of St. Josemaría on his journey through the Pyrenees almost ninety years ago.

In total, there were 12 walkers, with the help of the experienced guides from the D’Aran club and the help of Octavio, who taught us about some of the places we visited and also took care to provide us with provisions and logistical support during those days.

During the four intense days that the meeting lasted, from September 4 to 7, we were able to live an intense experience, similar in some aspects to the one that St. Josemaría lived in November 1937, in the middle of the Spanish Civil War.

The first day, after settling into the Pallerols refuge and getting to know the place and some historical and architectural details, we visited the hut of San Rafael, where the priest who came with us, Mn. Pablo, preached a long meditation, evoking memories of the five days that the eight fugitives who took refuge there in November 1937 were ambushed there.

The next day, we drove down to Peramola and from there, on foot, we went to the Casa del Corb, which we visited. From Corb we continued walking, going around the mountain, to then continue on to the Ribalera ravine, where St. Josemaría celebrated an open-air mass at the end of November. Sheltered from the rain on those steep walls, we prayed the rosary.

 

 

The excursion on this second day was hard, and it rained almost all day. But the views were worth it. And also the swim and the picnic that awaited us at the Oliana reservoir, where we celebrated Octavio’s arrival with the supplies.

On the third day of the meeting we climbed another mountain: the Santa Fe mountain, from Les Masies de Nargó. This stage was surely the hardest and longest of all. But once again, when we reached the Santa Fe viewpoint, we saw that the effort had been worth it. Incredible views of Organyà and the Cabó valley from that watchtower! And once again the reward of a good snack, this time at the Font de la Bordonera, near Fenollet, and the usual dip in the Oliana reservoir, where we even had a diving competition.

 

On the last day, already in Andorra, it rained again. Fortunately, we were all equipped to face the rain. In thick fog, we passed a small oratory where the Virgin of Canòlich, patron saint of this parish, is venerated, and a little over an hour later we finally arrived at Sant Julià de Lória, in Andorran territory. There, in the church where an image of St. Josemaría is displayed for veneration (an image that commemorates his arrival in Andorra on December 2, 1937), we prayed the Rosary, putting an end to four intense and well-spent days.