Club Raier&Collvert

This entire expedition begins, like everything in life, in a providential way… In the end, a varied group was formed, made up of young people who frequent the leisure groups of Opus Dei, Collvert and Raier of Valencia and Lleida, two priests (one of them had done the Pas a few years ago as a seminarian), several parents of the boys, a club monitor…

The first night we visited the church and rectory of Pallerols, magnificently restored by the Association of Friends of the Path of Pallerols from Rialb to Andorra. There is a lot of effort behind this magnificent place, by many good and generous people. Ramon explained to us in detail the adventure that Saint Josemaría and his companions experienced, and we wanted to emulate it, although logically, with more modern means.

We all slept well. We thought about the contrast with that night suffered by Saint Josemaría, which helped us to internalize what we were beginning to experience.

On the first day, we got up at 7 in the morning. It is worth saying that the schedules were tried to be met exactly. This was important for the development of our adventure. We always began with an offering of works.

We all met, to study the first stage in Pallerols, with instructions from our invaluable friend Toni Cucurull.

We began the walk with a moment of prayer. Imagine a good group (mostly teenagers) in silence, praying. We know that it is not just another excursion through the mountains because we remember the path to freedom of a saint. Reading the book “Cruzando la noche” makes us not lose sight of what we are really doing. On the way you think, what would go through their heads, how much would they pray!, what shoes would they wear, would they have enough shelter and food? We knew the answers and how lucky we were, taking a look at our equipment.

We started the path with great joy, but the difficulty of the journey quickly became apparent. We were not yet aware of the hardship of the adventure. We did not lose sight of the great variety of ages: from 12 to 70 years old. In total, a group of 16 people.

First consistent stop, at The Corb’s House. The views were espectacular, the joy was a constant.

We continued on our way. The almost vertical climbs. It seemed incredible to us, looking up, that this was our destination.

With considerable fatigue and not a few wounds on our legs and arms, the best part of the journey arrives: Holy Mass. We were in La Ribalera. Saint Josemaría celebrated Mass there on November 28, 1937.

The boys prepared, with great affection, the improvised stone altar. Everything was taken care of down to the smallest detail. The priest’s words helped us a lot. We crossed paths, dodging trees and stones.

We ate, and then continued walking to finish our first stage; this one would be tough.

Finally, we reached the summit at 1450 meters. Our good friend Ilus, the steward, was waiting for us. The place was wonderful. We set up tents, bathed in a fire-fighting pool, which was a real treat; and before dinner, lying on the grass, we prayed for a while.

We had dinner and went to sleep. We had to silence the chatter of the boys, who still had the strength to do a little bit of the goat.

Second stage. We got up at 7. The night was cold (about 10 degrees Celsius minimum). Even so, everyone was happy. We had breakfast and started walking, accompanied by a flock of sheep. A smooth path, but we sensed that soon the path would become steep mountains. Some of us carried walking sticks but in many parts of the journey, we had to do without them and it was our own hands that helped us climb.

The sweat and fatigue were evident. There were not many complaints, only questions about the difficulty and the remaining time. The veterans sweetened the answer a little.

One knows that from this path one will not return home the same. It is not possible. Every situation is a moment of gratitude. These days you think more about Jesus Christ: this is Golgotha, this is Tabor, …, saving a lot of distances, of course.

One of the most festive and comforting situations was the arrival at a House of Fenollet, where Saint Josemaría had the first decent lunch in many weeks. Rosa (daughter of the couple who helped Saint Josemaría) served us at her home. We felt like we were at home. Everyone at the table. This was like being in heaven! Simple food, but very rich. The chicken we ate had recently been running around the pen… We savored it with a good glass of wine (only for the older ones), and for dessert… “crema catalana”.

After an affectionate farewell, a very demanding part of the path awaited us (the Grau of Fangueret canal) due to the pronounced inclination and because our stomachs needed more blood than normal. Half exhausted, we reached the top of the Santa Fe mountain, where we finished the work by praying the Rosary.

As our priest often told us, the contemplative life was made up of regaria, life plan, etc., but then it had to be materialized. Bring the supernatural to the natural of each moment; and that’s what the group tried.

On the third and fourth days we had the great fortune of spending the night at the Organyà Camping. A magnificent place, surrounded by mountains, where we had the opportunity to take a nice bath, although brief. First we had to celebrate Mass. We were welcomed by Mariano who opened the beautiful church of Santa Maria d’Organyà to us. A sublime moment. It seemed magnificent to us to celebrate Holy Mass in the middle of nature, but in a consecrated place, with benches and everything necessary for the Eucharist, it wasn’t bad either.

We set up the tents on a plot of the campsite and after a good shower, we had dinner in the restaurant.

The third stage was very intense, but shorter. Ilus was waiting for us at the end of the stage, to pick us up and take us back to spend our second night at the campsite. Our bodies got used to the 6 to 8 hour daily marches.

In the afternoon we celebrated mass again in the small and very well preserved church of Noves de Segre. The person in charge of opening and closing the church served us wonderfully. At the exit, a magnificent snack awaited us.

That afternoon we arrived at the campsite much earlier than we usually do. We took the opportunity to do some laundry, have some socializing and a good dip in the pool. A fantastic dinner awaited us again.

We went to bed as usual, quite tired, the days were busy and intense. That night, we were also accompanied by a good storm. At 3 in the morning we had to put all our things inside our tents. The noise inside a tent, while it was raining heavily, is deafening. Thank God, the rain didn’t affect us too much, except for a few things that we forgot because of the darkness.

Fourth day. Despite the discomfort of the wet ground, we had to pack up the tents and all the equipment, and have breakfast.

This morning, Fr. Jonatan said goodbye to us. He had to celebrate Mass in the villages that he serves in Rincón de Ademús (Valencia) and his departure was necessary, but sad for all the members. We said goodbye to him with a good song that went like this: “goodbye with the heart, that with the soul I can’t…”

How lucky to have magnificent priests on the walks: Eucharist, Confession, spiritual accompaniment, …. doctors of the soul!

We set off for our last overnight stay.

During this stage we made a long ascent, which culminated at 1600 meters. The place was beautiful and we were surrounded by vegetation and local pine trees. There was a clear area to spend the night and we pitched our tents, some far from each other, due to the dangerous snoring at night.

There was rest, spiritual direction and games; and the rosary was prayed.

Around 8 pm, the mass, some sitting on the ground, others on logs and with an altar, perfectly prepared by the boys. What a joy it was to see them prepare and participate in the readings!

After the thanksgiving and singing the Salve Regina to the Virgin Mary, a magnificent barbecue awaited us in the middle of the mountain! Xistorra, hamburgers, cold beer, … A whole feast, in the middle of the mountain. The worst thing is that we had dinner and went to bed whistling. We had to get up at five in the morning to meet the scheduled time for Andorra.

We packed up completely in the dark and set off towards the end of our trip.

The descent was spectacular, we were in a northern area of the mountain surrounded by moss and vegetation. It looked like a jungle. The view kept enjoying every moment of the journey. Perhaps the most beautiful of all. We started with a moment of prayer.

We reached the end of the descent and it was time to climb again. Looking up, it seemed impossible for us to reach the top. The accumulated fatigue and the name of the peak did not encourage us much: “The Dead Goat”. Between fatigue and fatigue, they joked about the goat, if by now, it would have died.

After a very hard climb and crossing a bit of civilization, we finally arrived at our destination: Andorra!

There we found our friends from the Associació del Cami, with a good barbecue and with great joy to see each other to celebrate the Gathering.

After numerous displays of affection, we would celebrate our last Eucharist surrounded by the majestic mountains of Andorra. Again very moving. Our beloved Fr. Javier Santos, gave us a last homily, which helped us a lot.

We finished with a good lunch: lamb chops, sausages, salad, bread with tomato, various drinks and desserts, peaches; to finish, coca d’Organyà and coffee for everyone.

 

 

After an affectionate farewell, we all got into the vans and set off for our homes. All tired, but very happy.

I thank God for this magnificent adventure, to learn more about the beginnings of Opus Dei and to have shared many things with wonderful people.