12 destinies turned upside down along the way
You have just published a book entitled Reborn on the way. Can you summarize what he said?
This work tells the story of twelve people who, on the way to Saint James, had an improbable encounter with the divine, which they would never have imagined. Initially, in fact, these pilgrims had no religious education, nor any theological reference. Of the twelve, four had never entered a church, and many were not baptized. Two have Muslim fathers.
How did you get the idea to write this book?
I am an active member of the Webcompostella association, which welcomes French-speaking pilgrims upon their arrival in Compostela, from May to October. Every day, in a moment of sharing, each person reports some notable episodes from their pilgrimage. When I was there and heard these stories, some of them moved me so much that I had the idea of writing a book about them.
How did you meet the others, and why did you choose twelve?
By word of mouth, but also by two hospital workers, Léonard and Elisabeth, from the Hospitalité Saint-Jacques: they had welcomed, in Estaing, three walkers whose lives had been radically changed during their journey to Compostela.
I therefore retained twelve profiles of pilgrims, this number referring to the number of apostles. They were just walkers; I think that today they are, in turn, apostles in their daily lives.
Furthermore, I did not look for parity. It was at the end that I noticed that there were 6 men and 6 women. It was completely unintentional!
Why do you speak of “rebirth” or “new birth”?
Three of them (Grégoire, Isabelle and Florent) had had contact with the Church in their early childhood, but they had forgotten it for a long time. Perhaps about them we can speak of “rebirth”.
As for the other nine (including a former communist, an active member of Buddhism, a Freemason leader), they speak of their total ignorance in matters of faith, always. For them, the word “new birth” seems more accurate to me.
You highlighted a quote from the Gospel of John: “We must be born again. » How do you understand it?
I would compare it to this other verse: “This my son was dead, and here he is alive again. » It is in this sense that I use the term “renaissance”. Some witnesses first tell the story of their “spiritual death” in their existence, and then of the discovery of life thanks to God on the Camino.
What factors do you think drove these conversions?
The pilgrimage to Compostela, where we experience a break from our daily lives, creates an environment favorable to spirituality. First of all, thanks to silence: we close the door to the hubbub of the world. Then, through slowness: freed from the tyranny of the clock, we just have to put one foot in front of the other. Finally, by nature, which amazes us.
Of course, in a conversion, the “time factor” plays a role: the longer the pilgrimage, the more deeply we can experience this detachment, and the more we develop interior dispositions which can lead us to abandon ourselves to Providence.
Is there a common pattern in these twelve conversions?
No, the stories are very different. Hubert says he was freed from his gambling addiction along the way. Pauline lives a dream of incredible realism and power of love, which will turn her entire life upside down. Others, like Catherine or Florent, learn, day after day, to pray, first for mundane things; then the answers arrive, concrete, precise.
These conversions are also often linked to forgiveness: the reconciliation of Isabelle with her father, of Hubert with his wife, of Brigitte with her ex-husband.
Where did they occur?
We can never say enough the importance of the places of prayer open on the path: chapels, churches, cloisters, oratories, etc. Among the twelve pilgrims, seven confide that their visit to a chapel was the trigger for their conversion. They first entered it out of curiosity; then they were struck by the tranquility of the place, the silence, finally by “something indefinable”, like a presence. “Tell me if I should believe or in what I should believe,” says Catherine in a prayer that comes from the heart.
Céline, referring to the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, alludes to the “signs” that we receive at certain key moments in our lives. By what signs did God manifest himself to these pilgrims?
I will give you two examples. David, one day when he is walking in a forest and meditating on the existence or non-existence of God, sees a book lying on the side of the path. It’s a bible! This discovery is an electric shock: he sees it as a sign. He begins to read this Bible, meditate on it and put it into practice. Then events echo this reading.
As for Céline, she is Buddhist. For her, Jesus is only a teacher of wisdom, an “awakened” being. However, what amazes her is that he went beyond self-emptying, beyond self-abasement, to the point of humiliation of the cross. For what ? The further she advances on the path, the more her mind is absorbed by these crosses which mark the road, all the way to Compostela where she experiences a total conversion: “With my heart overflowing with great joy,” she says, “I am fulfilled beyond anything I could have imagined.”
These pilgrims indeed find it difficult to describe their conversion experience. What images do they use?
Seeing, in Conques, the statue of Saint Foy (patroness of prisoners), Hubert, who ruined his family because of his addiction to games, suddenly has a flash: “The prisoner is me. My prisons are the casinos, the gambling halls. I was in a cell, hypnotized by money. I woke up from a bad dream. It had lasted 10 years. »
Isabelle, on the way, is freed from the fierce hatred she had for her father. She says: “I am freed from a real weight of lead that weighed on my heart. »
Finally, Christine, Freemason leader, said upon her arrival: “I am no longer the same. I set out in search of a glorious road; Providence offered me, on the contrary, abasement, pain, renunciation. But I received the most precious gift: to love and feel loved. This is what I had been looking for my whole life. »
On their return, how did these pilgrims keep the flame of this budding faith alive?
They have just experienced a very powerful encounter with God. But, as they are totally ignorant of the things of faith, they do not speak of them. Brigitte says for example: “My heart was burning but without consciousness, my mouth remained silent. » However, they all felt a need for spiritual nourishment: they went on retreats, joined Gospel sharing groups or biblical journeys. It was only after a while that they publicly testified to their faith.
Today, these twelve witnesses are very involved in the Church and with people in need. Grégoire founded a narcotics anonymous association; Hubert, prison chaplain, created a reception center for prisoners at the end of their sentences; Pauline, with her husband, runs a Christian welcome lodge for pilgrims; Céline is a French teacher for children in difficulty. And Florent is a parish priest!
In summary, do you think this book confirms the adage “We start as a hiker, we arrive as a pilgrim”?
Of course ! It was in the mouth of Brigitte, one of the people described in this book, that I heard this expression for the first time. These twelve pilgrims return from a long journey deep within themselves, where they received answers that went beyond their initial concerns. And several of them end their story by saying: “I fear nothing, I know that I am no longer alone today! »
