Rosarian Academy Fourth-Grade Teacher Sets Off on 500-Mile Religious Pilgrimage Through Europe
Rosarian Academy teacher and her brother set out on a religious pilgrimage through Europe that dates back to the first millennium, inspired by her fourth-grade curriculum.
Jul 07, 2015, 08:35 ET
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., July 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Katherine Murphy, fourth-grade teacher at Rosarian Academy http://www.rosarian.org/, is spending her summer fulfilling a dream—walking over 500 miles on a religious pilgrimage called the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (The Way of St. James). Traveling with her brother, Michael, and carrying everything they need in their backpacks, they plan to finish the journey in about 30-35 days. This pilgrimage dates back to medieval times.
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The main pilgrimage route to Santiago follows an earlier Roman trade route, which continues to the Atlantic coast of Galicia, ending at Cape Finisterre. Although it is known today that Cape Finisterre, Spain's westernmost point, is not the westernmost point of Europe (Cabo da Roca in Portugal is farther west), the fact that the Romans called it Finisterrae (literally the end of the world or Land's End in Latin) indicates that they viewed it as such.
"Completing the Camino https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago has been on my dream list, and I feel like there have been several signs from God calling me to walk the Camino this summer. One of these was in working in fourth grade and discovering I would be teaching a unit on Europe in the Middle Ages, including medieval religious pilgrimages! I look forward to returning and sharing this experience with my students," said Miss Murphy.
The sibling pair left on their European adventure on June 11th. They first traveled to France, visiting Paris, Lisieux, and Lourdes. Then, they started the Camino pilgrimage on June 21st in France and will continue across northern Spain to the cathedral in Santiago, where the apostle St. James is buried.
At night, the Milky Way overhead seems to point the way and, interestingly enough, the popular Spanish name for the astronomical Milky Way is El Camino de Santiago. According to a common medieval legend, the Milky Way was formed from the dust raised by traveling pilgrims. Compostela itself means "field of stars." Another origin for this popular name is Book IV of the Book of Saint James, which relates how the saint appeared in a dream to Charlemagne, urging him to liberate his tomb from the Moors and showing him the direction to follow by the route of the Milky Way.
Founded in 1925, Rosarian Academy http://www.edline.net/pages/Rosarian_Academy educates students in early childhood through eighth grade and offers an exceptionally strong academic program enriched by athletics, visual and performing arts, and community service opportunities. The private, coeducational school is located on Flagler Drive in downtown West Palm Beach and is sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. For more information, call 561.832.5131 or visit us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RosarianAcademy.
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SOURCE Rosarian Academy