On Easter Saturday, a group of students and staff from Holy Cross College in Ellenbrook walked into Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
This was the final section of their 120km walk along the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bishop Rosendo Salvado.
The college has a strong relationship with the Benedictine community at New Norcia and one of the college houses is named after Salvado.
The group of 15 travelled to Italy and Spain to visit some of the key places in Salvado’s life, including Subiaco in Italy, where St Benedict lived for a key period of his life, and St Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome where Salvado died.
The Camino was the highlight of the tour as staff and students walked for six days, from Tui in Spain, where Salvado was born, to Santiago de Compostela where he trained as a Benedictine.
In Compostela, the group stayed in Hospederia San Martin Pinario’s, which is located in a renovated section of the 16th-century monastery where Salvado trained.
The group was also fortunate to see the Botafumeiro, the great incense burner, swing in the great cathedral in Compostela during Mass on both Easter Sunday and Monday. College principal Mandy Connor said the pilgrimage “was a very special experience for all involved”.