These Holy Bones: Walking the Camino de Santiago

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, my good friend and fellow pilgrim, Father John Baptist Ku, discusses miracles from a Thomistic perspective. Some people may think that miracles are a thing of the past, but Father Ku argues that miracles are part of God's plan even in this modern age. Father Ku is a Catholic theologian with years of teaching experience. He is worth listening to. So grab a cup...

Send us Fan Mail At the end of a very long walk, many pilgrims have a need to talk about their pilgrimage, to process the many hours spent on the road to Santiago. In the pilgrims office where a pilgrim gets the final stamp on the credential and receives the Compostela, there is another office, the Camino Companion Office, wherein a pilgrim can go and discuss the journey that they've just com...

Send us Fan Mail At the very end of Camino 2025, Father Jerome and I spent time discussing his pilgrimage from Burgos to Leon, and then from Sarria to Santiago--a total of 200 miles on the Camino Frances. Our discussion took place on the patio of Camino Curry, my new favorite restaurant in Santiago owned by Kamal and his family. Father Jerome's reflections spring from his deep faith in the Ca...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I interview Danny, the owner and massage therapist of Camino Massages located in Santiago a few doors down from Camino Curry. Danny walked the Camino Norte in 2014 and knows the challenges that pilgrims face when walking day in and day out for more than thirty days. He gives tips on foot care and foot wear as well as insights on how to approach the pilgrimage to S...

Send us Fan Mail 400,000 steps with almost no conversation is a different kind of loud. From the plaza in front of the Santiago Cathedral, we sit down with Ron from Oregon right after he finishes a solo walk from Porto to Santiago, largely in silence, giving himself hours each day to think, remember, and let life catch up with him. Ron breaks down the practical side of a Portuguese Coastal Route C...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, my good friend, Steven Lighty, and I discuss the many different facets of the Camino and what it takes to prepare for the long trek across Spain. Steve and his wife, Maryann, plan on walking the pilgrimage in a few years. Their preparation is essentially underway as they consider what route to travel and what to pack for their journey. It seems the Camino has thei...

Send us Fan Mail Sven is a German journalist who has traveled the Camino de Santiago five times, twice on the Norte and three times on the Camino Frances. In this interview, Sven shares his love for Spain and the outdoors. He also shares simple but important advice on how to prepare for your Camino and how to enjoy the simple pleasures of the pilgrimage. If you are interested in walking the Camino...

Send us Fan Mail I recorded this short episode in the Praza de Obradoiro, the plaza facing the western facade of the cathedral. I speak of some of the blessings attached to my tenth Camino. Each of the ten have deepened my understanding of what it means to be part of a pilgrim Church and a pilgrim people. We are headed home to Heaven and the more we understand the nature of our pilgrimage the more...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Constantine, a pilgrim from Germany, spends time telling me about his most recent pilgrimage following the original route to Santiago, the Primitivo. We met in an albergue in Santiago at the end of our treks into the holy city. Constantine yearns for nature in contrast to his urban lifestyle back home in Germany. The Camino offers him nature and time to slow down...

Send us Fan Mail I met Gabriel outside of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. He was sitting on the steps that lead down to the back entrance to the church. Although I felt self-conscious tapping him on the shoulder and asking him if he would like to be interviewed about his journey, I am so glad I did because Gabriel had a lot to share. He spoke candidly about his faith and his relationship...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is a wonderful tale of Kamal's call to walk the Camino Frances and to feed the fellow pilgrims he met at the albergues he stayed. Kamal is from the UK and had never heard of the pilgrimage. He tells of how it began to haunt his dreams and how he finally capitulated to the call. His forty day journey is filled with profound insights into the Camino and listeners w...

Send us Fan Mail I met Marie and Giselle on the road to Santiago. It was a hot day on the Camino, and everyone was feeling the drain. We were only a few days away from the cathedral, and they agreed to be guests on the podcast once the pilgrimage was complete. Our conversation covers a lot of ground about the Camino and about life in general. Have a listen--I think you'll enjoy this episode.

Send us Fan Mail I took a chance asking Juan Pablo to be a guest on the podcast. He was sitting in a park in the town of Portomarin writing in his journal, and I didn't want to bother him. I'm glad I did. He is originally from Argentina, but moved to Spain to study for an advanced degree. While in Spain, people encourage him to walk the Camino--if your Spanish, it's almost a mandate...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of These Holy Bones is a conversation with two young men from Belgium, Yelle and Laurens, who are childhood friends. I met them in a crowded restaurant the night before this interview. They graciously invited me to sit with them for dinner. In the spirit of the Camino, we shared food, conversation and laughter. Although this interview is relatively short, it conveys t...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Simon, a young Italian, speaks about his desire to encounter himself on the Camino Frances. Simon suggests walking without distractions--no music, no conversations--just the sound of your feet on the path and the thoughts in your head. I enjoyed speaking with Simon, and I think you will enjoy his youthful enthusiasm and idealism. Buen Camino!

Send us Fan Mail In this fourth episode of season two, I interview Claude from Paris, France. She explains how she was told that her Camino family would consist of the people with whom she began her journey--she would see them all along the way: in albergues, in bars, in restaurants and on the road as she traveled toward Santiago. This is exactly how Claude experienced the coming together of her C...

Send us Fan Mail This past August, I spent the first night of my tenth pilgrimage in Hornillos del Camino. I met Julie, a twenty-three-year-old pilgrim from Denmark, who was on her second Camino traveling from Burgos to Santiago. Two years previous, she had walked the first part of the Camino Frances from St. Jean Pied de Port to Burgos. Have a listen as she tells me why she was walking The Way of...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Father John Baptist and Father Jerome, two Dominican Friars from the Province of Saint Joseph in the United States, share their expectations of the road before we actually begin our trek across the Meseta. The interview was conducted in an albergue in Burgos on August 5th. Our conversation is filled with the excitement and the uncertainties commonly faced by most...

Send us Fan Mail This is the first episode of volume two of the podcast. In this episode, my wife, Karen, helps me to debrief after my tenth Camino, a walk of two hundred miles that included the Meseta-my favorite section of the Camino Frances. This was by far the most intense pilgrimage of the ten that I've walked--probably because I'm getting older and the joints are a bit more worn th...

Send us Fan Mail Jack Hitt's 1991 account of his Camino journey is a tale filled with quirky yet unforgettable characters. Hitt leaves a New York editing career to venture across Spain for a second time; his first pilgrimage was in 1981 after graduating from college. The book was later used by actor/writer/director Emilio Estevez for the movie The Way -- one of my all time favorites. I recomm...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, a fellow Rhode Island pilgrim, James O'Connor, shares insights from his pilgrimage on the Frances in 2012 and his travels on the Portuguese Camino in 2024. His passion for the outdoors and his enthusiasm for his fellow pilgrim is at the heart of this interview. Have a listen. 

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, my wife Karen and I work through a packing list identifying what we deem necessary for the pilgrimage. Are most of these items essential? If I had to listen to only one podcast before leaving for the Camino, it would be "The Packing List."

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, my wife Karen and I discuss a daily approach to walking the Camino along with an approach to spending money on the road. Your pace is a very important aspect of the pilgrimage and should be considered before you take your first step. And of course you should consider a basic budget that can act as a guide for your spending on your walk to Santiago. 

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, my pastor, Father Stephen Battey, speaks about the Jubilee Year, and how we are to make sense of it. He touches on the essence of pilgrimage and how a pilgrim can approach the trek. His insights are invaluable. Have a listen, and God bless you!

Send us Fan Mail   Hello, and welcome to another episode of These Holy Bones, a podcast about the ancient pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago, where the bones of St. James are interred beneath the high altar. I'm your host, Robert Nerny, and on today's episode, I would like to do a book review  on Kevin Codd's book entitled To the Field of Stars. A Pilgrim's Journey to Sant...