There is no Christmas without Easter and Easter has no meaning without Good Friday … and such is the circle of life which we epitomise on our Caminos … joy, struggles, tribulation, challenges, pain and triumph and jubilation.
Our Wed Walk in Holy Week was in the three cities where we had the opportunity to visit some Holy Week exhibitions.
Blessing of the Shells x 2
As I write this piece, Fr Giovann’s group of camminantes would have landed in Spain to commence their Camino Portugues. Fr. Antione’s group left today to start their Camino from Sarria. The XirCammini camminantes on the Camino Portugues, having started from Porto, are today in Caldas del Rei, 2 days away from Santiago and the XirCammini camminantes from Via de la Plata have now arrived home and are already dreaming and talking about their next Camino! Thank you John Darmanin and Don Pace for leading these groups.
As XirCammini we are glad to play a small or bigger part in the journey of over 200 Maltese camminantes in March / April whether they are XirCammini members or not.
For me, the highlight was that we managed to hold two Masses, two blessings of pilgrims and 2 blessings of the shells. For some the Camino is a hike. For others it is far more significant internally and spiritually, starting a Camino with a Mass and the blessing of the shells. Thank you Fr Giovann Tabone and Fr Reuben Micallef for celebrating the Masses and Fr Daniel Cardona for making the church of Our Lady of Pilar & St. James, Zurrieq, available.
Overseas Treks
With all our Caminos (Spain. Italy and Ireland) fully booked for 2023, we are already having signifcant inquiries / requests for more. But I kindly ask you to hold back until later in the year. The 2023/24 itinerary is generally issued in October of each month. Once it is, please do not take long to make up your minds. Caminos fill up fast.
We do have 3 overseas trekking activities, not Caminos, that still have places available on them these are:
1.) 29th June – 5th July: Dinnamare, Aspromonte and Pollino: This will be a fun-packed week with hill, forest and cascade trekking as well as white water rafting. Cost excluding flights Euros 895. For more information or to reserve a place please following this link: https://xircammini.org/product/pollino-and-sila/
2.) 29th June – 2nd July: For those who wish to sample some of the above but cannot afford to be away from work for a whole week, we have a shorter version covering Dinnamare and Aspromonte (i.e. excluding Pollino and the white water rafting). Cost excluding flights Euros 550. For more information or to reserve a place please following this link: https://xircammini.org/product/dinnamare-aspromonte/
3.) 6th – 10th September: Trekking with sheep in Umbria – the Transumanza. Cost excluding flights: Euros 600. For more information or to reserve a place please follow this link: https://xircammini.org/event/transumanza-2/
These events are organised by VaiColTrekking.
Local Events
We’ve had a great autumn, winter and spring of Wed and Sat walks. As the weather becomes warmer Sat walks will gradually diminish but we will continue with the Wed evening walks evening in summer (unless we’re travelling).
To follow our schedule of walks please always consult our website at: https://xircammini.org/events/
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The walk of Saturday 6th May will be changed from Hagar Qim | Providenza Loop to the Western Segment of the Camino Maltes | Universal Peace Walk 1543 from Rabat to Zurrieq. Will will start at 14:00 and endeavour to end with mass in the Church of Our Lady of Pilar and St. James, Zurrieq subject to necessary permissions. On that day we will be accompanied by an Aleteia film / documentary crew who during that week will be documenting faith tourism in Malta and showcasing the Camino Maltes. Aleteia is an online Catholic news and information website founded in 2011/2012 by Jesús Colina via the Foundation for Evangelization through the Media. It has the approval of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization
We will shortly be issuing a link for those who wish to join us and book one-way transport. This is the link to the changed event. It will not be a full-fledged camino and we will not be providing Credencials, books or certificates for every pilgrim as we did on the 12th and 31st March. For those wishing to have a booklet and Credencial we will have some available on the day on a 1st come 1st served basis. Alternatively these can be ordered from our website: https://xircammini.org/resources/
Conclusion?
Work continues unabated on improving the Camino Maltes and on the other heritage faith walks that we are in the process of rolling out. We would like to thank the Malta Tourism Authority for their support.
We continue to collaborate with Sicily and Sardegna to ensure a seamless experience for those who wish to walk the whole of the Camino Maltes (whether at one go or in instalments).
For those of you who walked the Malta Segment of the Camino Maltes with us on 12th March or 31st March please hold on to your Credencials. We are planning walking the Cammino di San Giacomo in Sicilia in 2024 as the next step on one of the longest Caminos de Santiago that you – proudly – started from Rabat, Malta.
Ultreya | From James & Tucc