We talk about it

Les amis de St Jacques à St Merri

The St Jacques at Paris 2024

Despite the difficulties of access to Saint-Merri church due to preparations for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, we were quite numerous to mark the feast of Saint James.

After the celebration, presided over by Father Philippe Perrault, we enjoyed a friendly drink on the parish premises.

Family photo of founding members

On May 8, 2024, the Constitutive Assembly of
Camino Europa Compostela

With the official signing of the statutes by the representatives of the 6 founding associations, the culmination of work initiated in Madrid in autumn 2021, and no fewer than 10 face-to-face meetings in Brussels, Arras and Ourense, Santiago……
From now on “May 9, Europe Day”, we are opening applications to all European associations;
It’s up to the Société Française des Amis de Saint Jacques de Compostelle to take its place within this new European Association.
It was a day that will leave its mark and that filled all friends of the Camino in Europe with “joy”.

Thank you all

Patrice Jacques Marie Bernard

The Spanish Federation recruits Volunteer Hospitaliers to support the albergues of the Xunta de Galicia

Dear Partners,

As we did last year, we have signed an agreement with the Société de Gestion du Xacobeo to coordinate the action of volunteers who come to support the people in charge of maintenance and reception in the hostels of the public network of the Xunta de Galicia.
As you already know, this agreement consists of making available a support volunteer every fortnight in the Albergues we indicate in the attached list (he may be accompanied). The agreement defines the tasks of these volunteers and their duties during the time spent in the assigned Albergue:
welcoming, listening to, accompanying…pilgrims arriving at the Albergue.
The Xacobeo’s interest in this action is to be able to count on the presence of people who welcome pilgrims with the spirit of Jacobean hospitality that inhabits all the members of our great Jacobean family.
The two-week periods to be covered run from May 16 to October 15.
These support volunteers will be coordinated from the Federation office in Logroño.
For their accommodation, they will be offered a bed similar to that of the pilgrims, or a room in the Albergue, with no other consideration except the insurance that FEAACS will have taken out for them.
Their remit/obligations will extend from 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm and will cover welcoming pilgrims, accompanying them to their resting places, resolving any doubts or situations that may arise, and also providing any information pilgrims may need. The agreement clearly defines what is and what is not the responsibility of these support volunteers, so as not to interfere with the work of active staff, and so that the limits of each other’s powers remain well defined.

We are appealing to all the associations jacquaires so that their members who wish to do so can take part in this campaign to bring that touch of proximity that is missing from the welcome in the Albergues.

1998- 2023 – The first twenty-five years
of the “Les Chemins du Mont-Saint-Michel” association

The Société Française des Amis de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle was represented by Anne-Marie Podesta at the May 3 event in Avranches to celebrate the association’s 25th anniversary.
In 1998, Madame Labey, then a regional councillor, along with a number of local elected representatives and Mont Saint-Michel enthusiasts, decided to revive the pilgrimage to Mont Saint-Michel. Supported by the Normandy Region and the Manche département, they created the “Les Chemins du Mont Saint-Michel” association and a scientific committee. The idea is to combine history, art and heritage in the region. The following year, they recruited Vincent Juhel to develop the project.
Twenty-five years on, the association has 300 members, 100 local authorities have been declared “communes du chemin du Mont Saint-Michel”, and 250 nails have been placed in front of as many heritage sites. There are also 10 itineraries corresponding to 3,600 km of waymarked paths linking different French and European regions, and the association has initiated a pact of friendship with the region’s Jacobean associations insofar as certain itineraries are “shared paths”.
Since 2009, nine “rencontres historiques des Chemins du Mont Saint-Michel” have been organized and published. The quality of the association’s work was rewarded in 2019 by the award of the Prix Stéphane Bern.
For the SFASJC, Anne-Marie Podesta praised the quality of all these achievements, which have enabled the return of “miquelots” to Mont Saint-Michel, and was delighted that the pilgrimage process,
whatever its final destination, is thus encouraged and facilitated. She announced that the Société Française was planning to organize such a pilgrimage for its members in the autumn and spring of 2023/2024, as it had already been successfully organized between Paris and Vezelay.

XIII Congreso Internacional de Asociaciones jacobeas
Ourense April 20-23, 2023

Dear friends,

On behalf of the Société Française des Amis de Saint Jacques De Compostelle, I was invited to take part in this congress, which is held every 2 years.
Prior to the opening of the Congress, in the morning, the founding members of EUROPA COMPOSTELA, the Spanish, Belgian (French-speaking and Flemish), Dutch and French federations and our beloved Society definitively adopted the statutes (see photo)
On the 21st, at 10 a.m., in the main hall of the Congress, this new declaration was solemnly signed by the “6 d’Arras” and authenticated by the signatures of Alfonso Rueda Valenzuela- President of the Xunta d’Arras, in the large congress hall, this new declaration was solemnly signed by the “6 d’Arras” and authenticated by the signatures of Alfonso Rueda Valenzuela – President of the Xunta de Galicia and José Manuel Baltar Blanco Provincial Councillor of Ourense.
Then the sessions moved on, with multiple speakers of varying interest.
But the most important thing was to meet many of the CAMINOS players during coffee breaks and meals, especially from Spain, but also from North America, Croatia, Poland, Uruguay…
The Société Française, although well known, needs to make a major effort to communicate with Spanish-speaking countries, as well as Eastern Europe.

On the last day of the Congress, during the closing evening, each of the Europa Compostela participants received a silver pin from the Spanish Federation.
A positive assessment must be drawn from this event, which should be continued.

Patrice JM BERNARD

Evening: Mont-Saint-Michel, a spiritual revival?

The Prieuré du Mont-Saint-Michel in Ardevon and Éditions Salvator,
in partnership with the Librairie du sanctuaire ,

are pleased to invite you to the launch of
Guide spirituel du Mont-Saint-Michel et de ses chemins

Tuesday, May 16, 2023 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Put together by some 50 people involved in the spiritual renewal of Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay (clerics, historians, pilgrims, artists, etc.), this guide is intended to invite visitors – whether tourists, the simply curious or pilgrims – to discover the unsuspected riches of this high place of Christianity.

Practical information:
Venue: Prieuré du Mont-Saint-Michel – 2, rue du Prieuré – Ardevon – 50170 Pontorson
Without reservation, free contribution to costs.
Information: 06 61 14 23 39

To find out more about the evening of May 16, here is the programme program

Webcompostella – AG 2023 March 31, 2023

Webcompostella’s Annual General Meeting was held in Orsay at the Centre la Clarté de Dieu,
As a reminder, the aim of this dynamic association, commissioned by the Bishops of France, is :

• to create an Internet community bringing together pilgrimage enthusiasts and the various people involved in the Compostela route, before, during and after the pilgrimage
• to provide pilgrims with cultural, artistic and spiritual assistance and services.

Since 2015, Webcompostella has been welcoming French-speaking pilgrims arriving in Santiago. This year, the reception will be open from May 15 to October 31, 2023.

Webcompostella publishes the Guide spirituel du Pèlerin, a spiritual reference for a Christian pilgrimage.
During the meeting, Bishop Marc Aillet of Bayonne-Lescar-Oloron, delegate of the Conférence des évêques de France (CEF) for the pastoral care of the Pilgrim’s Way, spoke by videoconference.
To consolidate the bonds of friendship between our two associations, Patrice Bernard, President of SFASJC, accompanied by General Secretary Monique Jacob, took part in the Annual General Meeting.

Compostelle Bretagne General Meeting 2023 March 11, 2023

The Lycée Collège Saint Joseph de Loquidy in Nantes provided an efficient guide service to welcome the 300 participants from the 4 corners of Brittany and the many guests, including SFASJC, represented by its General Secretary Monique Jacob.

After a cup of coffee, the morning was devoted to the Annual General Meeting: moral report, activity report, financial report.

The afternoon was devoted to the great adventure of summer 2022: a great relay from July 7 to October 3, which took a Breton bumblebee from Brittany’s Finistère to Spain’s Cape Finisterre. Three months of adventure, with festivities all along the way. The Compostelle Bretagne Mouez Ar Jakez choir and other participants awaited the walkers of the final stages at the finish and also in Santiago Cathedral. This wonderful adventure brought the members of these 5 departments and those of the departments crossed even closer together.

The day, which unfolded in a warm, friendly and fraternal atmosphere, ended with a “pot de l’amitié”. Well done to this dynamic association, which promotes the values of the path: 5 departments: 1 single association!

Brittany boasts 1,500 km of signposted routes to Compostela across its 5 départements! 178 pilgrim hostels. Consult the map here.

100 Chemins, 100 Récits international competition

Closing of the Holy Door of the Sanctuary of Santiago

On the afternoon of December 31, 2022, the double Jacobean Holy Year came to an end.
At around quarter past six in the afternoon, the civic procession left the town hall for the Santiago sanctuary, where a Eucharist was celebrated. The image of Santiago then returned in procession through the streets of the historic center.
Finally, the ritual closing of the Holy Door, which had remained open since January 1, 2021, was celebrated.
It will reopen at the arrival of the next Jacobean Holy Year. This will be on January 1, 2027, to usher in a new Jacobean holy year.

Emmanuel Grosset, administrator of the French Society, was present at the ceremony. He presented the best wishes of the French Society to Monsignor José Fernández Lago, Dean of Santiago Cathedral, who assured him of his warm welcome to the French Society of Friends of Santiago.

European Union of Jacobean Associations and Federations

As a founding member, our Chairman travelled to Brussels on September 16 to take part in the construction of this union.

The purpose of the Union Jacquaire des fédérations et associations Européenne is to:

• represent and promote the Jacobean movement in Europe,
• federate the associations and federations of each European country at European level
• and to cooperate with other international Jacobean associations,

In order to:

• ensure the readability, visibility and representation of these associations and federations with the various public and private bodies they may need
• create a coherent approach to all the paths leading to Santiago de Compostela across Europe
• to keep these ancestral paths alive.

Drafting bylaws, location of head office, financing, voting system – many subjects were on the agenda at this meeting.

SFASJC plaque unveiled at O’ Cebreiro

On August 19, our president and his wife visited O Cebreiro to lay the SFASJC plaque.

“We were welcomed by JOSÉ VALINA, ELIAS’s nephew, who painted the yellow arrows* with him. It was a meeting full of friendship and warmth.” says the president, evoking the laying of the arrows.

“A commemorative plaque well suited to the simplicity of the Camino, undoubtedly another moment of great emotion and, what’s more, the indelible mark of our association’s presence in an emblematic place on the Camino Frances,” added Jean Raymond, of SFASJC, on hearing the news.

*Faster and better than the stylized shell of European signposts, the yellow arrow that is inseparable from the Camino de Santiago in Spain puts pilgrims back on the right path. Few, however, are aware of its origins and the links it is said to have with the parish priest of O Cebreiro, Elías Valiña Sampedro, and with the revival of the Camino de Compostela in the 20th century.
Until the early 1980s, the Camino was largely neglected, with illegal settlements, overgrown paths and very few signposts. Father Elias is best known for inventing the yellow arrow, but he was first and foremost a forerunner of waymarking. A historical account makes him the initiator of the signposting of the path from O Cebreiro to Compostela in the spring of 1982.

With regard to the yellow arrow, information converges:
The very serious Centro de Estudios y de Documentación del Camino de Santiago in its bulletin Bibliografia Jacobea n°17 of 2013 writes:

One day, when he was less busy – a rare occurrence for him – he took a can of paint and began to mark out the route with yellow arrows. He started at Somport and Ibañeta, and finished at Santiago, to prevent pilgrims from getting lost […].

https://www.institut-irj.fr/Elias-Valina-et-les-fleches-jaunes-Mythe-et-realite-lettre-118