Before we took a single step toward Santiago, the sky stopped us.
On 12 August 2026 our small group of pilgrims gathered in León, Spain. We had arrived by train from Madrid, visited the great Gothic cathedral and met one another, most of us for the first time. Then, as the sun went down over the old city, the moon slid across it. For less than two minutes, day turned to night over León.
We stood together in silence, strangers who had just become a group, watching the lights God set in the heavens. It was the strangest and most beautiful way to begin a Camino.
“Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to govern the day and to govern the night.” … And God made two great lights, the greater to govern the day and the lesser to govern the night, and the stars also.
Genesis 1:14, 16
On the fourth day of creation, God set the sun, the moon and the stars in their places. In León we saw two of them line up perfectly, and for a moment the whole city went quiet. It is good to be reminded, at the start of a long road, that the One who orders the heavens also orders our steps.
“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”
Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
Walk the whole road with us
This is Day 0 of the Camino Eclipse Diaries: sixteen days and about 257 km / 160 miles on the Camino Francés from León to Santiago. A new day comes out every Thursday and Sunday on our YouTube channel, our Facebook Page and Instagram.
Have you ever seen a total eclipse? Where were you? We’d love to hear.
Walk with us in 2027
Angela and I will host a small group from Porto to Santiago on the Camino Portugués, 4–20 April 2027, in a Holy Year. Come to a free Zoom information evening on Wednesday 21 October at 7:00 pm Mountain (or 18 November, 16 December or 20 January). Read about the 2027 Camino Portugués.
Not ready to fly to Spain? Walk a Camino from home, free, in the Camino for Good app.
Buen Camino,
James M. Gehrke, MS, DMin, and Angela Gehrke, your hosts
