Godinne

This Saturday was blessed with fine walking weather, cool and mostly sunny, little wind, and no rain. I left the Auberge de Jeunesse at about 9:00 am for a relatively short hike to the riverside village of Riviere, where I hoped to find the local priest and asked for a place to stay … but I was told he is sick and would not be back. With my fellow pilgrim from Antwerp, Herman, we moved on to the next town, Godinne, where things seemed more promising. As we entered the village, we came upon a 91-year-old priest walking along, so we asked him where we might spend the night. He told us we should walk across town to the large Jesuit College there. We trundled to the massive buildings and looked for someone to help us. An old Jesuit well into his 80s came upon us and went to look for the superior but didn’t find him, so he led us to a grassy field to wait an hour or so until the superior returned. We rested in the grass, ate a snack, and then were surprised when the old Jesuit returned to tell us that our request for a place to spend the night had been turned down. Oh well. We left. Then Herman went his own way. I began searching the town for the parish church, finding it only after thirty minutes of wandering about. An old lady was in the sacristy. I did my best to explain my predicament in my altogether broken French, but she got the idea and told me that the parish priest wouldn’t be around until mass time at 5:30, two hours later. I left feeling terrible frustration, as it seemed I might be spending the night on a park bench. So I went off with my pack and sticks looking for any kind of lodging. Nothing … so back to the church. I sat in its cool interior and read the Sunday readings, which consoled me … Jesus telling his seventy-two to hit the road without packs or sandals. At 5:25 Père Bernard, a young priest, arrived and greeted me like a brother, even welcoming me to concelebrate the mass with him. He is taking care of me tonight. God bless him! So another pilgrim day under my belt. Tomorrow I will have a short walk to Dinant. I’ll follow the riverside path rather than the official route, which is all up and down and a lot further as it zigzags across the countryside. The Meuse River is beautiful, so I’ll keep following it.