The Miracle of Grañón
The Miracle of Grañón
by Anthony Feliu | Haverhill, MA
As a newly-trained hospitalero, my first assignment came last October at the donativo albergue in Grañón, Spain, on the Camino Francés. Prior to my service, I read that the pilgrims themselves took part in preparing the communal dinner they would share that evening. How on earth, I wondered, could we hospitaleros ever convince a bunch of tired pilgrims to cook for themselves?
La Reina de los Albergues, The Queen of Albergues
The albergue was founded in 1997 by the late pastor José Ignacio, who had a very specific vision for its operation. He wanted to model a medieval hospital, which cared for the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of its guests. Indeed, he did not call it an “albergue,” but rather Hospital de Peregrinos.
To that end, all would be welcomed without judgement, be they a Camino pilgrim, a traveler, or a homeless person. It would never be completo regardless how many guests came. To build community, an evening meal would be prepared by the guests themselves. And finally, it would be donativo, with ongoing operations entirely funded by the generosity of its guests. In short, he envisioned a truly faith-based operation.
Nuestra Acogida, Our Welcome
We were four hospitaleros—two Spanish, one Italian, and this American. Pastor Alejandro looked in on us daily. We huddled after breakfast to discuss any concerns or ideas and divide up the chores. We worked well together.
A lot of times it seems that English is all you hear among the pilgrims. But we are in Spain and needed to keep that cultural identity. So we greeted the pilgrims in Spanish before switching to another language. And when addressing everyone, our message was always in Spanish followed by other language(s).
El Milagro de Grañón, The Miracle of Grañón
Part of our responsibility was keeping the pantry stocked with a selection of fresh produce and groceries. The cooking team could choose from our stocks to design the evening meal. Grañón’s only market is very mini, so two of us would go shopping to Santo Domingo de la Calzada about every five days.
At registration, we outlined the afternoon routine. At the same time, we asked who would be interested in cooking. Inevitably, someone stepped up. About one day in three, in fact, a professional cook among our guests volunteered.
We organized the pilgrims into teams. A kitchen team helped the lead cook. Also, a salad team, bread team, table-setting team, wine team, and crisis team. Everyone became one big family, just as Pastor Ignacio had envisioned. Day after day, everything ran smoothly.
For me it will forever be “The miracle of Grañón.”
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