San Juan De Ortega (05/10/15)

The old monastery buildings and church of San Juan de Ortega, isolated as they are in the Montes de Oca, with their apparent remoteness only enhanced by being approached by pilgrims after a long walk in the forest, are some of the most atmospheric and evocative places I have visited on the Camino so far. Our stay there has personal significance for me and will long remain as a high point in my memory, even though the accommodation at the albergue was fairly basic and initially, at least, very cold, draughty and damp!

The story concerning the founding and development of the monastery in such a remote location is very interesting. San Juan himself was born about 1080 in Quintanaortuño and as a disciple of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, helped him to develop the Camino route in the Twelfth Century by building roads, bridges and hospitals for pilgrims.

Monastery Church

He decided to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and on his way home afterwards, his ship encountered a severe storm and fearing that he would be shipwrecked, San Juan prayed to St. Nicolas of Bari, who reputedly appeared to him and calmed the storm. In gratitude, San Juan promised to build a chapel when he returned home and dedicate it St. Nicolas.

Doorway in monastic buildings

(As a digression, this is the same St. Nicolas who is known today as “Santa Claus”. He was Bishop of Myra in Turkey in the 4^th Century and tradition tells us that when he heard that the two daughters of a poor man were going to have to be sold into slavery because the family was destitute, he threw two bags of gold through the window of their house anonymously to save them from this fate and thus become associated with giving gifts. When the Muslims invaded Turkey, his relics were secretly taken to Bari in Southern Italy were they remain in the cathedral today. In Medieval times he was a popular saint to pray to; especially concerning dangers, shipwrecks, fires and economic problems and over two hundred churches are dedicated to him.)

Fifteenth Century Cloister

Upon reaching home, San Juan found that there was a lot of unrest in his native Castille and so withdrew to this wild and uninhabited place (Ortiga means nettles in Spanish) to live as a hermit and build a simple shelter, which he did when he had obtained permission to do so from Doña Urraca, Abbess of Cañas.

Fruitless attempts to dry clothes in cloister

In 1115, San Juan, was granted the right by king Alfonso “The Battler” to establish a proper monastery and immediately started work on the construction of monastic cells and a chapel dedicated to St, Nicolas to fulfil his promise. In this work he was helped by his brother Martin and a small order of Augustinian Canons Regular that he had established. Although their work was opposed by local bandits who stole the tools, burnt the wagons, and even threatened to kill San Juan himself, the chapel and monastery were eventually completed. San Juan also built a pilgrim hospital and received the support of Pope Innocent II in 1138 and that of king Alfonso VII who granted him all the Crown lands in the Montes de Oca. San Juan also started work on the monastery church, but only the apses were completed at his death in 1163 and subsequently the monastery gradually went into decline.

Chapel of St. Nicolas

In 1431 however, the Bishop of Burgos granted the monastery to the Jeronymite Order and the monastery began to flourish once more/ In 1477 Queen Isabel (la Católica) visited the monastery. She had been unable to conceive after seven years of marriage and was drawn to San Juan’s reputation as an intercessor in cases of infertility. The Queen was reportedly cured of her sterility and in thanks had the Chapel of St. Nicolas rebuilt in a much more sumptuous style.

Romanesque central apse

The Jeronymites also added the gothic naves to the monastery church and built a larger cloister in the Herrera style, but in the Medizabal confiscations of 1835, the monastery was finally abandoned and fell into ruin.

Bronze wall plaque of Emmaus Road

Copy of carving at Santo Domingo de Silos monastery

It was only in 1964, that work began to restore the monastery. The monastery church was restored first and then the fifteenth century cloister. A further €4,000,000 worth of restoration work is planned on the other buildings and while we were there, we found the Chapel of St. Nicolas closed for restoration and two large cranes were working on the other monastic buildings.

Baldachin in the nave

We checked into the albergue. It consisted of a large dining room (with small wood burning stove) downstairs and a staircase that led to two large dormitory rooms and male and female bathrooms grouped around the fifteenth century two storey cloister. It was cold and draughty and we met one middle aged Irish pilgrim who had checked in and then decided that it was so cold that she couldn’t stand it and so then checked into the Casa Rural opposite the church for something more luxurious! Luckily for us though, we found that as the evening wore on the dormitories warmed up quite a lot and became much more comfortable. In addition our beds were away from the windows, which seemed quite draughty and this probably helped.

We were tired after our long walk from Belorado and were looking forward to showers and washing our clothes, however the bathroom facilities were very primitive! A lot of pilgrims had already showered and the tiled floor was swimming in water and very slippery. The bathroom itself was also very cold! There were three shower cubicles; David took the first one and began what sounded like a pleasant enough shower; I took the second one as the third one had no door and I didn’t fancy a public shower! This didn’t stop another pilgrim later however, who showered in full view later on while I was washing my clothes –rather disconcerting for a reserved Irish pilgrim like myself!

Close up of Baldachin canopy

Having stripped off, and standing shivering in the cold, I eagerly switched on the shower…a miniscule, very lukewarm dribble of water emanated from the shower head that was so tiny that I could barely wet my hair with it, never mind clean my body! I therefore patiently waited (shivering) until David finished his shower as I hoped that the water pressure would then increase. Nothing happened however, and so when he gave me the all clear that no one else was in the bathroom, I streaked naked into the other shower cubicle and finally managed to have a shower in relative comfort!

Effigy of San Juan under canopy

Things unfortunately were not much better when it came to washing our clothes. There were only hand washing sinks and the water was cold (never mind naked showering pilgrims in the mirror behind me!). Drying facilities only consisted of hanging clothes on lines around the cloister and as the weather was cold and damp, there was no chance of getting the clothes dry; the next morning my clothes and towel had not dried at all and I had to pack them wet in my plastic bag and hope the next albergue had better facilities!

Scene from life of San Juan on Baldachin

Somehow though, these privations did not dampen our spirits; I have the personal attitude (taken from the pilgrim mediation that I obtained at Estella) that I should take each albergue as I find it and seek to be grateful and content and avoid whining.

As I said, the dormitories began to warm up and the communal pilgrim meal of sopa de ajo (garlic soup), pasta and a segundo of pork, salad and chips and even an orange to finish was hearty and welcome. We paid a few euros for a bottle of red wine and it warmed and encouraged us further!

Matthew enjoying dinner

After dinner, David parked himself by the wood burning stove and Matthew and I took ourselves over to the church to observe the pilgrim mass. Orders of Service were helpfully provided in English (the first time I have seen this on the Camino – why doesn’t it happen more often?) and although we didn’t take the Eucharist, as we are Evangelical Christians and not Catholics, we took part in the liturgy and prayers where we could, as much of it is obviously the same as in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.

After the mass there was a pilgrim blessing in the chapel to the left (facing the altar). Pilgrims of various nationalities gathered and were given orders of service in their own language. We participated in the prayers and then went forward and to be blessed by the priest, who then placed a necklace containing a patriarchal cross over each of our heads as a gift. The cross is a copy of one engraved on the wall of the chapel. It was touching and unexpected to receive such a gift and I wondered how much it must have cost to distribute the crosses to pilgrims. As for the significance of the Patriarchal cross as a symbol with it’s two bars – no one is quite sure of it’s meaning, but it is a popular symbol in the Eastern Church and the two bars are thought to mean either: secular and ecclesiastical authority, the cross with the sign “Jesus King of the Jews above it, or to symbolise the cross and the Holy Spirit. I chose to go with the third meaning and the cross is a special reminder for me of a special place.

The interior of the church itself is relatively small, but very beautiful. The first thing that catches the eye upon entering is the ornate baldachin or canopy of the tomb of San Juan. The canopy is in a florid Elizabethan Gothic style and dates from 1464. It covers a recumbent effigy of the saint and around the sides are carved six scenes from San Juan’s life, such as his journey to the Holy Land. Originally the tomb of San Juan was in the crypt below the church, but this flooded in 2005 and has been closed and the canopy and sarcophagi inside were moved into the church. The baldachin was placed in the central nave and the simple stone sarcophagus of San Juan now lies in front of the altar in the chapel where we received our crosses. An outer, richly carved Romanesque sarcophagus, is also on display, but unfortunately, I forgot to look out for it – rather remiss of me!

Simple stone sarcophagus of San Juan

Other things of note in the church include the wonderful Romanesque apse with it splayed windows glazed with alabaster. (The apse was lit up during mass highlighting the wonderful detail) and the church also has many fine twelfth century Romanesque pillar capitals. The most famous is the Annunciation capital; again situated in the chapel where we received our crosses. This capital shows the angel Gabriel kneeling in front of the Virgin Mary and announcing that she will conceive and bear Jesus. In 1974 it was rediscovered that twice a year on the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes; on March 21^st at 6pm and September 22^nd at 7pm, a beam of light shines through the church window and illuminates the carving of Mary. Whether this phenomenon was designed by the original builders or is accidental, is not known, but it seems unlikely surely, to be accidental, given San Juan’s reputation in medieval times to heal infertility?

Annunciation capital - it's hard to see, but Mary is on far left at the corner

The pilgrim blessing finished at 8pm and the worshippers filed out leaving Matthew and myself alone in the church which did not close until 9pm. Unusually for a Spanish Church, it was warm inside and so we decided to do Evening Prayer together. The chapel to the right of the altar (dedicated to St Jerome and with an effigy of Santo Domingo de la Calzada) had been kitted out for comfortable praying; with rugs on the floor strewn with cushions and a large stone bowl full of sand and multi-coloured candles. We lit a candle each and prayed together and just enjoyed comfortable brotherly companionship in Christ. We realised how grateful we were for each other’s friendship. Fellowship shared in Christ can be a deep and precious thing; more like having a brother than just a friend and I was reminded of Psalm 113 that says:

How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!

It’s like costly anointing oil flowing down head and beard,

Flowing down Aaron’s beard, flowing down the collar of his priestly robes.

It’s like the dew on Mount Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion.

Yes, that’s where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life.

Psalm 133:1-3 MSG

And also Proverbs 18:24 which says:

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,

but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24 NIVUK

Apart from praying, we also sang some worship songs together and were touched when a middle aged pilgrim lady came to pray near us by the altar and joined us in our singing.

We very reluctantly left the church at 9pm feeling something very rare and of a special quality had taken place; the Holy Spirit had been there; deep fellowship had been experienced and things would not be quite the same again. God had indeed commanded the blessing in our unity.

I slept well that night despite the large dormitories, but as ever, being a man in my forties, I needed to get up for the loo at 3am. The journey was one of the longest and most interesting I have also experienced in any of the albergues: out of the dormitory through some double doors, across the staircase landing and through more double doors, into the moonlit cloister, around two sides of the cloister, through more doors, along a corridor, and finally into the bathroom. Quite an adventure for a sleepy pilgrim!!