Fribourg, Symbols and the St. James Way

Fribourg (or Freiburg if you're of the German persuasion) is a beautiful city on the Sarine River in central western Switzerland with a pristine medieval city center. A portion of the Way of St. James (a 1000 year old route used by Christian pilgrims) runs through the city and is marked by symbols, such as the scallop shell, to guide travelers. In our travels on Wednesday, July 16, we wandered the old city, observed the symbols and signs of ancient trade guilds, and walked the Way of St. James with various forms of suffering chosen to commerate the true pilgrim spirit. Most of the students chose to walk the path without shoes and some carried the packs of other students. We stopped at various museums in the city before returning to Leysin. 



One of the assignments we were given by Dr Winward was to compose a 50 word "mini-saga" to describe our prilgrimage on the St. James Way. My attempt follows:

Violation of the dignity of another being is sin.

Neither bruised feet from a path of stones,

nor cold skin from a misty sky offer consolation to the offended.

Weights of my choosing may burn flesh,

but spark no cleansing fire.

Bearing others' burdens is the better Way of St. James.


-Dave Clark