The following is an excerpt from the “Veneranda Dies” sermon, attributed to Pope Calixtus, for the feast of St. James, from The Miracles of Saint James, edited by Thomas F. Coffey, Linda Kay Davidson & Maryjane Dunn, Italica Press, 1996, pp. 23-31.
However, since we have dealt above with the various peoples going to him and with the remuneration given to them by the Lord, it remains for us now to treat the pilgrim route of these people. The pilgrim route is the best way, but the most narrow. The road is, in fact, narrow that leads man to life, and the road is wide and spacious that leads to death. The pilgrim route is for the righteous: lack of vices, mortification of the body, restitution of virtues, remission of sins, penitence of the penitent, journey of the just, love of the saints, faith in the resurrection and remuneration of the blessed, distancing of the infernal, propitiation of the heavens. It reduces fat foods, it checks gluttony of the stomach, it tames lust, it suppresses carnal desires, which militate against the soul. It purifies the spirit, it motivates man toward contemplation, it humbles the lofty, it beatifies the humble. It loves poverty; it hates the inventory that avarice keeps but that generosity loves when one dispenses it to the needy. It rewards those abstaining and working well, it does not free those sinning and avaricious on it [the road].
Not without reasons do those heading for the thresholds of the saints accept the staff and the blessed purse in the church, When, in fact, we send them for the sake of penance to the seat of the saints, we give them the blessed purse with the ecclesiastical ceremony, saying:
“In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, accept the purse, this symbol of your pilgrimage, that you may be worthy to arrive chastened and cleansed at the threshold of Saint James to whom you wish to go; and with your journey completed, may you return safe to us with delight, with Him as a guarantee, Who lives and reigns as God for ever and ever. Amen.”
Also when we give the staff to someone we say the following:
“Accept this staff as a support for the journey and for the labor on the route of your pilgrimage, so that you may be able to overcome all the throngs of the enemy and arrive secure at the threshold of Saint James; and having completed your passage, may you return to us with delight, with the agreement of Him Who lives and reigns as God. World without end.”
The purse, which the Italians call scarsella, and the Provençals call sporta, and the French call ysquirpa, signifies the generosity of alms and the mortification of the flesh. A purse is a narrow little bag, made from the hide of a dead animal, with its mouth always open and not bound with ties. That the purse is a narrow sack signifies that the pilgrim, trusting in the Lord, must carry along with him a small and moderate provision. That it is made from the skin of a dead animal signifies that the pilgrim himself must mortify his flesh with its vice and concupiscence, through hunger and thirst, through many fasts, through cold and nakedness, and through many insults and hardships. That it is not bound with ties but that the mouth is always open signifies that one must expend one’s own things on the needy, and consequently one must be prepared for receiving and prepared for giving.
The staff, which the pilgrim prayerfully accepts almost as a third foot for his support, implies faith in the Holy Trinity in which one must persevere. The staff is the defense for man against wolf and dog. The habit of the dog is to bark against man, and the wolf to devour sheep. The dog and wolf signify that waylayer of the human race, the devil. The demon barks against man when he incites men’s minds toward sinning by the bark of his suggestions. He bites like the wolf when he drags men’s limbs toward sinning and through the habit of guilt swallows the soul in his greedy jaws. For that reason we must admonish the pilgrim when we give him the staff that he remove his guilt through confession and frequently protect his breast and limbs with the banner of the Holy Trinity against diabolical illusions and apparitions.
Similarly, it is not without reason that the pilgrims prayerfully coming back from Jerusalem carry palms, and that those returning from the threshold of Saint James bear small shells. Notwithstanding, the palm signifies triumph and the small shell signifies a good work. For just as the victors returning from the battle once used to carry palms in their hands, showing that they have been triumphant, so also do the pilgrims returning from Jerusalem carry palms, showing that they have mortified all vices. Therefore drunks or fornicators or misers or covetors or the litigious or usurers or spendthrifts or adulterors or other corrupt people who are still warring with vices should not carry the palm, but rather those who have completely overcome their vices and who have adhered to virtues.
There are some fish in the sea of Blessed James, which the people call veras, having two shields, one on either side, between which the fish is covered as if between two shells in the likeness of an oyster. These shells, of course, are shaped like the fingers of a hand, and the Provençals call them nidulas and the French call them crusillas, and the pilgrims returning from the threshold of Blessed James sew them on their capes, and they wear them back to their own country with great exultation in honor of the apostle and in his memory and as a sign of such a great journey. Therefore, the two shields with which the fish is protected, one on either side, represent the two laws of charity with which the bearer must truly protect his life: that is, to love God above all things and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. A person who loves God is one who keeps His commandments. A person who loves one’s neighbor as one loves oneself is one who does not do to anyone else what he does not want done to himself and who does to others what he would justly want done for himself. The shields, however, which are modified in the shape of fingers, signify good works in which the bearer of this sign must persevere; and good works are beautifully signified by fingers, since we work through them when we do something. Therefore, just as the pilgrim bears the shell as long as he is in the course of this present life, he must also carry the yoke of the Lord, that is, submit to His commandments. And it is truly right and just that one who has sought such a great apostle and such a great man in such a remote region in toil and hardship persevere in good works, to the extent that he may receive with Saint James the crown in the heavenly land. If he has been a robber or thief, let him become a dispenser of alms; if he has been a spendthrift, let him become temperate; if he has been a miser, let him become generous; if he has been a fornicator or adulterer, let him become chaste; if he has been a drunkard, let him become sober. Similarly, may he restrain himself from now on from every guilt in which he was previously grasped.
0, pilgrim of Saint James, do not lie with that mouth with which you have kissed his altar! Do not go toward depraved works with the feet with which you have taken so many steps for him! Do not work evil with the hands with which you have touched his venerable altar! If you have commended your whole body to him for safekeeping, then preserve all your limbs for him. If as a faithful sheep you have entrusted yourself to him, do not be a stray in the thorns of vices. Do not also give to the wolf what you have given to him. Do not serve the devil, when by right you must serve God and His apostle. If you wish to have a powerful patron, you have for yourself in Blessed James a protector, helper, and devotee. Many, in fact, give witness that they have experienced his help in many trials.
We must explain how the pilgrim road had its origins among the ancient fathers, and how it should be walked. In fact, it takes its beginning from Adam, and it stems from Abraham and Jacob and the sons of Israel down to Christ, and through Christ and the apostles it is increased up to today. Adam is considered the first pilgrim, since because of his transgression of the commandment of God he was sent from paradise into the exile of this world, and he is saved by the blood of Christ and by His grace. Similarly, the pilgrim is sent by his priest on a pilgrimage into a type of exile from his own region because of his transgressions, and if he has confessed properly and has completed his life after taking onto himself proper penitence, he is saved through the grace of Christ. Abraham the patriarch was a pilgrim, since he went forth from his country to another as he was told by the Lord: “Go out from your land and your people… and come into the land which I will show to you and I will make you grow into a great people.” And thus did it happen. He went out from his own land, and his holy offspring were increased in a foreign one. In a similar fashion, if the pilgrim leaves his own land, meaning his earthly business and his habitual depravities, and his own people, meaning those with knowledge of his guilt, and goes out and perseveres in good works, the Lord will without doubt cause him to grow into a great angelic people in blessed glory. Jacob the patriarch also arose as a pilgrim, since, having gone out from his country, he traveled to Egypt and stayed. Just as Jacob stayed in Egypt, which is interpreted as mourning and darkness, so also must the pilgrim, having gone out from his own country and requesting the support of the saints, remain in grief of mind and eye and in the darkness of penance because of the memory of his sins. Thus the sons of Israel were pilgrims, while they traveled from Egypt into the Promised Land through their diverse experiences of hardships and vicious wars. Just as they entered the Promised Land through many hardships, the pilgrims also travel through the uncountable frauds of innkeepers, and the climbing of mountains, and the descent into valleys, and fears about plunderers, and worries about various hardships, while requesting the support of the saints, so that they might enter the heavenly country promised to the faithful.
Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, returning from Jerusalem, after He had risen from the dead, appeared first as a pilgrim, as the disciples meeting Him said: “You alone are a pilgrim in Jerusalem.” lt is later written about these disciples that they recognized the Lord in the breaking of the bread. On the road the Lord is not recognized, but when someone is fed, he is recognized. Thus when the happy pilgrim feeds the poor, he is recognized by the Lord. For the Lord recognizes whoever feeds the poor, and He allows Himself to be recognized by him and makes him blessed, as the psalmist says: “Blessed is he who understands about the needy and the poor; on the evil day the Lord will liberate him.” He will be liberated “on the evil day,” since on the day of judgment he will be liberated from the diabolical grasp, and he will be saved.
The apostles, therefore, whom the Lord sent out without money or footwear, were also pilgrims. Because of this it is in no way allowed for pilgrims to bring money, unless they expend this money on the needy. If He sent the apostles without money, what will become of those who now travel with gold and silver, eating and drinking to fulfillment and imparting nothing to the poor? Certainly they are not the true pilgrims, but the thieves and bandits of God. Those who take along their goods and give away nothing to the needy pilgrims are truly alienated from the apostolic company, and they appear to travel on another route. They may expect what the Lord Himself might say to His pilgrims on route: “Do not possess gold or silver or money in your girdles or a purse on the road or two tunics or footwear or a rod.” In the apostles’ having been sent in this way it is given to be understood that it would not be permissible for a pilgrim to bring along his own things, unless he should strive to pay them out to the needy. He should either not bring along goods, or, if he brings them, he should strive to dispense them to the poor. If he should do otherwise, he may expect what the Lord Himself says to a certain man questioning Him: “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor and…follow me.” Therefore, it is not those who sell their goods and spend them on their pilgrimage who follow the Lord, but those who sell their goods and are generous to the needy. Just as the multitude of believers once had one heart and one soul and no one called something his own, but all held all in common, so must all things be held in common for all pilgrims: one heart and one soul. For it is very disgraceful and a great dishonor and a most grave sin when one of the pilgrims is thirsty and another is drunk. Every good brought forth for the common good shines more brightly. I also fear for the pilgrim who carries expensive goods on the journey beyond what is necessary for him, and does not spend them on the needy, but brings them back to his own home, lest he be damned with Ananias and Sapphira who, in holding back on the price of a sold field, having received a curse from Saint Peter the apostle, suddenly fell dead. If the Lord rode to Jerusalem not on a horse or a mule but on an ass, what will become of those who go there with large and plump horses and mules with saddle bags of pleasant objects? If Blessed Peter went to Rome without footwear or money and, being crucified, finally went to the Lord, why do many pilgrims go to him [St. Peter], riding with much money and a second set of vestments, eating delicious foods, drinking very strong wine, and sharing nothing with their needy brethren. If Blessed James went through the world as a pilgrim without money and footwear and went finally beheaded to paradise, why do pilgrims go to him oversupplied with diverse riches and paying out nothing to the needy? If Peter and James walked through the world without money, and praying without interruption, what will become of those who go to their thresholds with money acquired from robbery or other harm or from usury or with corrupt extravagance or with false tales or with idle words or with contemptuous speech or with drunkenness or with chatter? If Blessed Giles or Saint William or the extraordinary Leonard, confessors of Christ, had contempt for worldly happiness and, secluded from their relatives and friends and without any goods, sought remote, deserted places and led a celibate life, sustained in it by raw herbs and water, intent upon frequent vigils and fasting, what will become of those who go to them with a great inventory, paying out nothing to the needy and eating and drinking to fulfillment? Furthermore, the one group appears to have taken a different route than the other has taken. For the former group, paying out their goods to the poor, are made happy; the latter, not distributing theirs at all, are certainly in need of heavenly gifts. The former group will have abundance for ever; the latter will beg for eternity. What will become of those who keep and beg for their goods, –not, without doubt, their own but someone else’s– and then die shamefully on the route itself with that money? The pilgrim who dies with money on the route of the saints is certainly dislodged from the kingdom of true pilgrims. Certainly one who gives sustenance to all those asking and who is made poor, if his goods have been relinquished for the sake of heavenly love, uses his inventory well on the route of the saints. The one who does not dispose of alms or resources received on the route from whatever pilgrim who has died, in the way the dead person ordered, but who keeps and spends them on himself is damned.
What does it profit someone, most beloved brethren, for a man to dash to the pilgrimage route, unless one has gone legitimately? Someone goes legitimately to Saint James’ threshold if he forgives those who have injured him before he begins his journey; if he makes appeasement, if it is right for this to occur, of all prior acquisitions of which he is accused either by others or by his own conscience; and if he receives lawful leave from his priests or his subjects or his wife or any others to whom he is bound; if he gives back, if possible, what he has held unjustly; if he transforms dissent against his power into tranquillity; if he accepts penance from all; if he provides well for his house; if he arranges for his own things to be given, according to the advice of his associates and priests, as alms in the event of his death; if after he has begun the journey, he gives the necessities of body and soul, as far as is possible, to poor pilgrims as if to his brothers, as we have already said; if he speaks not idle words but saintly stories; if he flees drunkenness, strife, and lust; if he hears the divine office, if not every day then at least on Sundays and feast days; if he prays without interruption; if he tolerates all adversities patiently; and if, after he has returned to his own region, he abstains from the illicit things and perseveres in good works up until the end, so that he may sing with the psalmist: “Your justifications were songs to me, 0 Lord, in the place of my pilgrimage.” Whoever misses masses and matins because of the pilgrim route, loses the better of two goods. If one is truly poor and patiently endures both adversity and prosperity, he may seek the necessary things for himself from those having them, and he may pray for the well-being of his benefactors and of all people.