Road Trip to Aragón

The first full weekend in March I traveled with Tania and another Opus Dei member, Ana, to the region of Aragón in Northern Spain. It was about a seven or so hour drive and we didn’t arrive to our lodging for the night until after 9pm. While the temperature wasn’t extremely cold for being up north, our apartment for the weekend was an icebox. Even though we turned on the two heaters to warm up our rooms as soon as we arrived, I was still super chilled a few hours later after we’d eaten pizza and watched a movie. The movie we watched was a Japanese film about a guy who reluctantly finds himself an assistant to a mortician. We all agreed that it was an extremely strange film to say the least. 

At a rest stop we had to get a picture with the flock of sheep (Tania's photo)

The next day we went to the sanctuary known as the Shrine of Torreciudad, which was the main purpose for our trip. The shrine was built by St. Josemaría Escriva and dedicated to the Virgin of Torreciudad. The saint was miraculously healed when he was two year’s old and his parents brought him on a pilgrimage to the hermitage where the statue of the Virgin was originally located and years later he built the shrine next to the hermitage. The shrine sits on the top of a huge hill or small mountain in Torreciudad and overlooks a reservoir. It is located next to the Pyrenees and the view of the snow covered mountains was absolutely incredible. 

 The lovely view (Tania's photo)

 the Shrine

Look at those mountains

Upon arriving to the shrine the first thing we did was go into the visitor’s center and watch an introductory video about the shrine. Then a very nice tour guide took us through some of the grounds, the church and up to the top of the bell tower. While Tania and Ana had both been to the shrine multiple times before, they’d never been up in the bell tower so it was an exciting and new experience for us all. Needless to say the view was great so we spent some time taking pictures. I don’t remember how many bells were in the tower, maybe thirteen or so, but the neat thing was that they all were given Marian names. 

 The bells! (Tania's photo)

At the top of the tower (Tania's photo)

 Looking down at the reservoir

Another view of the Pyrenees

After Mass our tour guide returned and talked to us about the impressive altarpiece in the church. It takes up an entire wall and consists of carved scenes in the life of the Virgin as well as a place for the tabernacle and for the actual statue of Our Lady of Torreciudad. Off to the side there is a life-size statue of St. Josemaría in a praying position facing the altar. Next we went down into the crypt level of the church where there are multiple rooms full of statues of Our Lady brought to the shrine from all over the world by pilgrims. It was really interesting to see the different depictions of Mary from different parts of the world and all the different titles given to her.

 The impressive altarpiece

Our Lady as depicted in different parts of the world

 Our Lady of Athletes

 Immaculate Conception (from Chicago)

Our Lady of Knock, Ireland

After lunch we went down to the hermitage and then later in the evening we drove to a small city called Aínsa which is about a half hour from the border of France. There we visited the ruins of a castle and watched the sunset. Later we found  a place to get supper, which in order to keep it affordable was pizza again. Once back at the apartment we watched a French movie that in Spanish is called Bienvenido al Norte (Welcome to the North). Very appropriate considering we were in the north. It was a comedy about a postman who gets sent to the north of France, which seems like a death sentence to him due to what he’s heard about the region and the people who populate it. It was entertaining and rather familiar. I’m pretty sure that I’d actually seen part of it while on a train or bus three years ago in Spain. 

 The Hermitage

(Tania's photo)

 Sunset at the castle in Aínsa

In the courtyard of the castle (Tania's photo)

The next day, Sunday, we went to Mass at the shrine before taking off on the return trip to Murcia. On the way back we stopped in the city of Zaragoza and walked across the bridge over Río Ebro, the longest river in Spain. We visited the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar which is famous for it’s very tiny statue of Our Lady of the Pillar, who is the patroness of Spain and of the Hispanic World. The basilica was the first church in history to be dedicated to Mary. The story is that the Virgin, standing on a pillar, appeared to the Apostle St. James at the current site of the church and promised that a church built there would stand until the end of time. And it remains to this day, despite being bombed during the Spanish Civil War. Miraculously the bombs didn’t explode and are on display in the church. Our Lady wasn’t kidding when she said the church would be under her protection. We ate lunch in the sunny plaza right next to the basilica and then resumed our journey to Murcia, arriving back in the early evening. 

 With the river and basilica in the background (Tania's photo)

 Our Lady of the Pillar

Basilica