Obidos: a Fairytale kingdom.
The fortified walls surrounding the hilltop town are still in tact. We traverse the narrow Cobblestone streets to one of my favorite churches for Mass.
Santa Maria de Obidos
The old building smell is strong but there’s something about this place. Maybe it’s the quiet? It doesn’t feel as touristy as some of the bigger cities. These are also the hardest kneelers I live been on. Made of wood, but I’m pretty sure it’s harder than stone. A quiet penance to offer up. Except for the fact that I’m writing about it so maybe it’s not as sacrificial. Just want you to feel like you’re here with me!
It’s a beautiful day for a patio!
We spend the rest of the morning enjoying the weather.
Monestary of Alcobeca
Built in honor of St Bernard of Clairvaox the cousin of the first king of Portugal. Built over 400 years for Cistercian monks who follow the rule of St Benedict. Something I will learn about one day.
Some say at one point there were 1000 monks living here! It’s definitely big enough being the Largest church in all of Portugal.
The white stone walls of the church are kept empty to give monks the silence and space to be with God. The church is built to resemble God in depth, height and vastness.
They also wanted light in its natural form so you won’t find stained glass here.
The alter is kept simple too with the most important images: Our Lord and Our Lady.
There are 500 active parishioners today.
There’s a story about a King’s mistress he claimed to marry in secret. But someone thought it wasn’t right so they killed her. Of course the heartbroken king didn’t like that so he took out the hearts of the men who killed her. I didn’t get all the details but that’s the gist. Both are buried here.
It’s all about who you know! Our fearless pilgrimage leaders have connections to get us insider access. The sacristy is not open to the public. We got a private tour from the main pastor.
At the end of the sacristy is a 400 year old Reliquary. The pastor led us in prayer in this very special place.
And that’s just the church. There’s a whole monetary that’s now a museum to see!
Feeding that many means a big kitchen.
This kitchen comes equipped with its own river fed pond. No need for a fishing pole. The fish come to the chef!
Then to keep the monks in line there’s a door to ensure they are staying fit.
If you couldn’t fit through the door it means it’s time to fast more. I did not think to include a door like this when remodeling. The pantry isn’t done so maybe I should consider it. 😆
The bedroom is huge with a beautiful lookout one way and direct access to the church another..
Can you tell the time?
Another architectural feature I appreciate is how they did added variation within the uniformity. Look closer at that last photo. The medallions are circles but each have different patterns. It makes me think of all of humanity. From a distance we look the same but up close we have our unique variations. This is repeated on all the arches and columns and any place there’s a circular medallion.
These stairs take you up or down and all around!
…
That evening at dinner I was not planning on attending the international rosary. I went last year. Hear about that here. It starts late. It’s cold outside. So many reasons not to go.
But then… I hear another pilgrim say “I just don’t get anything out of it.” And it all clicked in my heart.
We don’t pray the rosary to get something out of it (although I started that way), it’s an act of love for God. It’s not a box to check. It’s a relationship building block.
So I went. And I’m grateful I did.
Our pilgrims had the 4th Glorious Mystery just like I did last year and it had the same scripture I read last year. And I teared up. Just like last year.
I’ve also been practicing the rosary in Latin so I was able to follow along better with the other decades we prayed!
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