Mercedes students walk path of pilgrims
As well as a few blisters, a group of hardy Year 12 students walking from Perth to New Norcia hope to gain a sense of spiritual achievement and an insight into Perth's early history.
The 15 Mercedes College students doing the 145km trek are following as closely as possible in the steps of Spanish monk Dom Rosendo Salvado, who set off on foot in 1847 to establish the Benedictine order's New Norcia mission.
His life was intertwined with that of Ursula Frayne, one of the sisters of Mercy who established Mercedes College. Both religious pioneers made the voyage to Perth on the same ship in 1846.
The school has adapted the Camino Salvado pilgrim trail from Subiaco to New Norcia, which is based on the popular 800km Camino de Santiago pilgrim walk in Spain, and renamed its version the Camino de Merced, or path of mercy.
Mercedes head of religious education Ben Bull said though students from other schools had done sections of the Salvado trail, he believed it was the first time a school group would complete the entire walk.
The students set out on Thursday from St John's Pro Cathedral on Victoria Avenue, the earliest Catholic Church building in WA, and followed the Swan River to the Swan Valley.
They started walking again yesterday at Bells Rapids on the Avon River and expect to arrive in New Norcia on Wednesday, where they will get a warm welcome from the rest of the Year 12 cohort.
Mr Bull said the pilgrimage would give students a chance for reflection and a sense of achievement.
"It's so hard to quantify exactly what they get out of it, but we know that for thousands of years people have embarked on pilgrimages for a variety of reasons," he said. "And we do know that it does bring some benefits to one's spirituality."
