Here are somethings you should know about a young German pilgrim named Hugonell: his buddies called him Hugo, he was born sometime around 1200, when he was still a very young man, he convinced his parents to walk with him on The Camino de Santiago (St. James Way) all the way from their home in Colonge to Santiago, Spain. For him the pilgrimage would be the last step in leaving behind his secular life and devoting himself to the church and a life of piety and service. He was devout to a fault, from his father’s point of view, but to his mother, her only son was perfect. One more thing about Hugo: the lad was beautiful; blue eyes, clear skin, shoulder length blond hair, and a lean, muscular body. He had all his teeth and they were white and even. Back in the day, that meant he had a one in a million smile.
After many weeks of walking, the family reached the town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, named after Domingo Garcia. Domingo’s sainthood was based on his devotion to The Camino and the miraculous aid he had given to pilgrims. There are many legends about Santo Domingo Hugo from Germany was about to feature prominently in one of the most famous which involved not one, but two miracles!
When Hugo and his folks got to town they checked into one of the better inns. The inn keeper’s daughter took one look at Hugo and was, to put it politely, smitten. Her internal dialog was along the lines of, “Damn! That boy is fine! Look at those teeth! I ain’t never seen teeth like that!” This young woman’s name is not mentioned in any of the various versions of the legend, but let’s call her Gwen. Now the truth is that the urgent response Gwen had to Hugo was not unusual for her. With far less reason than the youth presented, she often pursued travelers stopping at the inn or even just passing by in the streets.
Gwen wasted little time in conveying her desires to Hugo. As she served the dinner she bent low over the table. She leaned her hip into the boy and stroked his hair. “Oh, my, lad. Those are fine locks you have there.” The boys father thought, “He’ll make a good priest. Oh to be twenty years younger and have such an opportunity laid before me.” After dinner Gwen showed the mother and father to their room. Then she led Hugo to the far end of the hall to a small single room. She followed him in and closed the door behind them.
“What’ll it be then,” she asked. “What would you like?”
“Gwen,” he replied, “I’d like to pray with you.” He fell to his knees and began. “Lord, I give thanks for bringing us to this hospitable place and through your goodness having Gwen place food and wine on our table. Lord I feel your presence in the form of this generous woman. I feel it in my breath which I draw in with difficulty and in my heart which beats more rapidly. Thank you lord for you are the source of all good things.” After a bit he rose and addressed Gwen, “Good night kind hostess. Could you light my candle in order for me to read my bible before I sleep?” The inn keeper’s daughter did as he asked and left, but Hugo’s rejection left her full of rage and humiliation and she swore revenge.
The inn had many fine things for display and use by the guests. Early in the morning, Gwen took a silver chalice that was a favorite of her father and slipped it into Hugo’s backpack. No sooner had the German family crossed the river than she ran to the sheriff’s office. “Robbery!” She declared. “We’ve been robbed!” The sheriff heard her out then said with chuckle, “Ah, girl, that’s an old one and a weak one. So the boy turned you down? Let him be. He’s as innocent as a lamb and a bit simple too.” Gwen thought, “Well, he’s right. I know he is, but now the damn idiot has the chalice and what’ll my dad do to me if it don’t come back?”
“Sheriff,” She said out loud. “Do what I ask, restore the chalice to its rightful owner, and you’ll have what you’ve always wanted.”
In fact the sheriff had wanted Gwen for a long time, and the promise of her favors overrode his better nature with surprising quickness. He sprang to his feet and declared loudly, “It shocks me as a public servant that these foreigners come into our town, these Germans, and repay our hospitality by robbing us! I’m shocked! That is a hanging offense and hang the boy will, may the lord have mercy on his soul.”
It is impossible to imagine what the German couple suffered as their only son was captured, the chalice found in his backpack and he was strung up on the gallows in the town square. It was even worse because they knew there was no doubt of his innocents. There was suffering all around because the sheriff, after his fifteen minutes with Gwen, and Gwen herself knew that they were hell bound for what they’d done. Further, as is the manner of small towns, everyone soon figured out the truth behind the dramatic events.
The grieving mother insisted that she and her husband complete the pilgrimage because it was what Hugo would want them to do. So crying every step of the way they walked on to the Cathedral of St. James where they prayed for their son’s soul. Some weeks latter they again found themselves in Santo Domingo on their return trip to Germany. Hugo’s corps still hung on the gallows. The couple fell to the ground sobbing and praying. Santo Domingo heard them and stepped forward. (Here comes miracle #1!) He stretched out his arms and implored the heavens above for mercy and justice. Hugo spoke to his parents! “Mom, dad I’m alive. Go tell the sheriff to cut me down.” Looking up they saw not a rotting corpse, but their beautiful boy smiling down at them.
They banged on the sheriff’s door just as he was sitting down to lunch on two oven roasted chickens, one a hen, one a rooster. “He’s alive! He’s alive!” The sheriff was drunk, as he usually was since his sin, and thought they’d come to further torture his soul. “Nonsense. Your poor son is as dead as these two birds on the table.” (Here comes miracle #2!) The rooster and the hen jumped up, sprouted feathers, regrew their heads and feet and began to run around crowing and clucking. At this sight, the sheriff sobered up instantly and ran to the square. Quite a crowd had gathered, including Gwen. Hugo was cut down and of course, being Hugo, he began to pray, “Dear lord, thank you for the divine intervention of Santo Domingo who has restored me to life and given me a second chance to devote my life to the kingdom of god on earth. Lord your mercy is boundless.” He broke from his prayer and addressed Gwen and the sheriff, “God forgives you and also offers you a second chance. I forgive you and thank you. Your actions have confirmed my faith in a most miraculous manner.”
Soon after, Gwen and the sheriff were married, raised ten children, and lived pious lives, except for Gwen’s occasional infidelities.
History doesn’t record what happened to Hugo, but I can tell you he completed his pilgrimage, returned to Germany and began a monastic life where he prayed, gardened, wrote poetry, learned the healing arts, and helped his community. It was also in the monastery that he met brother Gregory, but that’s a different story.
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